This is an exercise in imagination that can take you beyond your own habits of thinking and perception,
Cultivate a sense of connection with other beings and the natural world,
And most importantly bring you in touch with the deeper sense of mystery.
How does this work?
Why an animal meditation?
Connecting empathically and imaginatively with the experience of another being,
And in this case another species altogether,
Can relax the edges around your own experience,
Boundaries and perception.
It can help you rest your attention in new ways or wonder about experiences that are not familiar or easily available to you.
The precious and wonderful thing about other species is that they have behaviours,
Lives,
Perceptions that we don't.
That makes them mysterious and always with something to teach or show that is new,
If we choose to give them our attention.
Although you can never claim to rationally know what it feels like to be a heron,
A fox,
A frog,
A tree,
There is something valuable and therapeutic in the practice of imaginatively inhabiting their world.
After doing this you might come to feel more relaxed in your own skin as a human being.
So in this meditation I will take you on a journey to become a heron.
You may or may not be familiar with this bird.
Living in the UK,
A heron is a magical and familiar sight.
Their light grey,
Long neck and big pinkish yellow beak standing still in streams and ponds.
It's magical how much a heron prompts people to stop and watch and be still themselves,
Almost caught in its spell of waiting.
Today we are going to enter that patient and still world of the heron.
In preparation for this I'd suggest you find a comfortable seated position in a place that's quiet and without distraction.
Once you're comfortable,
Close your eyes.
First,
You might ask yourself,
What am I?
You are a heron,
A long-necked,
Long-legged big-beaked bird with a sharp,
Watchful eye and a cautious,
Quiet manner.
You have mostly dark grey and white feathers with some patches of black.
You have long,
Brown legs.
You are just under a metre tall.
When you open and spread your wings,
You are almost two metres across.
You live near water,
Where you hunt for fish.
When you fly,
You travel in long,
Gracious,
Slow flaps.
But you are not just any heron,
And so your next question might be,
Who am I?
You are female and three years old.
You have survived three winters,
And this winter is your fourth.
You are a skilled and patient hunter.
You are a river dweller,
Living inland,
Near woods and trees.
Sometimes you like to visit the ponds of parks and houses.
You are a shy and cautious creature and do not like to be disturbed.
And where am I?
You might ask.
Today,
Right in this very moment,
You are standing motionless in a shallow stream as the water runs past your legs.
You are watching intently through the rippling water.
Your straight beak is ready to strike.
You are slow,
Patient,
Shy and still,
Very still.
You can wait for limitless time,
Caught in a spell of watching,
Waiting,
Sensing,
You read and sense the water for signs of life.
Your feet grip calmly onto wet rock,
Talons nestled between pebbles.
As you wait,
The winter air ruffles your feathers,
Your huge wings folded by your side.
Now,
You stay here and wait.
Wait and watch as the fresh water runs by.
You stand.
You wait.
You wait.
And watch.
You listen.
Your whole body is listening,
Waiting.
The stream runs by.
The winter air ruffles your feathers.
You are watching the water.
The stream runs by.
Something weighty and fast moves beside your left leg.
You strike and swallow it whole.
Calmly,
You straighten your neck and become still again.
Looking down at the water,
The stream continues to run and babble.
But now,
Something in you has shifted.
A restlessness.
A sense of light fading and the air cooling.
Above you,
Other birds are calling out.
The day is fading.
With this,
You open your wings and lift,
Pushing the world beneath you away in long,
Slow flaps.
And in that moment,
You leave.
You leave the world of river,
Water and fish.
Of watching and waiting.
You leave the world of heron.
You find your human senses returning.
A sense of weight in your legs,
Touching the ground.
A feeling of solidity and gravity.
The touch of clothes on your body.
And with this,
Also a sense of your mind and humanness.
A sense of yourself returning.
And still,
You might ask yourself,
Who am I?
What am I?
