Greetings,
This is Peg Taliver,
I'm a yoga teacher as well as a teacher of Qigong and one who studied art therapy and worked with different expressive media over the course of a lifetime.
For this guided imagery,
Have available a sheet of paper,
An 8.
5 by 11 printer sheet is fine or if you have something larger that would be lovely as well.
And then you may want to have crayons or colored pencils available.
Find the materials that appeal to you,
Gather your materials and find a quiet location to be seated where you won't be disturbed.
Set your materials in front of you and hold the art utensils that you will work with,
The crayon or the pencil in your hand and just feel the sensation of the wooden surface or the waxy surface,
The paper surrounding the crayon.
Tune into your sense of touch and then tune inside,
Let your eyes close,
Relax the shoulders and begin to observe your own breath.
Feel the breath moving in through the nostrils,
The cool air warming as it moves in through the nose and feel the breath moving out.
As you watch the breath,
See if you can visualize the shape of that breath if it were a line.
Does it have dashes and dots?
Are there spaces in that line or is it a continuing flowing line?
Is there a pause between the inhale and the exhale?
As you observe these different qualities,
Pick up your pencil or crayon,
Choosing a color that seems to correspond to you,
To the quality of breath you're experiencing and just begin to move the pencil or crayon across the page.
Stop when you notice a pause in your own breath and then start up again for the next part of the breath.
Notice the length of the line,
Is there enough space on your paper?
And if there's not enough space,
Can you just curve that line back around to create a sense of continuity?
Is there a shape that you would like to put on the paper to represent the pause between the inhale and the exhale?
Look at the lines on the paper and now just begin to draw a line that represents a breath that you would like to be breathing,
That feels like it creates the most ease in your body,
Relaxes your shoulders,
Feels soothing to the mental chatter,
And let that line move back and forth and start to notice how movement itself can be transformative.
The colors you choose can also feel transformative,
Supporting a particular mood.
So if you've changed from when we started this exercise,
Feel free to pick up another color and continue to fill this space.
No worries about making a picture,
You're just enjoying this flowing experience of creating a line,
A line paired with your breath and perhaps a shape paired with the pause.
Let's continue this for another moment.
And when you've completed another full breath in and out,
Set your art materials down.
Place one hand on the heart,
One on the belly,
And just gently nod your head toward the paper in front of you,
Honoring this experience in mindfulness,
In awareness,
In playfulness with color and line.
Have a beautiful day.
