Embodiment And Imagination

This embodiment and meditation session begins with a few minutes of gentle breath work and seated stretches, continuing into a guided visualization intended to center and soothe. This meditation can be practiced any time of day, but is an especially good precursor to a good night's sleep.

Soundtrack "Relax Yoga - Peaceful Meditation Background Music" by FASSounds. Used per approved guidelines via Pixabay.

Transcript

Come to a nice comfortable seat Perhaps you're sitting in a chair.

Perhaps you're on the floor in whatever shape is most meaningful to you Just make sure your body is very comfortable and adjust as you need to Find a straight spine and Once you're in position,

I invite you to take a deep inhale through the nose Hold that breath for three two one and gently exhale Let's do that one more time Inhale nice and deep through the nose three two one release Before we get into our meditation,

Let's start with a little bit of gentle movement just to get in the zone a little bit The next time you exhale I invite you to bring your chin to your chest just dipping the head And stay there for a few breaths just feeling the way the muscles of the neck and the upper back Stretch a little bit to bear the weight of your head Keep breathing On your next inhale bring the head back upright Exhale bring the head to the chest one more time This time as you inhale again bring the ear to the shoulder on one side Breathing into any Tension or tightness you find there Breathing relaxation into that space When you're ready on an exhale chin comes back to chest Inhale come back to the other side ear to shoulder And then keep that going for a few seconds Exhaling every time the chin comes to the chest and inhaling every time you come to one side or another Just noting with loving-kindness what you feel Sending your breath to wherever it's needed to loosen things up just a little bit Beautiful bring the head back up when you're finished looking straight ahead And Then take any additional movement in the torso That may be helpful for you.

Maybe roll the shoulders back one at a time or together Turn the head side to side maybe that feels good to you today Take a moment to really listen in to your body to see what it would like Whenever you feel you're ready come back to that neutral shape to that comfortable seat Come back to your place of coziness just listen in to the breath During our meditation you're welcome to keep your eyes open or close them Whichever is most comfortable for you If you will be keeping them open I invite you to Hold your gaze on something pleasant to look at something that brings you joy Something that brings you peace Maybe it's a few feet away from you and you can hold a soft gaze on that object through our meditation And from there just go back to the breath No changing the breath here,

No manipulating it just watching it watching that phenomenon of the automatic inhale and exhale Nothing for you to do.

It's just a steady drumbeat a dependable rhythm Keep feeling that And perhaps as you continue to breathe like this Maybe you feel just a little bit of relaxation coming in Just a little bit more of that letting go in your limbs shoulders Maybe in the space between your eyebrows where it's all scrunchy.

Maybe it smooths out a little bit Maybe you settle into your position just a wee bit more Take another moment just to quietly continue to abide with the breath Over the next several minutes I'm going to share with you a few images and I'll invite you to see them in your mind's eye.

That's all Just focus your attention on making them as detailed as lifelike as you possibly can using your imagination nothing else to focus on If the mind begins to wander just bring it right back to the image And the first image I'll give you is that of a flower First find the shape of your flower.

Is it large or small?

Is it tall?

Is it short?

What shape do the petals take?

And then find the color The color of the petals themselves The stem,

The leaves,

The stamen Maybe this is a flower you've seen before when you have a new backyard Or on the flip side,

Maybe it's something you've made up in your mind.

That's brand new and no one's ever seen before A flower that's specifically yours Start to see it take shape How do those leaves look?

Are they a light green,

Deep green?

Are they something completely different?

How are they shaped?

How many are there?

Add as many details as you can to your flower Making it clearer and clearer by the second And then once you have that flower composed in your mind's eye Ask yourself,

Where in space is it?

Is it sitting on a table?

In a vase?

Are you holding it in your hand?

Maybe it's in a field just waving gently in the wind What's around it?

Find that full picture And once you finalize that image Feel free to take a picture of it in your mind's eye so you can tuck it away and go back to it anytime you want If you'd like to pause the meditation here and continue to build your image Feel free to do so and just come back anytime at all We'll move on to our second image now So before we do,

I invite you to create a blank slate in your mind And on that blank slate,

I invite you to begin to imagine a beach First find the color of the sand and the texture Is it fine?

Is it rocky?

Is the color pink or white?

Is it a dark color?

If you pick it up in your fingers,

What do the grains of sand look like?

What do they feel like?

And as you cast your eyes more broadly,

What does the beach itself look like?

Is it smooth?

Is it flat?

Are there dunes or cliffs or.

.

.

Any other land masses that you can see?

Maybe large rocks?

And then once you have your beach clearly developed Cast your gaze to the space connecting the beach to the ocean What do you see?

What does the edge of the water look like?

Continue to build your beach in your mind being as detailed as you can Add some grasses or some flowers Maybe some seagulls And then gradually,

Perhaps let your mind move further out into the ocean itself What does that look like where the water meets the sand?

What color is the water?

Is it transparent?

Is it a deep blue?

Does it have a greenish or a darker cast to it?

And what is it doing?

Is it calm?

Are there gentle waves?

Are there larger waves?

What kind of motion do you see where the sun hits the water?

Take another moment and detail that image And again,

If the mind begins to wander,

Just gently and lovingly bring it back to your beach Take a few minutes here to complete your picture And once again,

When you feel that this image is complete I invite you to take a photograph of it And tuck that away in your heart space We'll be moving on now to our third and final image But feel free to pause the recording if you'd like to continue to develop your beach First come back to that blank slate one more time whenever you're ready And begin to imagine a tree Perhaps you begin at the root line or even below that What does the root system look like below the ground?

How are the roots intersecting?

How are they communicating?

What does that development look like?

How widely do the roots go under the soil?

How far do they reach?

What is that infrastructure?

And then how do they emerge from the ground?

As you continue to move up above the ground line Perhaps begin to visualize the tree itself How wide is the trunk?

What color is it?

What does the bark look like?

There are so many variations to work with,

So many wonderful trees to use Or just invent your own Perhaps the tree in your mind's eye is a tree that nobody's ever seen Really see the detail in the texture and color of the bark The grain and the pattern of the bark over the tree The structure of the trunk itself as it grows up from the ground What does it look like?

And from there continue to work your way up Finding the community of branches that reach toward the sky Are there many branches?

Are there just a few?

Are they thick or thin?

How are they shaped?

What kind of shape do they make in the sky?

Then bring your attention to the tips of the branches,

To the leaves Maybe this is a wintering tree so there are no leaves Maybe it's autumn and the leaves are brilliant colors Maybe they're deep green for summer or some other color that no tree has ever been If you have leaves on your tree,

What is the shape of them?

How do the veins look in the leaves?

How do they feel to the touch?

Find as much detail there as you can If you have an evergreen,

Maybe they look like little needles Maybe they take a shape that's completely new Spend a few more moments here just really bringing your tree to life Once again,

If you'd like to stop this recording and continue to develop your tree,

Please do If you're ready to move on,

Then we'll continue When you feel your tree is complete,

I invite you to do one of two things If you're ready to come out of the meditation,

Feel free to do that and simply open your eyes But if you'd rather,

I invite you to just spend some more time in meditation Simply sitting under your tree and resting Gently abiding If you'd like to do that,

Simply continue and this recording will stop Enjoy your rest