Find a comfortable position seated.
Or lying down.
Let your eyes close or soften your gaze.
Take a breath in,
Filling up your lungs and your belly.
And let it out slowly.
Again.
And out.
Let your shoulders drop.
Your jaw unclenched.
Feel the places where your body is touching what's under it.
We're gonna take a walk on the beach.
In your mind.
But let yourself really arrive.
Picture yourself getting ready.
Gathering your things,
Putting on sunscreen.
And then making your way to the sand.
Take off your shoes,
One foot,
And then the next.
Set them to the side.
Step forward and feel the sand on your bare feet.
Notice the texture.
Loose,
Fine grain shift under your weight.
Notice the temperature.
Sun warmed on the top.
Cool and damp.
As your feet drop into the sand.
Feel the sun on your skin.
The warmth settling onto your shoulders,
Your face.
Close your eyes and soak it in.
Look up.
Notice the clouds,
Their shapes,
How they drift.
Take in the colors around you.
The blue of the sky.
The blue of the water.
The pale sun bleached sand.
The grasses of the dunes.
Let your eyes move across all of it.
Listen.
Can you hear birds calling somewhere overhead or farther down the shore?
Notice any other sounds too.
The waves.
The wind.
As you walk forward,
Your thoughts may start to drift in.
That's okay.
Let them come and go like the waves.
Rising,
Cresting,
Receding.
You don't have to chase them or push them away.
Just let them pass.
Start to match your breath to the rhythm of the waves.
Breathe in as the water pulls back.
Breathe out as it rolls forward.
In with the pull.
Out with the push.
Feel the rhythm of your breath.
Notice the air on your skin,
The breeze carrying the scent of salt.
Feel the ground beneath your feet.
Uneven,
Shifting.
Never quite the same.
And still it holds you.
It supports you with every step.
Walk closer to the water's edge.
Watch it reach towards your feet.
A thin sheet of foam sliding up the sand.
Feel it touch you.
Cool,
Maybe even cold at first.
And then easing.
Feel the water curl around your ankles.
Tug gently at the sand beneath your feet as it pulls back out.
The feeling of the sand giving way under you.
As the water retreats.
Lift your eyes and take in the ocean.
The vastness.
Water stretching out until it meets the sky.
No edges.
No end.
Watch the water as it moves.
Watch it ebb and flow.
In and out.
Building and releasing.
It has always moved this way,
And it always will.
Ask yourself.
What would it feel like to be at ease right now?
The way the water is at ease with its own rhythm.
And whatever you're feeling.
Carrying with you today.
It can move the way the waves move.
It can rise.
And it can return.
Like a wave crashing against the shore only to pull back into the sea.
Your emotions do not stay fixed.
They arrive.
Or felt.
And then return to their own vast realm.
And you are still here standing.
So breathing.
The sand still holds you.
Take a few more breaths here.
The thing you have to do or be,
But yourself.
When you're ready.
Gently bring your awareness back.
To the room you're in.
Feel your body touching what's under it.
Wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Open your eyes and let yourself be refreshed.
