Close your eyes.
Get yourself.
And settled.
And.
Now scrunch up your whole body.
Feel any tension you might.
Your face and eyes and nose.
Make your hands into fists.
Tense up your feet.
Just make every muscle in your body.
Every place.
Every part.
As tense as you can.
Only for a moment.
With this lovely sense that soon.
You're going to let it all go.
Do that now.
Do the opposite now.
Let every part of your body relax.
Go limp.
Feel floppy.
And notice just how nice it feels.
Especially after you made it tense.
Know that as we spend this time together.
Every time you breathe in.
You'll feel like breathing in good feeling feelings.
Whatever you need right now.
And as you breathe out.
You breathe out and away any unwanted feelings.
You don't need to think about it.
Just as you don't need to think about your heart beating.
It will simply happen.
And you can just feel really really great about it.
I want you to use your wonderful imagination now to see in your mind's eye.
A beautiful light.
Surrounding your whole body.
It might be pure white.
Maybe yellow like sunshine.
Perhaps indigo.
Maybe another color that you choose.
But whatever color it is you feel so safe inside this light.
Kind of like nothing bad can get to you here.
You feel like you really just know how good you are inside this light.
You're just happy.
You sense that this light is like a kind of force field.
Nothing unwanted can pass through it.
Anything bad that comes towards you just bounces off.
Boomerangs right back to where it came from.
It might be a funny look someone gives you.
A name they call you.
Something mean they say.
All these things get returned to sender.
And you feel really really really really good about this.
So good that your mind will really remember this feeling.
And any time you need to be reminded of it.
Your clever mind and amazing body will work together and help you out with feelings.
Good feeling feelings.
Feelings like confidence.
Bravery.
Happiness.
Feelings strong and invincible.
I want you to imagine now that you begin to float in that light.
You float up out of the room you're in.
The building.
Up above the rooftops.
To begin an adventure.
It's so exciting and fun to look down on people's homes.
To see the world from above.
It's also peaceful from up here.
You float past houses.
And then across the forest.
Finally you're floating above wide open fields.
And you spot a slow bendy river.
It looks so relaxing to you.
And just as you think this.
You begin to float lower and lower and lower.
You sink down and down and down.
Finally you come to land on the soft grassy bank of that lazy river.
Still surrounded by the glowing light.
You feel so happy here.
You feel so safe.
You are so curious to see what will happen next.
But at the same time you don't want to wish away the moment you're already in.
You feel all warm and fuzzy inside and it's such a lovely feeling.
You're lying flat on the grass now.
Arms and legs out wide.
Staring up at the bright blue sky.
And because you're so relaxed you begin to doze.
To snooze.
To sleep.
And as you sleep you fall into a lovely dream.
In it you're floating downstream on that lazy river.
Nestled happily on the back of a giant beautiful white swan.
The sweet swan turns to look right into your eyes and she seems so kind.
You feel really,
Really good.
You can't believe how white her feathers are.
It's like she's brand new.
As soft and white and pure as freshly fallen snow.
She seems to glisten in the sunlight.
You marvel at how kind she is too.
It feels so lovely to slowly float along on the sneaking river.
For a while you just enjoy being with the friendly swan.
Looking at all of the lovely things you pass.
A field full of happy sunflowers.
This one tells you that sunflowers grow towards the sun.
And reminds you to always face towards the good in your life.
You pass another field where row after row of lavender grows.
And the sky is filled with pretty butterflies.
They flit between the plants.
The swan tells you that just before a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly,
It thinks it's going to die.
And explains that this is a reminder to never give up.
The next field you notice has an enormous oak tree right at its centre.
Can you believe that mighty oak tree was once just a tiny acorn?
The swan asks.
Let that remind you that you too are capable of great things in this world.
Don't ever forget that or think you're too small.
And she says,
If you ever feel unsafe,
Imagine having roots that go down into the very centre of the planet.
And you feel protected by Mother Earth just as that ancient tree is.
As you're swooping around one of the sneaky bends in the river,
The swan asks you to peer into the water.
You see what you're looking at is a reflection,
She explains.
Well,
Your entire life is a reflection,
Just like that image,
She goes on.
Always remember that if you want a happy life on the outside,
Start first by feeling good on the inside.
Life is like a big,
Ginormous mirror reflecting back to you on the outside how you feel on the inside.
Knowing this is powerful.
It's a powerful secret.
The next thing you notice is a flock of birds overhead,
All flying together,
Happy on their journey.
And let those birds who fly all the way to Africa in winter,
Let them remind you to follow your inner compass.
What feels right in your heart?
Remember too that everyone's life has seasons.
And after each winter comes spring.
So,
Any time things are tough for you,
Know that soon they'll be better.
Sad times never ever last for long.
Eventually you reach a shallow part of the river where the bank is just the gentlest incline.
And the swan slows and gestures you to jump onto the grass.
You both make your way a little further away from the river,
Stopping at a willow tree where you settle down underneath its canopy of leaves.
And now she says,
I want to tell you a story about my life.
Do you want to hear it?
You most definitely do.
You feel like you'd listen to anything this lovely swan had to say.
You feel happy just hearing her words.
Okay,
She begins.
I didn't always look as I do today,
With these beautiful white feathers and graceful long neck.
When I was young,
I had scruffy grey feathers and I always felt like the odd one out.
She went on to explain that she was the only baby swan in a group of grown-up swans.
And she'd never seen another swan who looked like her,
So she'd just assumed she wasn't even a swan.
And some of the swans she grew up with were unkind to her.
They'd say unkind things about her dirty feathers and short stumpy neck.
Sometimes they'd push her away and not want her to be with them.
Eventually,
The swan said,
She grew very,
Very sad.
And one day,
She swam away from the group and decided that even if she had to be all on her own,
She'd never go back to them.
And she did spend quite a while on her own.
At first,
She felt lonely.
But,
As she was away from the unkind words,
She started to feel better.
And as she began to feel happier,
She noticed more and more happy things happened to her.
She would meet other creatures on her travels who were kind to her.
Friendly otters,
Curious fox,
Jolly fish,
Sweet birds.
After a while,
There wasn't a day that would pass by when she didn't meet at least one new friend.
She grew happier and happier and happier and happier.
And things got better and better and better.
Then one day,
As Serena was merrily floating along,
She spied another swan.
He looked just like the swans she'd grown up with,
Except he seemed kind.
They became great friends.
And in fact,
They fell in love.
After some time,
Serena told the other swan about what had happened and he realized she still thought she had grey scruffy feathers and a short neck.
He couldn't believe she had no idea how beautiful and graceful she was.
She had been so busy having fun and making friends,
She'd never thought to look at her reflection.
Serena's new swan mate was so excited to get her to peer at her own image.
As soon as she did,
As he asked,
She gasped.
She had no idea that she'd grown into the most serene creature,
Just like her name,
Serena.
Her mate lovingly explained to her that all swans look as she did when they were young.
That there had been nothing wrong with her ever.
The only things wrong were the names she was called.
Serena said that her and her mate went on to have their own babies and she made sure to tell them every day just how good they were.
Just how much she loved them.
Just as she was telling you about her own swan children,
Out of the corner of your eye you spy them swimming right up to you now.
You all sit together under the willow tree and Serena tells you she wants to leave you with one final thing that will help you.
She explains that one of the playful otters she met on her journey had taught it to her and now she wanted to teach it to you.
Each one of us has two voices in our heads,
She says.
The kind voice and the mean one.
They're both trying to keep you happy really,
It's just the mean one's got it a little wrong.
And there's a thing you can do to help you not get sad,
Which you will if you listen to the mean voice.
Imagine that the mean voice is a person.
Give it a name,
See what they look like,
Wonder about their personality.
And also do the same for the kind voice.
Next,
She said,
Make the picture of the mean voice,
The mean person,
Smaller and smaller and smaller until it's teeny,
Teeny tiny.
Move it far,
Far,
Far,
Far away.
And see it in black and white.
Make anything they say really quiet,
So you almost can't even hear it.
Then the kind person,
Imagine them up close to you in technicolour,
Everything they say you hear really clearly.
Do this any time you notice that unkind voice,
Send it far,
Far,
Far,
Far away.
Make it teeny,
Teeny,
Teeny,
Teeny tiny.
See all the colour drain away.
See all the colour drain away.
It's voice very,
Very,
Very,
Very quiet and bring the kind person close.
Feel them powerfully.
This is one of the things that helped me get happier and happier and happier.
And begin to live the life of my dreams.
And it can help you live happily ever after too and live the life of your dreams.
You have a big smile on your face now.
And you can drift merrily off to sleep.
Merrily,
Merrily,
Happily,
Happily.
Sweet dreams,
Sleep tight.
