Welcome.
Go ahead and take a few moments to disconnect from what's going on around you.
Let your surroundings fade so you can fully direct your attention to this visualization.
Relax your body and take a deep breath or two.
Drop your gaze or close your eyes,
Whichever feels better in the moment.
In this visualization,
We will shift from being anxious,
Scattered,
Buzzy,
Into feeling well-grounded,
Calm,
And at ease.
So for a moment,
Bring to mind a time that you felt anxious.
Notice what it feels like in your body.
Notice what it feels like in your brain.
Notice what happens with your breathing.
You don't need to go into the story of why you were anxious,
But get a sense of what that feeling is like when you sense anxiety in your body.
And then withdraw all of your emotional connection to that sense of anxiety.
Detach from it and set it aside.
Breathe deeply,
Slowly and fully,
And imagine yourself on a path deep within the rainforest.
Light is filtering down through the trees,
But around you are ferns and tall trees with a few flowers scattered throughout.
As you continue down the path,
You notice a shift in the light and you enter a clearing.
Across the clearing is a beautiful small waterfall.
It's about 10 feet tall and it pours into a crystal clear pool that flows out in a small stream.
The temperature is warm and you feel drawn to the falls.
You take off your shoes and socks and whatever other clothing you want to disrobe and you carefully pick your way across the mossy stones to the waterfall.
At first,
You pull around behind it so you're looking through it out in towards the forest.
You put your hands out in front of you and feel the water gently flowing across your hands.
It's cool but not cold.
And it has a level of forcefulness that's comfortable,
Not overwhelming.
So you step forward into the waterfall and you let that water flow over your head,
Down your shoulders.
Your toes are curled into thick moss on the rocks.
You draw your arms outward and then upward over your head,
Feeling that water flowing onto your hands,
Onto your head,
Onto your body,
Feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
There's nothing in your mind right now but a sense of ease and comfort as you stand under that waterfall.
And when you're ready,
You step away from the waterfall into the pool,
Dropping your entire body into that crystal cool water.
And then you move your way to the shoreline,
Pull yourself out up onto the warm grasses next to the pool.
You dry yourself off and again you feel completely at ease.
You settle yourself onto the ground in a seated position and you breathe deeply,
Slowly and fully.
It's as if your legs,
Your thighs,
Your buttocks begin to melt into the earth,
Sending roots downward.
You feel cradled by the earth,
Cleansed by the waterfall,
By the waterfall,
Fully and completely at peace,
At ease and relaxed.
The sense of peace is the opposite of the anxiety that you felt earlier.
You listen to the birdsong around you.
You smell that scent of rich,
Loamy earth.
You hear the sound of the stream trickling down the slope,
The sound of the waterfall pouring into the pool.
And you know this is the way you want to feel most of the time.
So for a moment,
Flash back to that sense of anxiety that you brought to mind at the beginning of the visualization.
Then quickly let it go and come back to where you are,
Grounded,
Sinking into the earth,
Feeling refreshed and at ease,
Recognizing that you prefer this sense of relaxation and that it's a choice.
And when you're ready,
Pick yourself up off of the earth,
Brush yourself off,
Give a final nod to the waterfall,
The pool,
And the stream,
And start heading back down the path that brought you into this clearing.
And as you walk down that path,
Let all of your surroundings fade and bring the visualization and bring the visualization to a close,
Knowing that whenever you do feel anxious,
You can always go back to this clearing in your mind and feel that same sense of peace,
Ease,
And groundedness.
