In the next few minutes,
We'll close our eyes and imagine a walk in the forest where interesting animals and plants are waiting for you to discover them.
Now,
Before we go for our sunny day walk into the woods,
Let's take time to get comfy.
Lay down in your bed or wherever you feel comfortable right now.
Snuggle up to your soft blanket or cuddly snuff toy if you have one.
Notice how it feels to lay down.
Just think about your body getting ready to deeply relax.
If you need to,
Wiggle your body around until you feel just right.
Your head feeling heavier on the pillow,
Your back sinking heavily into the bed,
And your arms and legs weighing down your body into the bed under you.
You are safe here.
As you breathe,
Relaxing,
Notice as your belly rises softly with each breath in and drops softly with each long breath out.
Take a deep breath in and slightly longer slow breaths out.
Again,
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Very good.
Now one more time.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
As you breathe now,
Just notice your breathing.
It will help you to relax and be sure to close your eyes.
Now is the time for your imagination to see and hear and even smell our stroll into the forest.
If you have a favorite playground with a forest nearby,
You can think about that place now,
Or you can pretend with your imagination,
And I will now help you discover.
On this beautiful sunny day,
You see a path at the edge of the forest where you see short leafy trees like alder bushes and birch trees.
It is a happy and safe place to go,
And the leafy shrubs are the first things you see,
But there's so much more to explore.
As you walk along the path,
You notice the trees get taller.
The leaves of large maple trees sway in the warm gentle breeze,
And the giant needly pine trees reach up toward the sky.
The sun's rays peek through the treetops all the way down to the ground,
Lighting your way along the forest path.
It smells like a forest,
Fresh and healthy air as you breathe in.
The pine trees have long dark green needles on their branches,
Instead of leaves like the other trees you saw earlier,
And instead of flowers,
They have pine cones.
In those little brown pine cones,
Tiny seeds are getting ready to fall to earth,
Or perhaps the seeds will be carried on a windy day to create new pine trees far away.
Now you hear a knock knock knock over there,
And you see a small woodpecker pecking the bark on the side of one of the largest pine trees.
The woodpecker is colored black with some white marks on its back feathers,
And is mostly white on its belly.
Its head also has one bright red spot on the top.
With its short black beak,
It is quickly picking tiny bugs off the tree,
Pecking knock knock knock,
And you wonder how can he do that without getting a headache as he pecks away so swiftly.
Then the woodpecker stops suddenly and looks over toward you.
You smile as it examines you.
Maybe it's the first time seeing a human.
After a few seconds,
It feels safe and goes back to pecking knock knock knock.
Then as you continue walking along the path,
You hear something that brings your attention to a lower lying area of the forest.
You see short ferns fanning out their green finger-like leaves,
But something is moving those leaves.
The ferns jiggle.
Stop.
Then jiggle again.
Stop.
Something is moving under there,
Making the fern leaves shake slightly at times.
Why could it be?
Soon you see.
It is a bunny hopping under the ferns.
Its fur has now turned from its winter coat of white to a brownish color that almost matches the color of the ground.
Bunnies sometimes change color so they can be safely camouflaged so they can hide.
But this bunny doesn't seem concerned about you being there.
And you calmly watch the bunny hop around for a little while as it looks for food.
Foods like clover and other delicious leafy plants and for yummy berries like wild raspberries.
You hear the slight trickle of a brook just down the path where there is a small clearing.
And imagine the sunny spot might be a good place for the bunny and you to find some red tasty raspberries.
The bunny follows you along the path to the sunny clearing and you find some raspberries growing there,
Thickly hanging with ripe clusters of red and juicy berries.
You pick a few that are too high for the bunny to reach and gently lower your freshly picked handful of berries and you offer the bunny a snack.
It waits still for a moment then cautiously moves closer to your outstretched handful and finally nibbles a few of those yummy berries.
Do you feel happy being this close to nature?
As you think about this friendly and joyful moment with the bunny you collect another handful of raspberries.
These berries you will take home to wash and eat later.
And you're feeling tired now so you take in another big breath of the clean forest air and breathe in the fresh scent of the tall pine trees and you begin to walk back along the path toward home.
There is always more to notice in the forest even on the way back.
You see a small green frog on the path ahead of you but as soon as he notices you he jumps into the tall weeds to hide.
Now you notice a small dragonfly,
Blue and shiny,
Hovering over a bright yellow flower with its tiny four wings buzzing like a mini helicopter.
Then the dragonfly lands on the flower perhaps to take a rest or to smell the flower.
Do you feel lucky and happy to see the dragonfly this closely?
As you continue along the path you notice the sun is getting lower now and bedtime is soon.
Arriving home you get ready for bed and for sleep remembering your fantastic time and discoveries while exploring the forest.
The pine trees,
The bunny,
Raspberries and dragonflies.
What a day!
Now you have so many happy memories of this exploring day in the forest and you are ready to go to sleep now knowing there will be more fun days just like this one.
Relax where you lay now.
Your eyes are closed.
You are safe and you are comfortable.
And with each breath in and each breath out you let go of the day.
Ready now for pleasant sweet dreams.
Sleep well my friend.
