Please do not listen to this recording while driving.
This is a meditation to declutter your mind and heart.
First,
You need to find a quiet place in which to rest for a while.
And once you do,
Take a moment to get into a comfortable position,
Either sitting up with both feet flat on the floor or maybe lying down.
Either way,
With your body fully supported so you can relax completely.
Once you are comfortable,
Allow your eyes to gently close or if you prefer to keep your eyes open,
Just lower and soften your gaze to bring your attention inward to your breath.
Settling in now,
Begin by taking a few slower and deeper breaths than you would normally take.
Breathing in slowly through your nose and blowing the air out slowly through your mouth.
With every inhalation,
Imagine breathing in calm,
Relaxing energy.
And when each out breath,
Imagine blowing out tension,
Breathing in calm relaxation,
Breathing out,
Letting go of stress.
Good.
Now,
Letting go of controlling your breath,
Just allow yourself to trust in the abundant wisdom of your body to breathe just right.
Slowing down now and relaxing even more,
Taking a moment to scan your body from the bottom of your feet all the way to the top of your head,
Noticing any areas of tension lingering.
As you scan,
Breathe into any areas of tension,
Calm and relaxing energy and releasing the tension through each out breath.
At the same time,
Allowing any tension that remains to just be as it is.
Slowing in,
Breathing out just as you are.
If at any time your mind starts to wander,
Just reframe from judgment.
Just gently bring your attention back to your breath,
Focusing on the areas in your body that you feel the breath the most.
Perhaps tracking the breath as it enters and leaves the body during each breath cycle.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Calm and relaxed.
Good.
Now with the power of your imagination,
Picture yourself standing in the middle of a large garden filled with an assortment of trees,
Bushes,
Flowers of a variety of colors and sizes.
Perhaps take a look around and notice any structures in the garden such as an archway covered in jasmine or ivy or perhaps a bench or hammock.
In one corner,
There is a garden shed and against the shed,
Leans a rake and some other garden tools.
Gazing up,
You see a blue clear expansive sky and you feel the warmth of the sun on your face.
There is a gentle spring breeze and it soothes your face as well.
Looking around again,
You notice that there is a gate at one side of the garden that leads into a clearing and then a path into a distant tree line.
Spending a few moments to take in all the beautiful colors and breathe in the sense of the trees and the flowers,
You begin to realize that this garden symbolizes your life and all of your experiences up to this present moment.
As you look at the ground under your feet and all around you,
You notice that along with many plants and budding flowers,
There are a lot of dried crumpled up leaves left behind from autumn and winter scattered here and there.
Looking more closely,
You see there are even areas where the leaves are packed down,
Forming a damp carpet,
Blocking some of the plants from reaching the light of the sun.
These leaves represent negative experiences,
Feelings or messages that you have received from others and have internalized.
They also represent negative beliefs about yourself or others as well as all of the negative energy that you have received through others.
You know that the world is full of positive and negative energy.
Leaves from other people's gardens can be swept up in the wind and blown into our own.
Deciding it is time to clear your space of this negativity,
You get the rake and begin raking all of the leaves through the gate,
Pulling them into a big pile in the clearing outside of the garden,
A safe distance away from the beautiful trees,
Plants and flowers you have planted throughout the years.
Once you have cleared out all of the dead leaves and the pile is ready,
You decide to burn the pile and get rid of these leaves permanently.
You know that other leaves will come,
But you can clear them as well.
Periodically,
As you maintain your garden,
Keeping it clutter free and allowing all of the plants to receive water and sunlight in order to bloom to their fullness.
Setting fire to the leaves,
You watch as the smoke rises up higher and higher until it trails off into a thin tail,
Eventually dissipating into the sky.
As the fire burns out,
You feel lighter and free,
Unburdened.
You are able to open your mind and heart to new experiences,
Positive energy and good health.
And you can feel this throughout every cell and fiber of your being.
Reaching in your pockets now,
You find seeds you have been meaning to plant for quite a long time.
It is time to replenish your garden with healing herbs and bright flowers.
You know instinctively where to plant these special seeds because you have been tending your garden your entire life.
Pushing them down into the earth and covering them lightly with the soil,
You pat them gently and then give them just the right amount of water.
As time passes,
They grow stronger and healthier second by second.
Even though you can't see them at first,
You know that they are under the surface,
Germinating and sprouting,
Pushing their way up through the earth and into the light.
Trusting this process,
You can leave nature to do its work.
You are free now to relax on that hammock or garden bench and just enjoy the beauty that is a result of your hard work.
Resting now,
You return to your breath and find that it is flowing smoothly and easily.
Your heart and mind have so much room now for new things to grow and flourish.
You decide that caring for yourself regularly is worth the effort because you feel so much freer and at peace,
Cleared of the negative energy that you would have been absorbing.
In fact,
You decide to spend more time and awareness of your body,
Emotions and thoughts so that you know when you need to tend to garden the most.
Keeping it clear of negative clutter,
Abundant with positive energy is your new goal.
And now feeling renewed and refreshed,
Wiggle your fingers and toes,
Breathe in deeply to move more energy throughout your body.
Stretch your arms and legs and open your eyes.
Feeling wide awake and feeling great.
