We are going to the beach today,
Metaphorically.
Let's start by lying down in a comfortable position.
You can either close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Let's take some deep breaths together.
Inhale,
Fill up.
Hold the breath at the top.
Exhale out through the mouth.
Let it go.
We'll do that twice more.
Inhale,
Fill up.
Hold at the top.
Exhale out completely.
One more inhale,
Fully hold the breath.
Hold it.
Exhale,
Let it go.
For the duration of this guided meditation,
You can allow your breath to no longer effort or labor.
The focus is now on the mind and the imagination and the experience of that.
Let the breath be automatic and effortless.
Draw your awareness to the brain.
Allow the brain to soften inside the skull.
Allow the space between the eyebrows begin to widen and open softly.
Let the eyes sink further back into their sockets.
Notice the teeth separating at the back of the jaw.
Feel your collarbone softening and widening across the chest.
Imagine that you're at the beach.
You have a whole portion of the beach to yourself.
You're lying in the sand on a beach towel and there isn't a soul in sight.
The sand is white.
The water is crystal turquoise blue.
There is a tall palm tree above your head offering you partial shade.
At the same time,
The sun is shining down on you and you can feel the warm beams through the palm tree shade.
You look up and notice the sky is a deep blue and free of clouds.
The cool breeze off the ocean gives you just the right temperature to balance the warmth of the sun.
Feel the sand under your beach towel lifting up to support you.
Can you surrender a little more relaxed into that sand?
Begin to notice the air on your skin.
You can sense a bit of moisture in the air,
That sea mist.
Can you smell the sea air?
The refreshing salty quality.
The smell of it is reminiscent to all the other happy times in the past that you have vacationed to the beach.
Notice the sun shining on your face,
Warming your face as well as your soft belly.
Again,
Observe the warmth under your beach towel,
The warm wet sand cradling your back supporting your spine.
Then notice the warm rays of sunshine beaming down on you and again the warm sand holding your back.
Begin to notice the sounds you hear off in the distance of children playing on the shore,
People sailing out in the distance,
Seagulls communicating to one another.
In the foreground,
Notice the ebb and flow of the waves of the ocean at the shore.
The sound of the waves begin to wash away whatever worries or thoughts that no longer have a place in their hearts that can be felt.
Begin to deepen your breath.
Allow your inhales and exhales to draw you back into your body,
Back into your home.
As we return from the beach,
Allow yourself to reawaken gradually.
Maybe wiggling the fingers and toes,
Reaching the arms back behind you,
Initiating a yawn,
Blinking your eyes open.
I hope you can take a little bit of this beach vacation with you for the rest of your day.
