This is a meditation for connecting with your beloved animals.
First I'm going to guide you into a relaxed state to help you focus.
I'm going to guide you to take some deep breaths and in between allow your breath to return to its normal rhythm.
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale and let whatever you are sitting on take all of your weight.
Take another deep breath in.
Exhale and become aware of your feet on the floor.
Take another deep breath in.
Exhale and notice each part of your body that is connected to whatever you are sitting on.
Now feeling more relaxed put your attention onto your breath and follow it.
Don't change it,
Just let it be your natural rhythm but just follow it with your awareness.
Notice the sensations as you breathe in and out.
The air in your nostrils feels cool.
You can also feel that coolness as it passes your throat.
And you can also notice the rise and fall of your chest.
Your shoulders may move up and down and your stomach in and out.
If you notice your mind has wandered just bring it back to your breath again.
It's completely normal and it may happen many times.
Each time you notice you've lost your attention just bring it back to your breath.
Relax your body as much as you can.
Relax your shoulders,
Your stomach,
Your jaw and smile.
If you're feeling a bit sad for any reason at all you can breathe with the focus on the area where you're feeling the emotions.
Imagine you're breathing into that area.
So now you're on your animal's same wavelength.
We're going to build up the love we feel for our animals in our hearts.
Remember those moments when you tell your dog he's a beautiful boy or she's done something really cute and you wish you managed to take a photo.
When they do something you're truly proud of like overcoming a challenge or even just watching their beautiful faces while they sleep.
When you're feeling so grateful they came into your life you could burst.
Muster up all those beautiful feelings.
Really feel them in your heart.
And now imagine all those beautiful feelings inside a bright glowing ball of energy inside your chest.
Continue to feel the emotions and see that ball filled with that beautiful feeling.
And now visualize a rainbow from your chest to your dog's chest.
It can be a coloured rainbow or simply a white rainbow.
And now visualize that beautiful ball of glowing energy moving along the rainbow from your chest to your animal's chest.
From your heart to their heart.
If your mind wanders again that's completely okay just bring it back and revisit the visualization.
See the connection between you and your animal knowing that you have shared all those beautiful feelings with your animal.
If you find you're concentrating really hard on this then just smile and breathe.
Knowing that you've shared that love you can refocus your attention on your breath to help you stay in the present moment.
Knowing that your animal now knows how much you love him or her.
If you struggle with that exercise and you're not so good at visualizing you can sit with them and watch their breathing and breathe in time with them.
If they're breathing fast you can breathe in one breath for two of theirs.
Put a smile on your face and feel that smile in your heart.
Look into their eyes and say out loud,
I love you.
Really feel the feeling you felt after conjuring up all those beautiful memories and tell them over and over again.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Now bring your attention back to your breath.
We're just going to ground ourselves as we come to the end of this visualization.
Become aware of your body sitting in the chair and your feet on the floor.
Take a deep breath in and maybe stretch your arms up over your head.
And exhale.
Shake your hands,
Wriggle your fingers and toes.
And now come back into the present moment with your eyes open if they weren't already.
And you and your animal friend can go about your day knowing the bond between you is even tighter.
