Take a couple deep breaths in and out through the nose,
Letting everything go,
All of your thoughts.
Can you settle into your body?
Relaxing your shoulders and breathing deep into the belly,
Feeling your whole body relax.
Let's begin with a piece of poetry from the Tao Te Ching.
In harmony with the Tao,
The sky is clear and spacious.
The earth is solid and full.
All creatures flourish together,
Content with the way they are endlessly repeating themselves,
Renewed.
When man interferes with the Tao,
The sky becomes filthy,
The earth becomes depleted,
The equilibrium crumbles,
Creatures become extinct.
The master views the parts with compassion because he understands the whole,
His constant practice,
His humility.
He doesn't glitter like a jewel,
But lets himself be shaped by the Tao,
As rugged and common as a stone.
So today we're going to enter a world unmarked by man as we become masters of ourselves,
Slowing the breath,
Beginning to journey inwards,
Into the mind,
Into the imagination.
It is mid-afternoon on a winter's day,
Just on the cusp of spring,
And the sun is hanging suspended over the earth,
Like a ripe,
Low-hanging fruit,
Bathing the earth in a glorious golden light.
You can feel the potential of the moment,
The potential of the earth,
The potential of your breath,
As you feel the cusp of change in this moment.
Breathe in the world.
Breathe in the world.
You're standing in the middle of an ancient,
Old oak forest.
Allow your mind to create the richness of detail,
The ancient trees full of stories,
Full of lives,
Weathered and twisted to amazing shapes through the passage of time.
They have stayed strong throughout many of earth's changes,
As you do,
As you will,
As you live through the ebb and flow of life.
You feel at peace,
And allow this strength and slowness of the great oak tree to wash over you,
From your mind into your emotional body,
Letting everything go until you feel a deep relaxation in the muscles of your own body.
You,
You are as constant as the oak,
And you choose to progress through every change in your own perfect timing.
With this solidness of your own being,
Start to look around the forest,
Taking in the details,
Seeing the young and old trees,
Feeling the moss beneath your toes,
Noticing some leaves on the ground or songbirds littering through branches.
Allow yourself to explore your internal forest,
Feeling the magic and mystery within you.
As your awareness grows,
You start to hear the faint trickle of stream somewhere in the distance.
You start moving towards the sound of running water,
Maybe moving fast,
Maybe slow,
Maybe skipping whatever suits you in this moment.
Exploring,
Taking in the details,
Allowing your mind to become creative,
Potent.
As we get closer and closer to the river and running water.
And eventually,
You reach the side of a stream.
Notice how clear the water is.
You can see rocks beneath the surface.
Maybe you see fish or a fishing bird close by.
You look further up the river and notice a waterfall in the distance.
And start to make your way towards that crash of water,
Letting your mind decide whether it's large or small,
Whether the water is running fast or slow.
This is your space,
Your inner world.
You get to create it.
And as we get closer,
You even reach your hand out and feel that water trickle through your cupped hands.
Feeling the fullness of the water rejuvenating you as you smile at the wonders of planet,
Our earth.
Maybe you dip your feet into the water.
Maybe you go the whole way in under the shower of your waterfall.
Maybe you sit by the edge.
Relax.
Doing whatever feels most nourishing for you.
As you allow the sounds of your forest to wash over you.
Feeling it deep in your body.
Relaxation flowing from the crown of your head all the way down the spine to the tips of your toes.
Marvelling at the beauty of your secret space,
Untouched by anybody else.
You can make a choice here to stay where you are by the waterfall or continue to further explore upstream or returned forest.
Taking in the experience,
The rich colors around you.
Noticing new plants or animals.
Feeling the softness of sunlight against your skin.
The pleasure of having this time to reconnect with who you are and with nature.
Taking some deep breaths,
Trying to hold your feelings and imaginings while also connecting with that flow of breath throughout your body.
Strengthening our ability to combine our dreams with our body's feelings.
So that you'll know and recognize when your dreams come true.
The body always knows.
We just need to learn to listen.
Slowly start to return back along the little bed,
Back through the trees to the place where you began.
Slowly getting the most out of every moment,
Every image,
Every color,
Every sound and sensation as you make your way back through that ancient oak forest.
Perhaps feeling the bark of a tree,
Giving it a hug,
Picking up a leaf,
Discovering an acorn on the ground.
Finding a friend,
Be it a squirrel or a hedgehog hidden in hibernation.
And once you're back at your starting point,
Allow the images to fade away,
Becoming more aware of your body,
The breath.
Allowing several moments to relax,
To release imagination,
And slip fully into the awareness of your body.
Listening to the emotions,
Listening to any feelings,
A tingle in the fingertips,
Some relaxation in the spine or lower back.
You come back to the breath.
I invite you to place your hands on your belly so that you can feel that slow growth and sinking as you inhale and exhale,
Nurturing your body,
Feeling connection as you breathe into the space.
Deepen your body,
Deep in the belly.
Each breath a little longer,
A little slower than the one that came before.
If you'd like,
Giving your breath colour and imagining that colour infusing into your body,
Starting at your lungs and heart centre and spreading out to your limbs until your whole body is glowing with that colour.
You can remove your hands from the belly and start to bring some movement into the fingertips,
Your hands,
Even allowing your neck to roll,
Allowing for any movement that feels good,
Remembering to keep those deep belly breaths even with movement.
And in your own time,
Bring your hands to prayer in front of your chest and start to rub the palms of your hands together,
Creating some heat from the friction,
Moving faster and faster.
When you're ready,
Placing your hands anywhere on your body that you feel needs a bit of extra love and nourishment today.
For me,
This is often my shoulders or lower back and you'll know the right space for you.
So feeling the connection between your hands and your body,
Breathe into this space,
Feeling the warmth transfer from your hands into your body and repeating,
I love myself,
I care for myself,
I have everything that I need,
I share my love and light.
With your next exhale,
Release your hands,
Placing them anywhere you wish,
And slowly begin to open the eyes,
Coming back into the space.
