In this meditation we are going to learn how to manage a low mood.
This heavy feeling may be with you when you wake up in the morning.
It may sit on your shoulders throughout the day,
Hanging over you like a dark cloud,
Colouring every thought with negativity,
And sometimes even despair.
Fortunately when we look at our negative emotions,
We shine the light of focused awareness on them,
And in doing so we drain them of their energy.
First let's begin by sitting comfortably with our hands on our laps.
Make sure you won't be disturbed by people or by technology.
For the next few minutes you are allowing yourself to let go of your worries and take a brief vacation from this dark cloud.
If any worries arise,
Simply let them know that you'll deal with them later.
For now you're going to leave them outside.
Let us start by breathing deeply from our diaphragm and gently releasing the breath.
Imagine that as you inhale there is a white energy that is entering your lungs,
Filling your body with a bright light,
So you may literally radiate with this energy.
As we inhale we breathe in this energy,
And as we exhale we release fears,
We release worries and we can put our anxieties and depression to the side,
Even if just for a moment.
On the exhale we are allowing ourselves to let it all go.
All of it.
On the inhale we let this bright white light invigorate us,
Renew us,
Restore vitality to our bodies.
Now imagine you are standing on a beach.
The sun beats down and this beach is absolutely deserted.
There is not a single soul around.
We can feel free to be ourselves.
We feel peaceful and calm.
We have no worries.
Enjoy the gentle sound of the waves lapping on the beach.
It is a beautifully relaxing sound.
We breathe deeply,
Still bringing in that relaxing energy as we stand on this beach with the warm sun rays.
We feel calm.
We feel peaceful.
We have nothing on our feet,
So we decide to gently paddle into the shallow waters.
We are quite surprised as the water is warm,
Very warm,
As warm as a nice bath,
And still there is not a single soul on this beach.
We decide that because the water is so warm and inviting,
We are going to bathe in the water.
So we gently wade into the water as it rises up our legs to our waist,
Until we are just floating,
Just floating in the beautiful warm water,
Feeling the gentle undulation of the waves as they push and pull our body.
This beautiful sense of floating is so healing,
This serenity that we feel.
We must remember this feeling of floating,
Free from the dark mood that hovered over us in what now seems like a distant past.
The cloud is no longer part of this beautiful floating sensation.
We are just here,
Just now,
No worries,
Completely and utterly present.
We realize that this floating sensation is making the dark,
Heavy feeling shrink more and more,
Until it is nothing but a tiny speck,
So small that it no longer holds any power over us.
All we have to do is summon up this beautiful image and this beautiful floating sensation,
And this heavy feeling will shrink to nothing.
The peace,
The serenity and the quiet we feel makes it seem like we could stay floating like this for a thousand years.
We have no troubles,
No concerns.
We are just floating.
We breathe deeply again and exhale,
Releasing any further tension.
There is no sense of needing to be anywhere else than right here,
Floating.
Now we look up at the warm sun and gently begin to wade back to the shore.
And as we reach the beach,
We bring ourselves fully back into our bodies,
Once again bringing that light energy with each inhalation of breath and releasing tension with each exhalation of breath.
As we come back to our senses,
We will remember to carry that feeling,
That feeling of serenity – we will carry it with us throughout the day and night and whenever we feel that darkness return we're going to remember this wonderful floating sensation and we will feel recharged and free.
