The following meditation will focus on exploring the nature of our imagination.
So as we begin today,
We will take a few moments to nourish an atmosphere outside ourselves and within that will promote the kind of practice we wish to have.
Take some time now to retrieve anything you would like to have with you that may aid your practice.
I suggest warmer clothing,
A blanket,
A cushion or pillow,
Incense,
Candles,
Maybe even a mala,
Items of that nature.
Now take some time to set up the space around you if you so choose,
Closing the door if there is one,
Maybe opening a window,
Softening the light in the room or turning it off completely,
Lighting that incense or candle,
And anything else you may have in mind.
With the atmosphere taken care of,
We move on to the body.
Personally,
Before every meditation,
I choose to shake out the body and do a few simple movement patterns,
Like rotating through all the major joints in the body and a light stretching of the hips.
I suggest taking a few moments now to do this if you have not already or move right to finding your own comfortable meditative position.
Lastly,
The breath.
As you shift your focus to it,
Begin to slow it down continually and with intention,
Lengthening your inhales and exhales as much as you can comfortably.
You should just barely be able to feel the air passing in and out of the nose.
There should be little to no sound as it moves,
Silently filling up the entirety of the lungs.
We use this focus on the slow in and out movements of your breath to intentionally release all attachments to anything but the present.
These mountains that you are carrying,
You are only supposed to climb.
Najwa Zebian.
In your mind's eye,
Picture yourself seated,
Much like you are now,
In a small dark clearing.
Underneath you,
The ground feels soft and lush,
But supportive.
The blanket of night has just finished shrouding the world.
As the last rays of sunlight faded from the sky,
Your eyes adjust to the darkness around you,
And soon,
You can just barely make out the forms of trees and plant life encircling you.
The air here is gentle and warm on your skin as the passing of the sun lingers on for another short while.
Lifting your gaze up to the tops of the trees nearby,
You see a familiar,
Bright,
Reflective friend begin to crest over top of them.
The light of the full moon comes to life before you,
Illuminating this forest setting with a soft,
White glow.
Almost as if given permission by this moment,
Plant life around you begins to come to life as well.
Beautiful and bioluminescent of all colors,
They begin to glow and seemingly dance in the moonlight.
A mixture of floral and the fresh scent of a new rain drifts to your senses.
The sounds of the forest slowly alight and reach your ears as its inhabitants wake.
Something you didn't notice before now catches your eye.
The light of the plants seems to pulse ever so slowly in time with your breathing,
And here a deep feeling of connection begins to coalesce.
Out of the corner of your view,
A butterfly glides gently into the clearing.
The light of the moon shines off of its iridescent wings,
Where a brilliant pattern appears,
The canvas of nature.
You reach out your hand,
And the butterfly lands ever so softly on your finger,
Its body framed by the moon behind it in the sky.
It's in this moment you realize that much like the moon,
We must go through phases of emptiness to feel full again.
So with this thought,
And in this setting,
We've remained for the next little while to return again soon.
Together,
Full once more.
Drifting out of this imaginative space and back into the space around us once more,
We allow the time that has just passed to slip into memory,
A place we can return to whenever needed.
Slowly open the eyes if you so choose,
Or keep them closed for just a while longer.
Give control to the urges of the body to stretch and make small movements.
I will leave you with one last thing a friend told me long ago that I truly love.
That if you're ever feeling lonely,
Just look at the moon.
Someone,
Somewhere,
Is looking at it too.
Until next time,
And with love,
Namaste.
