Hi!
Thanks for joining me,
Klara,
On this guided visualisation for sleep,
Which is about being far away from everything in a vast landscape.
During the meditation,
You'll discover a unique forgotten place hidden amid this landscape.
Perhaps you have a place within yourself that you haven't been in touch with for a while.
Over time,
Adults tend to lose touch with their inner child,
The inner sense,
Spontaneity and innate wisdom.
Using your imagination in guided meditation is a great way to reconnect with your inner child.
And perhaps carry this over into your daily life and remind yourself to be more in touch with the childlike part,
More present,
Playful and living in the moment.
Before we begin,
Please find a comfortable place where you can relax.
Gently close your eyes or keep them open with a softened gaze.
Let go of all the tension you might have in your face,
Neck and shoulders.
Allow your breath to carry you into relaxation and find its natural rhythm.
Notice each inhale as your breath travels down to your lungs,
Into your belly.
And when you exhale,
How your belly contracts as your breath moves back out of your nostrils or mouth.
Invite your awareness to flow with your breath.
Be present with your breath and if your mind wanders away with a thought,
Emotion or sensation that catches your attention,
Gently guide awareness back to your breathing.
You must travel at night because the daytime heat in the desert is so extreme and forbidding.
You've spent hours sheltering in the shade of some large,
Smooth boulders.
But even in the shade,
The heat has been almost unbearable,
With the blazing sun too bright for your eyes.
But finally,
The sunset offers relief as darkness slowly creeps across the landscape.
When the first star appears in the sky,
You gather your things and pack your gear to leave.
Camels sleep only a couple of hours a day,
So your camel is awake and grazing on the scant stubby cross which has grown in the shadow of the rocks.
You secure your gear and climb onto the camel's back.
From up here,
The ground is a long way down,
Maybe six feet,
And the camel's head rises several feet above yours.
This camel is a dromedary with only one hump on his back.
He's a beige colour with a peaceful temperament and a willingness to please.
And now,
He gazes softly back at you,
Waiting for your command through long,
Pale lashes and heavy-lidded eyes.
Letting out,
The sky is clear and dense with stars.
And the cool light air contrasts with the temperature you experience during the daytime.
The camel walks farther into the desert and you begin to follow the North Star,
The brightest one.
And you imagine the thousands of pilgrims who've passed this way over time.
After a while,
The camel climbs up a mountain of sand.
And when you reach the top,
You can see the dunes stretching to the distant horizon.
The sinuous outlines formed by the wind into thousands of ridges and troughs.
Although the sand is constantly in motion,
Smoothed and sculpted by the wind,
There's complete stillness.
The landscape before you is reduced to bare essentials.
A rippling,
Rolling surface,
Cleansed of every living thing.
This desert was once a seabed.
And if you were to look closely at the sand,
You'd see small fishbones and shells.
The desert ocean.
You sway on the camel's back for hours and hours.
He keeps a steady,
Leisurely pace.
Sails are perfectly adapted to the desert.
Although you can't,
He can tolerate the heat of the day,
With long legs raising him high above the hot sand and thick fur offering protection from the sun.
Traumataries can go for 10 days without water and when they are thirsty they can drink 40 gallons in one go.
The lack of distinctive landmarks makes it seem like you've been walking in place for hours and hours.
The stars fade slowly and a faint lemon-magenta glow shadows the eastern horizon.
Now you need to find shelter somewhere within the undulating maze of dunes.
In the distance you catch sight of an odd looking dune.
And the closer you get you can see palm trees sticking out from the middle of it.
After a while you reach this place and discover it's an artificial dune created by a tall wall encircling the area which stops the wind and blocks the sand grain by grain.
The dune towers above,
Providing shelter for the trees and whatever else is in the middle of it.
You steer the camel around the dune.
Then,
Just as the sun rises,
A magical gust of wind kicks up an eddy of sand blowing it away from the dune to reveal a substantial studded double door made of cedar wood.
You get off the camel's back.
The door isn't locked so the handle opens easily.
The archway is large enough for you to easily lead the camel under it and through a passageway between massive stone walls.
You walk without knowing where you're going or what will happen next.
Within the walls you discover a forgotten courtyard with cloisters running down both sides.
Grand archways and buildings in ruins.
The tall emerald green date palms tower overhead.
Fragrant honeysuckle and dense crimson bulgumbilia hedges grow wild,
Tangled around lemon,
Orange and pomegranate trees.
Amazing that so much life can exist in the desert at all.
You call out but there's no answer.
The place has long been deserted.
It's hard to know what it once was.
A palace.
A fortress.
A shrine.
A monastery.
Who knows?
But now,
For you,
It's a sanctuary.
A shelter from the sea of sand outside and the relentless heat.
The camel wanders away and you follow,
Slowly behind him,
On the path he makes through the overgrowth.
Tortoises,
Chameleons and small birds scurry away.
You find the camel in a clearing,
Drinking from a small pool,
Crafted from colourful hand-cut mosaics.
You drink some of the water too.
After the long journey through the night,
It tastes like the most delicious water imaginable.
Cold and sweet,
From a spring deep underneath the desert.
After quenching your thirst,
You wander over to the structures on the side of the courtyard.
Everything has deteriorated into rubble,
Apart from one room left intact with the remaining medieval facade,
Worn down from a thousand years of life.
The roof remains,
With lattice staves casting stripes of shade across the floor.
On the remaining walls are rows of wooden shelves,
Cupboards and closets carved with perfect geometric designs.
You open one of the closet doors and discover a long object tied at both ends.
You pull it out.
It's a soft carpet,
Woven in strange patterns of red,
Sapphire blue and turquoise,
With a hint of lilac on the edges.
You carry the carpet outside to the cold spring,
Where you find the camel resting flat out in the clearing on a patch of grass.
You unravel the carpet and lie down on it under the shade of the trees.
This oasis is a perfect place to rest.
Here,
You feel calm and safe,
In a way you can't fathom.
There's a deep serenity,
Peace and solitude here.
This oasis offers a sanctuary and something else.
As you listen to the sound of the ancient spring,
You drift in the far-reaching swells of sleep.
You breathe in the present moment and breathe out a wonderful moment.
Silhouette decorated!
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