Are you ready to meditate with Kari?
Lie down,
Get comfortable,
Relax your body,
Let go of your day so far.
It's time to go to the beach.
Olivia and her sister Sophia were at the beach with their cat Poppy.
Poppy and Cherry were bestest friends.
They were both crazy together.
So far they'd made sandcastles together.
They had buried each other.
They played in the surf and boogie-bordered together.
They were pooped.
They had been playing in the sun all day long.
Heidi and Veya had spent most of the day under a sun umbrella just reading a book,
Chilling out relaxing on the beach.
Olivia who was 10 had been taking care of her sister Sophia who was 2.
The parents weren't too far away.
They'd been playing games themselves.
Olivia had buried Sophia and then Sophia attempted to bury Olivia.
Everyone had had a really nice day at the beach.
Veya suggested to Cherry and Poppy that they lay down and relax.
She said,
Me thinks you should just enjoy the beach,
Lay down,
Close your eyes and listen to the waves.
You've been going and going and going all day long guys.
It's time,
Me thinks,
That you should relax.
Heidi opened one of her eyes.
She was already laid down.
I think that's a really good idea.
Maybe we could practice grounding.
We could work on our chakras.
The cats along with Olivia knew what chakras were.
Chakras are energy centers in the body.
You don't really see them but you can sense them and feel them.
And each chakra is connected to a different part of the way that we think.
The root chakra is a perfect chakra for grounding.
And grounding is when you connect to Mother Earth.
It simply means you're grounding,
You're connecting,
You're feeling Mother Earth as you walk in the forest or sit on the beach or just stand on the grass barefoot.
That's called grounding.
And grounding is really good for you.
If you're feeling confused or angry or upset,
Sometimes it's nice to just take off your socks and shoes,
Go stand outside on the grass and just breathe for a few minutes.
I promise you'll feel definitely so much better.
The cats already knew all about their chakras and grounding because of course they were friends with Kori.
And she'd done grounding meditations and chakra meditations with them.
And Olivia and her little sister Sophia knew about meditations with chakras because Olivia had done them before.
Sophia was a bit too young.
She didn't really know.
But Olivia knew and understood,
So when Heidi suggested that they ground while they were on the beach,
She thought that was a really good idea too.
Everyone laid down and got comfortable on the blanket.
Cherry said,
OMG,
You know,
Actually,
This is really nice.
This is really good.
Good idea.
Don't you think Poppy?
Good idea.
Because me and you together,
We're absolutely crazy.
We're crazy,
Fantastical crazy.
We're crazy.
We would just keep going and going and going and going and going.
And you know what?
By the end of the day,
We'd probably get really cranky because we were so tired.
We wouldn't know what to do with ourselves.
You know how you get that tired that you get really annoyed and you get really irritated and really cranky.
So easy.
And you know you should have stopped and you should have just had a nice warm bath or listened to a relaxing story or just,
You know,
Went to sleep for a bit.
But no,
You don't do you?
Especially when you were your friend like Poppy,
Poppy,
Who just keeps making you go crazy and crazy and crazy and crazy.
And then before you know it,
You crash.
So thank you.
Thanks fair for having this awesome idea to stop,
Lay down for a little bit and relax so we don't crash because me crashing is not pretty.
You know that,
Right?
We knew that and they all nodded.
Poppy started laughing.
She laid down and closed her eyes.
Poppy and Cherry held hands.
They don't get to see each other very often.
So it's really nice when they can play together.
And now they're going to meditate together.
They're going to ground their bodies and connect to the beach and listen to the waves.
And just imagine they're super,
Super connected.
Like taffy stuck on a table or honey stuck on your fingers.
They just going to imagine that they're really sticky and connected to the beach so that they can get revitalized,
Balanced,
Energized and feel all strong and stable.
Everyone closed their eyes.
They're being still and quiet for some time.
The only noise that they could hear was the waves in the background.
Occasional voices and laughter or a bird flying by that made a noise.
It's very,
Very peaceful.
Then all of a sudden this big giant dog ran really close by them.
Its owner had thrown a ball and it was chasing to go get the ball.
But as it ran really close by them,
It kicked sand everywhere and sand went all over the cats,
All over Olivia and her sister Sophia.
Everyone was covered in sand.
Everybody sat up.
Hey,
She said,
Be careful.
That wasn't very nice.
What's it?
She looked at everybody.
No one looked very happy.
Poppy it just froze.
Poppy wasn't saying anything.
Poppy her crazy loud friend wasn't saying a word.
She just looked very,
Very still and quiet and frightened.
The dog came back and said,
Oh,
Stop moaning.
It's only a bit of sand.
Cherry said,
That's not the point.
The point is you weren't very nice.
You ran past us.
You could have,
You covered us.
You covered us.
You covered us.
She was a bit nervous.
You covered us all in sand and then you never said sorry.
That's not very nice at all.
I think you should have just said sorry.
Don't you think Poppy?
Don't you think Heidi?
Don't you think,
Faye,
That he should just say sorry?
The dog stood there very big and he looked a little bit menacing.
This made Poppy,
Her friend,
Freeze even more.
So still,
So quiet.
She'd gone as white as a ghost.
The dog said,
Argh,
Barked at everyone quite loudly a couple of times and carried on chasing the ball.
Faye just brushed off the sand.
That's okay.
Me thinks it's okay.
We can just lay back down.
He's gone away now.
Everyone just forget about it.
Heidi said,
Come on everyone.
It's all right.
No one was hurt.
Everyone lay back down.
We can just get back into our meditation,
Listen to the beach and have a nice day.
Don't let that bully of a dog go and ruin it for everyone.
Cherry looked at Poppy.
Poppy was still as white as a ghost.
Cherry got concerned.
Poppy,
Are you all right?
You don't look all right.
You look really,
Really scared and frightened.
Just take a breath,
Poppy.
Just breathe.
Everything's all right.
You're safe.
No one's going to get you.
No one's going to hurt you.
We're all here to protect each other.
We would never let anyone hurt you.
Poppy stuttered.
She couldn't even talk.
Cherry said,
Poppy,
It's okay.
Just breathe.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Just breathe.
Calm down.
It's all right.
Everything's okay.
That big,
Horrible bully of a dog has gone away.
And if he comes back,
Don't worry.
We'll sort him out,
Won't we?
Olivia said,
I'll just tell the owner that the dog's not being very nice and he needs to keep the dog on a leash and that will be the end of that,
Poppy.
Don't you worry.
Poppy still couldn't speak.
She was trying very hard,
But the words would not come out.
It was like her voice had just frozen.
Everything in her body had frozen.
She was so scared.
Cherry said,
Come on,
Poppy.
You're not like this.
You're more like me.
Come on.
You're easygoing.
You're crazy.
You're,
You know,
You like to do fun things.
You're normally really loud and nuts,
To be honest.
What's wrong with you?
Finally,
Poppy got the courage to talk.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Everyone in unison said,
Don't be sorry.
What's wrong?
Poppy said,
I just,
I just,
I just get so scared.
I've noticed it's,
It's a pattern of mine.
If,
If something scares me,
I just freeze.
I freeze.
If somebody shouts at me or somebody bullies me or somebody scares me,
I don't know what else to do.
I just freeze and then I can't talk.
My voice just disappears.
It's like someone's holding my throat really,
Really tightly and,
And I just can't say anything.
I don't know why it happens.
It always happens.
Whenever I'm scared,
I just freeze and then I just can't talk.
And I,
I,
I really don't like it.
She started to get upset.
Cherry said,
Poppy,
Come on,
Don't be upset.
Don't cry.
It's all right.
It's all right.
Everybody gets frightened in different ways.
Some people get really angry when they're frightened,
Like me,
And,
And,
And they,
And they get really loud and aggressive.
That's me.
And,
And you know,
I can't help that.
I just kind of get scared.
So I think if I get loud,
Then I'm going to scare everyone and then,
And then they won't hurt me.
That's what I do.
And then Heidi,
Heidi gets very reasonable when she's scared.
She just stays really normal.
Don't you,
Heidi?
Heidi said,
Yeah,
I just stay calm normally.
I don't let things get to me that easy.
They are,
They are,
They are,
They are always polite.
So she just kind of always understands people or,
Or makes excuses for them and says,
You know,
It's all right.
Maybe they were having a bad day.
They are so annoyingly nice like that.
You know,
They are smiled.
Me,
Me can't help it.
And then Olivia said to her cat,
Poppy,
Don't worry,
Poppy,
It's all right.
This is just how you handle being frightened.
We all still love you.
Cherry said,
Of course we don't.
OMG,
That's absolutely ridiculous.
Can you imagine not loving you just because you freeze when you're scared?
Do you know how many people do that?
Do you know how many cats do that?
How many dogs do that?
How many,
How many beings all over the world do that?
Lots and lots and lots of beings get scared and then they just go still.
And they can't talk.
I would imagine,
I would imagine like 50%.
She was just guessing,
Trying to make Poppy feel better.
Maybe even 60%.
Now she was being a bit ridiculous.
I bet 90%.
Now she was being really,
Really ridiculous,
But it didn't matter.
Her heart was in the right place.
She was just trying to make Poppy feel okay about the fact that she goes very still and quiet when she's scared.
Poppy was mad now because when she gets scared and goes quiet,
She feels like she can't defend herself.
This makes me so angry,
Said Poppy.
But I don't get angry in the minute.
I get angry afterwards at myself for not saying anything or doing anything.
And then it's always the same.
In the moment,
The next time,
I'll just freeze.
You can bet,
You can bet I'll just freeze.
Angry said as she put her arm around Poppy.
I think we should just let it go.
You know,
It's no point in saying,
Don't be scared.
Next time just shout at him because that probably won't happen.
You know,
I think you should just be kinder to yourself,
Poppy.
Don't get mad at yourself.
I think maybe it's somewhat something that,
That,
That you just need to work on.
Maybe maybe over time you'll stop being so scared.
Maybe you need to do like more confident things,
Like things that make you feel more confident about being in frightening situations,
Like practice being frightened and then finding a way out of it.
Maybe like pretend that you're frightened and take deep breaths and then your voice will be okay and you'll be able to talk.
Or maybe,
Maybe you can practice with me and we'll pretend that,
That I'm scaring you and then you can breathe,
Take a deep breath and then you can say,
Stop being so mean or whatever you need to say so that you feel like you're defending yourself.
Do you think,
Do you think that would help?
I think that would help.
Don't you,
Heidi?
Heidi knows everything.
Yes,
I actually think that might be a good idea because practicing something like that will help you in the real situation because your brain is used to it because you've been practicing it and then eventually when you get into the real situation where maybe somebody is shouting at you or scaring you,
You'll just go into automatic and you'll be able to say something and defend yourself.
It's worth a try.
Poppy thanked everyone for being there and being her friend.
The dog was long gone.
The beach was empty once again.
But everyone laid down,
Focused on the base of their spine,
Their root chakra,
Their grounding chakra,
The one that actually made them feel safe and grounded,
Protected,
Connected to mother earth,
Which was perfect really.
It was exactly what Poppy needed.
They meditated for quite some time and then eventually everyone went home,
Went to bed,
Got very,
Very comfortable.
Of course,
They all individually thought about their day,
But then took some deep breaths to let go of their day.
Everything will be normal tomorrow.
The world,
The people,
The animals,
Everybody will be right there waiting to live again tomorrow.
So right now,
You might as well go to sleep.
And have some sweet,
Sweet dreams.
The end.
