Are you ready to meditate with Kori?
Climb up into bed and make sure that you're super,
Super comfortable.
Make sure that everything is just right in your room.
The light is just right.
You're wearing your cozy,
Comfy pajamas and all is well in the world so that you can relax your body and let go of your busy,
Busy day.
Stephanie had been playing field hockey with a group of friends.
She'd got bruises all over her legs.
She'd got a very strong,
Big,
Fat lump on one of her shins where one of the field hockey sticks had bashed her shin.
Accidentally,
Of course,
But still.
It was quite an active game and sometimes you can get hurt.
Stephanie was covered in bruises.
Her lower back was hurting because she'd been working out and practicing field hockey so much.
She was tired.
She also had a lump on her forehead where she'd ran into one of her teammates.
She was that busy focused on the ball and running across the field,
Trying to get a goal,
That she completely bumped into one of her teammates.
So the lump on her forehead was quite a bruiser.
And it had also darkened under her eyes so she looked to right side,
Basically.
But she loved field hockey.
But she was falling apart.
It was time to go to Moonbow Forest for a break.
Go to Moonbow Forest and escape this world for a little while.
Stephanie had a shower and put on her comfy sweatpants and a big baggy t-shirt.
She walked over to her dressing table and sat down at the chair.
She opened her jewelry box and took out her magical earrings.
Stephanie put the left earring in first.
Whether it was because she was tired,
Her energy was low,
Or she was just more sensitive with all the boo-boos and aches and pains in her body,
But she instantly felt the tingles.
She got a shiver down her spine.
And then she put the right earring on.
And the veil,
The curtain between the two worlds,
Appeared immediately in her inner sight.
With her eyes closed,
Stephanie stared at the curtain.
She took a nice,
Big,
Deep breath in anticipation of just being with her friends,
Being in this very magical place on the other side of wherever it was.
Using her right hand,
Stephanie reached up and moved the curtain to one side and stepped into Moonbow Forest.
The grass felt familiar underneath her feet.
She opened her eyes and took a look around,
And found herself in Moonbow Forest itself.
Up ahead,
Stephanie could see that Luna was there,
And she was also there with Nightingale,
Another unicorn.
Nightingale was the one that came over to Stephanie today.
Luna nodded her head and then walked in the opposite direction.
She must have business to attend to,
Thought Stephanie.
Nightingale came over.
He placed his forehead next to Stephanie's forehead,
And Stephanie closed down her eyes and fell.
She felt the energy of Nightingale.
His presence was strong and sturdy.
She felt very safe with Nightingale.
He always felt like a big,
Giant,
Giant oak tree.
Like he would protect her from the strongest winds,
The biggest sharks,
The scariest monsters.
Nightingale would take care of Stephanie.
Maybe that's why he was the one that was going to help Stephanie today.
He observed her as he moved his head away so he could look down and up her body.
He noticed all the bruises,
The lump on her forehead.
He noticed the dark circles underneath her eyes.
And he said,
Follow me.
We don't have far to go today.
It's just around the corner.
By now,
Stephanie had been to so many places in Moonbow Forest that she thought,
Okay,
Maybe it's somewhere where I know,
Because I know everywhere near the forest.
I know lots of places far away from the forest.
I wonder what Nightingale is going to take me to.
He walked around the corner,
Literally.
There was a tree there in front of him and he walked around it.
Stephanie followed and to her surprise,
Everything shifted and changed.
Like a new world appeared there in front of them both.
A part of Moonbow Forest that Stephanie had never,
Ever seen before.
Wow,
She said.
She was staring at a tree that must have been 200 feet tall.
Down below at the base of the tree,
All its roots were showing.
There was green,
Green grass at the bottom all around it.
The green,
Green grass spread out for miles.
And all she could see for miles and miles was green and green and green.
Like a plush green carpet.
Like when you stare out at the ocean and all you can see is the sea.
For as far as you can see.
That's what it looked like,
Except this big,
Giant,
Giant tree in the middle.
Where are we?
Said Stephanie.
Nightingale said,
This is Squirrel Haven.
Stephanie said,
Squirrel Haven?
She took a look at the tree and that's when she realised.
Running up and down the bark of the tree,
The closer they got,
She could see that there was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of squirrels.
What she thought were the roots at the base of the tree were not.
Were just hundreds and hundreds of squirrels gathered around the base of the tree.
They all were making like a squeaky,
Chatty noise as if they were talking and communicating with each other.
And then as they got closer,
Maybe about five steps away from the tree.
All of the squirrels all at once froze.
They all got very,
Very still as if they weren't there at all.
Nightingale said,
It's OK,
Guys.
This is Stephanie.
She's a friend and she needs some healing.
Stephanie stood still and then all of the squirrels started to move again as if they were at ease with what Nightingale had said.
They all started to come towards her.
At first,
Stephanie felt overwhelmed,
Seeing hundreds and hundreds of squirrels.
It was like a brown carpet coming towards her,
A brown wave.
Nightingale looked down at her and sensed her apprehension.
And he said,
It's OK.
This is the healing tree.
These squirrels are an extension of the healing tree.
They're part of her.
They do the work for her.
Like her arms.
Her legs,
Her hands,
Her head.
They are parts of this tree that can move.
She communicates with all of these squirrels and tells them what to do.
You're in a very,
Very magical,
Safe place,
Stephanie.
You can relax and know that you'll be taken care of here.
And I will always protect you.
Stephanie looked at Nightingale and said,
Yes,
I know,
I know.
The squirrels gathered round her in a big circle.
Nightingale started to take steps back as if he was moving out of the scene,
Away from what was now happening.
And for a split second,
Stephanie panicked.
Don't leave,
She thought.
But then she remembered that she trusted him.
And she loved everything about Moonbow Forest.
There wasn't anything here that was dark or evil or dangerous.
She was safe.
The squirrels started to chitter chatter amongst each other.
Some of them got very close to her legs as if they were staring at the bruises.
Some of the squirrels climbed on top of each other to create a pillow so that they could see up close what the lump on her forehead looked like and her dark circles underneath her eyes.
Stephanie just stood there very still and let them observe.
It was like a doctor examining you.
That's what it felt like.
All the squirrels would chitter chatter and come back into groups as if they were conferring and talking about what they needed to do for Stephanie.
And then,
The cool thing was,
They all went back to the tree.
All of the squirrels covered the bark of the tree,
So the tree trunk looked as if it was alive with squirrels,
Brown,
Everywhere.
They covered most of the tree,
Limbs,
The branches.
They went so far up the tree.
And this tree was 200 feet tall,
So you can imagine how many squirrels there were.
It was like they were going back to base,
Going back to the boss,
Going back to who was in charge to find out what to do next.
You could hear them squeaking and chitter chattering as if they were communicating with the tree.
And then they went very silent as if they were listening to the tree,
Whatever answer she was giving them.
And then,
This is where the cool stuff started to happen.
They all came over to Stephanie.
One of the squirrels ran up her leg,
Got on her left shoulder and said,
Trust us.
Trust us.
Okay?
Stephanie nodded.
Okay,
She said.
Lay down.
All you have to do is lay down,
Said the squirrel.
The squirrels behind Stephanie parted and made space so that she could lay down on the ground.
And then the squirrels all started to gather around her.
One of the squirrels said,
Close your eyes.
This won't hurt.
It'll be very,
Very pleasant.
Stephanie did what she was told and closed her eyes.
And all of a sudden she found herself on a cloud.
A big,
Soft,
Fluffy,
Marshmallow cloud.
She wasn't laying on the ground,
Surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of squirrels.
She was in the sky.
And the cloud,
Whatever it was made of,
Smelt like lavender.
And it was warm and soft to touch.
It started to rub over all of her legs,
The bruises on her legs.
It folded in and around as if it was hugging her and covering up her boo-boos with some kind of magical lavender potion.
Oh,
It smelled so good.
She loved the smell of lavender.
It was relaxing and calming and so healing.
Then she could feel the little cuts on her hands and the cut that she had on her ankle bone that she got from when she was smacked with a hockey stick.
The big,
Soft cloud smothered and covered and cuddled into her in all the places that she needed it.
It even very gently rolled over and flowed over the big bump on her forehead.
It gently massaged around the dark circles of her eyes.
It felt so nice.
It was like a personal masseuse that was hugging her and gently touching her boo-boos.
And as she felt the cloud touch her boo-boos,
She could feel the pain and the bruises disappearing.
She could feel the lump on her forehead melting away.
The dark circles around her eyes felt as if they were lifted and taken away from her.
Everything about this felt floaty and light and so,
So relaxing.
She could feel herself and her body just giving in to complete,
Complete relaxation.
Surrendering to being taken care of,
Being loved and pampered.
It was like her whole body was getting a healing session from the cloud.
Not once did she see a squirrel.
Not once did she feel a squirrel.
It was like she was in another world,
A world of lavender clouds.
Floating in the sky.
Being completely spoiled and taken care of.
Her whole body started to feel light.
It started to feel energised.
She started to feel full of life again.
Her whole body felt healed and ready to play hockey for days.
She felt as if she'd been dipped in a magical potion.
And all of the aches and pains had been taken away and then,
On the other side of it,
She was clean and fresh and renewed.
Ah,
She felt herself say.
This is so nice.
Stephanie stayed on the floating lavender cloud until she fell asleep.
And then,
A little while later,
She felt like she woke up.
As she looked up at the sky,
She saw all the branches and hundreds and hundreds of squirrels peering down at her,
As if to say,
Oh,
You decided to wake up,
Did you?
Stephanie sat up and turned around to look at the tree.
She said out loud,
Thank you so much,
That was so nice.
The tree seemed to just bow,
As if to say,
You're welcome.
There was a big,
Loud rustle as the branches swayed and moved,
And all of the squirrels held on tight,
Squeaking and talking to each other.
She doesn't understand what happened,
How she found herself on a lavender cloud,
But that's what they did.
The healing squirrels and the healing tree at Squirrel Haven was a very special place.
When Nightingale finally came back to take her home,
She said to Nightingale,
Remind me to come back here whenever I get any boo-boos,
Please,
Because that was the best spa in the entire world.
Nightingale started to laugh.
I don't know about a spa,
But it's definitely a very special place.
Squirrel Haven is a place where we all go to get healing,
And it's a very magical healing tree.
We're very lucky to have it here at Moonbow Forest.
Stephanie said,
Yes,
You are,
And I'm very lucky for you sharing it with me.
As Stephanie walked with Nightingale back around the original tree,
She found herself there in a regular Moonbow Forest area.
Nightingale said it was time for her to go back.
Stephanie wasn't arguing,
Even though she felt wonderful and renewed and refreshed.
She did feel tired,
Like she wanted to sleep for days.
In the next moment,
Stephanie found herself in bed.
She pulled up the covers and rolled onto her side.
She pulled her knees up tight and laid.
Very comfortably.
Very relaxed.
And extremely healed.
And then she fell fast asleep.
The end.
