Go ahead and get comfortable,
Either sitting or lying down.
We're going to start with some deep,
Slow breathing.
Imagine pulling in that air all the way down through your belly,
Filling up your diaphragm,
Filling that torso from the bottom up,
After filling that belly area,
Allowing the air into your chest cavity,
Your lungs,
And exhaling,
Releasing from your lungs and your diaphragm that belly,
Imaginary belly area,
And continuing in this way for a few breaths,
Imagining as you breathe in this manner,
Filling up that belly and then the chest,
And exhaling,
Releasing chest,
Belly,
That there's a wave moving through your torso,
A slow,
Rhythmic wave,
A movement of your breath in your trunk.
Feel free to place a hand on that belly area,
Or if you're laying down,
Feel how your torso expands against,
Your back expands against the floor or the bed that you are on,
Or even the couch if you're upright.
You can have a hand on your chest,
A hand on your belly,
If you will,
Riding this wave in your own body.
As you continue breathing in this manner,
Bring to mind an ocean scene,
That you're at the beach,
An ocean or a lake,
And you get to flesh out the details.
Is it sunny and bright daytime?
Is it foggy?
Is it cool?
Are the stars out at night?
Imagine all of the sensory details of this place,
The color of the sand,
The texture.
Can you feel the wind in your hair,
A breeze ruffling it,
Or sunlight on your face?
Hear seagulls or the waves crash,
Smell sunscreen or ripe fruit or seaweed?
This can be a real or an imagined beach scene,
An alcove,
Maybe there's coral.
This is a place of calm and safety or comfort.
As you're continuing to breathe,
Enjoy the scene that you're in.
As you're inhaling,
Imagine drawing the water from the ocean's edge or the lake's edge up to your toes,
Up over the tops of your feet,
Let it swirl around your ankles.
As you exhale,
Release the water back to the ocean.
Inhale,
Draw the water up,
Let it slosh or froth around your feet and your ankles,
Exhale,
Release the water back.
Maybe you notice your heels dig deeper into the sand,
It's cooler there.
And continue in this manner,
Drawing in the water as you draw in breath,
Experiencing the warm water,
The cool water,
Whatever it might be.
Exhaling,
Releasing the water,
Allowing that draw back and the sinking down,
The rooting.
And we'll continue in this manner for a few breaths.
Allowing yourself to continue to enjoy other sensory details of this space.
Again,
It might be smell,
Or the wind,
You're hearing the waves lap or crash.
And we're going to add an aspect to our breathing,
Our deep belly breath,
Or drawing up of the water or releasing of the water.
As you inhale,
You draw the water up to your feet,
You're also drawing now something from the ocean that you might need,
Like courage or peace.
And as you're exhaling and releasing that water back to the ocean,
Exhaling something,
Releasing something you no longer need,
Something that isn't serving you.
That might be stress or anger.
Inhale,
Drawing into yourself something that you need.
Exhaling,
Releasing something you don't.
Continue in this manner with as many things as you'd like to receive and release.
And when you're ready,
Settling on one,
Almost as a breath prayer,
Or a mantra.
Settling on something that feels the most true or the most settling.
We're imagining,
As we release what we don't need into the ocean,
That it's a form of emotional composting or alchemy,
Where similarly to plants,
We can exhale carbon dioxide,
Which they utilize,
And they release the plants,
Take in that carbon dioxide,
Make their own oxygen as a byproduct,
Release that into the air,
Which we consume in this mutual reciprocity.
In the same way,
We're releasing what's not serving us to the water,
Allowing it to recycle,
Alchemize,
Compost,
And come back to us as a thing that we need.
When this aspect feels complete,
Allowing yourself just to return back to the sensation of drawing the water to yourself,
Releasing it back to the water's edge.
And then we begin to imagine what it might look like for us to leave our beach scene.
Does it fade out to black like the end of an old film?
Do we pick up our shoes,
Walk back to our bicycle?
Slowly make your way back to your body,
Tuning back into that wave in your torso,
Noticing that perhaps your body has found its own natural rhythm.
Perhaps there's deeper breath or slower heart rate as a result of finding this inner wisdom and natural rhythm that your body embraced.
When you're ready,
Bring yourself one step back to the present moment.
By rolling a wrist,
Opening your eyes,
Beginning to make movements towards sitting upright,
Appreciating the peace in your body,
And maybe taking with you that mantra that was discovered at the ocean's edge.
And ending for today.
