In this meditation we're going to learn how to deal with the black dog of depression.
The black dog that sits on your shoulder when you wake up in the morning and never leaves and hangs over you like a depressing cloud filling every thought with doom and gloom and despair.
First of all,
Let us begin by sitting comfortably with our hands on our laps in a nice warm environment in an atmosphere where we will not be disturbed by telephones or people interrupting.
Just 10-15 minutes of peace and quiet.
Let's start by breathing deep breaths from our diaphragm and gently releasing.
And imagine as we inhale there is a white source of energy coming through the crowns of our head,
The crown chakra as it's called.
That white energy is filling us with a bright luminescence so that we literally radiate with that energy.
This energy is source energy,
The energy that comes from source,
The creator of everything we see all around us.
Inhale and on the exhalation we are releasing fears,
Worries,
Anxieties and depression.
We are letting it all go on the exhalation of the breath so that with each inhalation in comes that white source energy invigorating us,
Renewing us,
Restoring us and on the exhalation release.
Release tension.
Release worry.
Release fears.
Release sadness.
Release remorse.
Release recrimination.
Release anything that is nagging in our minds.
Let us just let go.
Now imagine you are standing on a beach,
The sun beats down and this beach is utterly deserted.
There's not a soul around and that does not concern us.
We feel peaceful and calm.
We have no worries.
We are just enjoying the gentle sound of the waves lapping on the beach.
It's a beautifully relaxing sound.
We breathe deeply,
Still bringing in that white source energy as we stand on this beach with the warm sun rays.
We feel calm.
We feel peaceful.
We have nothing on our feet.
We decide to gently paddle in the shallow waters.
We are quite surprised as the water is warm,
Very warm,
As warm as a bath and still there's not a soul on this beach.
We decide that because the water is so warm and inviting we are going to bathe in the water.
And so we gently wade into the water as it rises up our legs,
Up to our waist until we are just floating in the beautiful warm water,
Feeling the gentle undulation of the waves as they push and pull our body.
This beautiful sense of floating is so healing,
This serenity that we feel.
We must remember this feeling of floating free from the black dog of depression.
He is no longer part of this beautiful floating sensation.
We are just there in that warm water with the sun beating down on our faces.
Healing.
We realise that this floating sensation is making the black dog shrink until he is a tiny speck that can only be viewed by an electron microscope.
It is so infinitesimally small that the black dog no longer has any power or hold over us.
All we have to do is summon up this beautiful image of the beach and floating in the warm water with the sun beating down on us and the black dog shrinks to nothing.
The peace,
The quiet,
The serenity we feel that we could float in this water for a thousand years.
Nothing troubles us.
Nothing concerns us.
We are just floating.
Floating in the warmth with the gentle undulating waves.
We breathe deeply and we exhale releasing further tension,
Further worries.
All the time we are feeling the warmth and the blissful sensation of being suspended in water.
There is no time pressure.
There is no need to be anywhere other than just here floating in this warmth.
And now we wade out of the water and our bodies dry quickly under the warm sun.
We look up to the warm sun and we feel the beautiful heat of the sun's rays.
And once again we can hear the lapping waves on the beach.
The waves gently ebbing and flowing onto the sand.
And now we bring ourselves fully back into our bodies.
Once again bringing that white source energy with each inhalation of breath and releasing tension with each exhalation of breath.
And we are going to carry that feeling of serenity with us throughout the day and night.
And whenever we feel the black dog return we are going to think of this wonderful floating sensation and the black dog will be reduced to a speck of insignificance.
