Hello and welcome.
My name is Helen and I'm going to take you on a journey to a temple in a forest where you will meet Usui Sensei.
We'll begin by making ourselves comfortable.
Make sure that you won't be disturbed and when you find your seating position make sure that your back is well supported.
Once you are comfortable we will begin.
I'd like you to start by focusing on your breath.
Breathing in through your nose and out through either your mouth or your nose which ever is more comfortable for you.
Notice how the breath is much cooler on the in breath and feels warmer as you are breathing out.
With each out breath allow your body to relax more and more.
Breathing out feel your shoulders relaxing releasing tension and dropping.
Breathing out and allowing your jaw to soften and relax.
Breathing out and feeling all those small muscles around your mouth,
Your eyes and across your forehead softening and relaxing.
Just let go.
If your mind begins to wander just gently bring it back to focusing on your breath.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
I'd like you to imagine that you're standing at the foot of a hill.
You're on a path that leads up the hill towards a wooded area part way up the hill.
It's a warm sunny day and there's a gentle breeze caressing your face.
You're surrounded by an abundance of colour.
Green grass,
Baby blue sky,
A myriad of flowers,
Butterflies fluttering from bloom to bloom.
And you can hear the sounds of buzzing bees,
Birdsong and chirping crickets hidden in the grass.
Slowly you make your way up the path walking with ease.
Feeling carefree,
Relaxed and light hearted.
A sense of anticipation.
You reach the wooded area and as you start to make your way into the trees you notice how much cooler the air feels and how it smells a little differently.
Earthy,
Woody.
Shafts of sunlight come down through the tree branches.
You continue to follow the path.
You hear a sound.
Wind chimes in the distance and then there's a faint smell of incense burning.
You know that you are getting closer to the temple as the sound and the aroma get louder and stronger.
There in a small clearing is a wooden temple.
Wind chimes hanging by the door.
Incense burning.
The wafts of faint smoke rising.
You make your way to the small wooden steps leading up to the door and climb the steps.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
On reaching the door you remove your shoes and leave them on the good side as you gently push the door open and enter the temple.
It's a small area.
All you can see is an altar and two very large overstuffed floor cushions.
On the altar there's a Buddha,
Flickering candles burning and another stick of incense.
You make your way towards one of the cushions and settle down.
Close your eyes,
Breathing in the atmosphere.
Relaxing.
You can hear the door opening behind you and you're aware of someone else entering the temple,
Joining you on the cushion beside you.
You open your eyes and turn to look.
An elderly Japanese gentleman with twinkling eyes behind round spectacles and a beaming smile looks at you.
He puts his hands in gasho and gives a little bow of his head and welcomes you to his temple in the forest.
He is Usui Sensei.
He invites you to join him in meditation.
He says that you can ask him questions and he may answer.
He may even have a gift for you.
Spend some time in the temple with Usui Sensei.
Usui Sensei.
You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You The time has come for you to leave You both rise from your cushions,
Face each other,
Hands in gasho and bow You express your gratitude for the time spent with Usui Sensei He assures you that this temple is there for you to visit whenever you choose or Whenever you need him He walks you to the door And watches as you put your shoes on And walk back down the steps As you walk away You turn to look back at Usui Sensei standing in the door smiling and waving You continue your journey through the trees As you emerge from the forest out onto the hillside You look at the sky and notice that the sun is setting The sky is a fire with reds and oranges and pinks And you stand and watch as the sun sinks slowly over the horizon And the sky gets darker and darker Until the scene around you is fading And you begin to become aware of the room you're sitting in Become aware of your body moving your fingers and toes Slowly coming back Back to the room Take a nice deep breath in and as you breathe out Gently open your eyes Sit for a while and think about your meditation and your experiences You may want to write them down in a notebook Have a drink of water and When you feel ready Continue with the rest of your day
