Hello,
And welcome to this guided meditation for tending the inner garden.
I invite you to begin by finding someplace comfortable to either lay down or sit.
Really resting your body into whatever support is beneath you getting comfortable with pillows,
Blankets,
Whatever else you might need to feel fully comfortable and supported.
When you're ready,
I invite you to take a deep breath and through the nose.
Allow the eyes to soften and close as you exhale.
As you close your eyes,
Allow your eyeballs to soften back into the C caves of the skull.
You feel your job again to relax.
Feel a softening of the skin of the face,
The center of the brow.
Let's find a full inhale and a deep exhale.
A fuller inhale and a deeper exhale.
The fullest inhale you've taken maybe all day.
Pause when you reach the very top and sip in just a bit more air.
Expressive exhale,
Let it go.
Allowing the weight of your body to release towards the earth.
Now begin to let your breath relax.
Just a gentle in and out.
And see if as your breath goes in and out.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Is it possible to soften just a bit more on every single exhale?
Noticing tension in your body,
Those places of holding of gripping.
And with each exhale,
Allowing those places to soften to relax just a layer.
Feel the ground the earth underneath you rising to meet you along the backs of your legs up your spine,
The back of your head and neck.
Feeling the full support of your body.
Knowing in this moment that you are held.
As you begin to relax,
I invite you to imagine yourself walking along the path,
Any path that you wish,
Leading you to a garden.
And notice the path.
Is it made of stones of dirt,
Grass?
And notice the sensation of your feet on the path,
Either in your shoes or barefoot.
And it's a beautiful day and you feel relaxed and happy.
You can feel the warmth and the energy of the sunlight on your skin.
You take in your surroundings.
Perhaps there are trees,
Wildflowers,
Maybe birds singing.
Perhaps a cool breeze.
As you move along this path,
Soon you come to a gate leading into a garden.
And you know instinctively that this is your garden.
It is lush and vast.
It's a special place where you feel welcomed,
Safe and comfortable.
You push the gate open and you allow yourself to enter this garden.
And your garden is vast,
It's expansive,
Spreading out and out and out and you begin to explore it.
Experiencing the pleasures of this garden with all of your senses.
You begin to walk around looking about you see beautiful plants,
Trees,
Flowers,
Maybe even fruits and vegetables.
Maybe there are butterflies or dragonflies or hummingbirds in your garden.
Other creatures,
Little beings.
And you notice how your garden is laid out.
Maybe it's wild and free flowing.
Or maybe it's more structured with beds of flowers and clipped hedges or walkways.
As you breathe deeply in this place,
Perhaps there is a particular smell in the air,
A particular scent,
Fresh cut grass,
Earth,
Soil,
Maybe the smell of flowers,
Roses,
Jasmine,
Gardenias,
Lavender.
You take great pleasure from these scents as you breathe them into your lungs.
You hear the sounds of the garden,
The breeze birds singing.
Perhaps there is the sound of a fountain or a creek running through the garden.
You feel the sun,
The gentle breeze on your skin.
Do you touch the garden in some way,
Maybe through the soles of your bare feet,
Or reaching out and touching a plant,
Putting your hands in the soil and the dirt?
Holding a flower in your hand?
Do you explore the tastes of the garden?
Maybe you simply open your mouth and taste the air.
Or perhaps you pick a piece of fruit and bite into it.
Truly enjoying the tastes of this space.
And you allow yourself to continue to roam and explore your garden,
Seeing what catches your eye,
Your heart,
Your ear.
I invite you to notice how you are moving in your garden,
Slowly,
Deliberately.
Or perhaps you are running through your garden,
Feeling the wind in your hair soaking up its beauty.
Maybe you're even dancing,
However your body wants to move in this place,
Allowing it to be so.
And maybe you make some noise in the garden,
You sing or hum a tune.
You might shout the things that you might not let yourself shout otherwise.
Maybe you howl.
Really feeling that you are entirely free in this place that it is all yours.
You get to be exactly as you are in this space.
And something tells you to walk further in a certain direction.
You sense into which way you want to walk,
Which way is calling you and you begin to move in that direction.
And as you walk as you wander,
You come upon a peaceful,
Quiet spot in the garden under a large tree.
And this tree's trunk is massive,
And you can feel that it has been in your garden for quite a long time.
It has withstood many seasons and witnessed many things.
You feel the impulse to sit down at the base of this tree.
Its branches and leaves create a shelter above and around you,
Creating a safe and quiet space.
You feel your hips and your legs settle into the ground.
Your spine upright,
Tall and strong yet supported by the trunk of the tree behind you.
You are completely at ease here.
You place your fingertips on the earth beside you feeling the ground and tapping into the solid nourishing grounding energy of the earth.
Sensing into the vastness of the earth spreading out beneath you spreading down and down and out and down.
As if from your own root,
The base of your own spine from your legs,
You could begin to grow your own roots sending your own cord down into the earth beneath.
Connecting to that steady,
Serene space that exists both beneath and within you.
As you sense into this energy of the earth,
You ask the question,
What am I ready to grow?
What am I ready to grow?
You breathe feeling the answer emerging from deep within the core of you the core of the earth.
Knowing that the answer may come in words or images,
Maybe a felt sense in your belly,
Chest,
Throat.
What am I ready to grow?
You take in the response the answer and then pose another question.
What am I ready to release?
What am I ready to release?
Again,
Welcoming whatever comes through without judgment.
As you feel the answer emerging,
What it is that you're ready to release.
As if whatever that is could begin to melt down your body down towards that core descending down into the earth.
As if you could send whatever it is that you are ready to release an energy,
Belief,
A limiting relationship or way of being.
Whatever it might be as if you could send that down the court down,
Down,
Down to the vast expanse of the earth beneath you.
Sending it down to the very core of the earth where it burns up transmuting that old energy into something new.
Then allowing that new energy to begin to rise up that cord.
With each breath inviting that newness,
That new quality,
That new way of being and whatever the lessons of this release may be,
Allowing that to rise back up.
Welcoming that new energy and the lessons that accompany it back into your being.
You sense also the nourishment of the earth.
With each breath,
Drawing that nourishing grounded energy up the spine,
Past the pelvis,
The sacrum,
Past the belly button,
Filling the center of your abdomen,
Rising into your heart space,
Up to the collarbone,
Filling the throat,
Rising up to the jaw,
All the way to the third eye,
The center of the brow,
All the way to the very crown of your head.
Feeling your being filled with this nourishing,
Steady,
Rooted energy.
Does you feel complete?
Placing your fingertips back on the earth or somewhere on your own body?
Sending a message of gratitude.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
As you're ready,
You begin to bring the focus back to your body.
Feeling your hands resting on your body or on the ground.
Feeling your spine supported,
Grounded at ease.
Noticing the gentle inhale and the gentle exhale.
Allowing yourself to remain in this space for as long as feel supportive.
As you're ready,
Really only as you're ready.
Finding a full inhale.
And as you exhale,
Allowing the eyes to softly flutter open as you return to your day.
