This is a recording by Megan DeGraff,
Copyright Food,
Water,
Shelter,
Space.
Welcome to forest bathing visualization.
Find a comfortable sitting or laying position.
I invite you to close your eyes or lower them,
Keeping a soft gaze.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and let it all out slowly through your mouth.
One more time,
Deep breath in,
Take a pause at the top and out through your mouth.
Now return to your ordinary breathing and turn your focus to your body.
Doing a cursory scan,
Where might you have some tension?
Are your shoulders tight or pulled in or hunched?
Is your jaw clenched or your lips pursed tightly together?
Are your fingers or toes clenched?
Is your brow furrowed?
Let's take the next 15 minutes or so and press pause on whatever is going on in our corner of the world right now.
Wherever we are,
Whatever we're doing,
Let's just set it aside for now,
For just this short time and tune in to our bodies and our senses.
Imagine now that you are sitting in a wide green meadow which sits at the edge of a lush forest.
The grass is long and soft.
The delicate stalks bend with the wind and the fine cottony blossoms dance at the top.
The soft breeze ripples through and it brushes your face and hair.
As the breeze brushes by you,
Let it take the tension with it.
Your scalp relaxes.
Forehead and brow soften.
Your eyebrows and eyelids relax.
Your neck relaxes.
Your shoulders soften and drop.
Your arms relax and rest heavy at your side.
Your chest and belly soften,
Allowing the breath to fill and empty without restriction.
The tendons in your hips and knees soften,
Loosening your joints.
The bottoms of your feet are pressed against the cool grass of the meadow,
Each strand as tiny conduit bringing the Earth's energy into your body as the breeze cleanses the tension away.
Now imagine that you're standing up,
Walking towards the forest.
How does the light change as you near the forest's edge?
How does the temperature change on your skin?
How about the sounds?
Do you notice the difference in the sound of the breeze through the grass,
From the breeze through the trees?
As you cross the perimeter between meadow and forest,
Notice how your body feels.
Pause at the threshold of the forest,
Noticing this feeling.
Looking up at the treetops,
Notice the shapes of the branches and the leaves.
Notice their movements.
Notice the colors,
The light and shade that comes through.
Can you see the sky beyond the treetops?
How about clouds?
Now imagine you're slowly moving your head down,
Scanning from the treetops downwards.
Notice the change in patterns,
Lines,
Colors,
Movements.
Now pause and focus on your sense of smell.
Has it just rained in your forest or is it arid?
Notice the smell.
Notice the quality of the wet or dry air as it enters your nose and lungs.
Now reach down and touch the ground with your palm.
Are you touching soil?
Maybe moss or stones.
Maybe leaves or pines.
Note the texture,
The temperature.
Now scoop the soil in your hand.
Notice the qualities of it in the palms of your hand and on your fingertips.
Is it moist or dry?
Dense or airy?
Loose or clay-like?
Is it dark in color or light?
Deep and rich in a single color or mottled?
And what about the aroma?
Now take a few slow steps forward,
Noting how the ground feels under your feet.
Note the difference in feeling the pressure as you move from heel to midfoot to ball to toes.
Notice the give in the ground.
Now just take a pause and turn to what you can hear.
Is it the wind?
The tree leaves or branches?
Maybe birdsong.
Imagine for a moment what it must be like to be whatever is making these sounds.
Now imagine that you see a spot to sit that calls you.
Maybe it's a fallen tree or a moss-covered boulder or perhaps a spot near some water.
And you make your way over to the spot and either sit or lie.
Notice the contact points between you and this place.
Maybe your back,
Your bottom,
The back of your head,
Maybe your palms or fingertips.
As you breathe,
Notice the change in pressure between your body and your sit spot.
Now imagine you're a part of this spot.
You breathe in with your sit spot and breathe out with your sit spot and in with your sit spot and out.
Now expand this to all of the plants and trees of the forest.
Breathing in as you breathe in and out as you breathe out.
Now imagine all of the living creatures of the forest.
Breathing in as you breathe in and breathing out as you breathe out.
Now all of the elements of the forest.
Wind in as you breathe in and out as you breathe out.
The soil and rivers and rocks in and out.
Your breath is the continuous thread of connectedness to all that is around you.
Now imagine,
If you haven't already,
That you close your eyes so you no longer view the forest but keep breathing with the forest.
Now when you're ready,
Imagine opening your eyes to the forest as if it is the first time you have seen the forest.
Finally,
Imagine as you rise to exit the forest and perhaps rising where you are right now.
Breathing in and stretching your entire body out tall and wide from the bottoms of your feet through your legs and torso and up through your chest,
Neck and arms and out through your fingertips and a big breath out sending gratitude in all directions.
