This meditation is for those of us that tend to overthink or have constant thoughts and just can't seem to find a quiet moment in our minds.
We're playing with some gorgeous visualizations to calm our monkey minds today.
So start by sitting up anywhere you fancy,
Just shake it out.
Shake out your shoulders,
Your arms and your hands.
Relax your face and give it a little shake,
Just for a few moments let it all out.
When you're done take three lovely breaths,
Nice and deep into your belly,
Beginning to relax your shoulders,
Soften behind your belly,
Release through the back of your neck and your jaw.
Feel your cheeks melt,
Your hands tingle and soften and feel your legs relax.
Gently become aware of all your sit bones and how they're connected to the floor.
And to begin with we're going to visualize a beautiful old tree.
It is tall and powerful,
Full of leaves and gives off an air of calm and serenity.
Notice how it looks,
Its size and its surroundings.
Notice how strong and grounded it is.
We stand underneath and look up under its generous branches.
In there you can see lots of birds,
All perched alongside each other.
Some are close to each other on a big branch,
Others are by themselves on smaller branches.
And there are birds coming and going all around.
They sing and they chatter and there is a gentle hum of noise.
Notice how some stay still and are a bunching and some only land for a moment.
The tree as it stands stays still and allows all these birds to come and go.
But with a big gust of wind the leaves will shimmer and the birds fly away,
Leaving the tree quiet,
Calm and serene again.
After a few minutes the birds start to arrive again with their chatter and their songs.
Now see the tree give a little shake,
A little shake that gives the birds flight so off they go again.
And now we're going to become the tree.
We are the calm,
Steady and serene tree and these birds are our thoughts.
Some come and go,
Some stick around.
Some birds are colorful and others are a little plain.
Some are small and some are huge.
Our thoughts are just like these birds.
We can allow them to sit with us to fill our branches in our mind or we can slow down for a moment.
We can use our breath like the wind and become aware of what we're thinking and feeling.
We can have a little shake just like we did at the start to refresh and shift those thoughts,
To allow those birds and the thoughts to fly away,
Leave us feeling calm.
So next time you notice yourself overthinking or thinking about the past or the future or anything but the moment we're in,
Bring yourself back to your tree.
Notice what thoughts and birds are filling up your beautiful branches.
Give yourself a little shake or a nice big breath to allow the birds to gently fly away.
When you're ready bring a little smile onto your face,
Blink your eyes open and enjoy the rest of your day.
