Meditation utilizes visualization.
Visualization is a powerful method that allows you to use your imagination to help you relax.
Start to find a comfortable spot.
That could be seated in a comfortable chair or lying down.
Take your time to arrive and then gently close your eyes.
Find a deep breath into your belly.
Start to feel yourself in your body.
Right now,
In this moment.
As you breathe,
Allow your body to completely and fully relax.
Stress flowing out of you with each breath,
Allowing your body to become at ease,
Soft.
If there's any tension in your brow,
Let it go.
If there's any tension in your jaw,
Let it go.
If there's any tension in your shoulders,
Let it go.
Once you feel completely relaxed and centered,
Start to bring yourself to one of your favorite peaceful,
Beautiful places.
This could be a place you've been before,
Like a quiet forest with cool shade and towering trees that protects you in their embrace.
Or a white sand beach where the ocean waves gently lap the shore and the smell of the sea makes you feel at home.
It could be a place built entirely in your imagination.
A lovely,
Slowly swaying bridge that you stand on,
Watching a babbling brook flow away beneath it.
Or an ancient oak in the autumn,
Something out of an old legend.
Or golden leaves fall around you as you sit under the shade and watch the golden sun pass over the horizon into twilight.
Wherever this special,
Peaceful place is for you,
Take a moment to imagine it as completely as you can imagine it.
Really put yourself in the space.
Once you have your special place in mind,
Start to allow yourself to be put into the picture.
Take a walk and look at the lovely,
Peaceful,
Relaxing surroundings.
Before,
You were looking at this peaceful scene like a painting from a distance.
And now you're in it.
You are living it.
Be there right now.
What do you see around you?
What in this scene is most relaxing to you?
Walk around this special place and take in all that you can see.
What do you smell in the air?
Can you smell the trees and the soil of the forest floor beneath you?
Or do you smell the salty air of the ocean side?
Bring scent into your visualization.
Inhale the air where you are.
Reach out and touch something that's attractive and peaceful to you.
How does it feel?
Is it soft to your touch?
You're living in the scene.
You can feel the ground beneath you and the air on your skin.
How does it feel?
Take a moment to listen.
What sounds do you hear in this beautiful surrounding?
Is it birds chirping in the wood?
Is it ocean waves in their perpetual,
Booming rhythm?
Perhaps there's music in the background.
Or maybe you hear the voice of an old friend that soothes and calms you.
Whatever you hear,
Take a moment now to enjoy listening to it.
You can stay in this scene as long as you want to,
Enjoying this moment of relaxation that you've taken for yourself.
Feel free to walk around in this special place as long as you want.
It's yours.
You can change it as you wish.
Remember that this peaceful place is always here for you.
You need not be afraid to lose it.
It's always within you.
The relaxation that you feel right now,
At this moment,
In your body,
Is yours to call on any time you wish.
When you're ready,
Slowly,
The scene you've set,
Dissolve back into your mind.
Allow yourself to slowly come back to the comfortable place before you imagined this.
When you're ready,
In your own time,
You can slowly blink the eyes open and come back to this moment,
This time,
And this reality.
Take a deep breath in and a full breath out.
Before you get up,
Take a moment to note how relaxed you feel right now and then slowly,
Attentively,
Lovingly move on with your daily life.
