Welcome to this guided imagery and art prompt,
Which invites you to explore what is blooming in your life,
What needs pruning,
And what is ready to grow.
This practice begins with a moment to ground and center,
Followed by a brief reflection on the metaphor of the garden,
And then an invitation to create a visual representation of your life as a garden.
At the end,
I will guide you through journaling prompts to help you reflect on what you've created.
Let us begin.
Find a comfortable seat.
You may be in a chair with your feet flat on the floor,
Or on a cushion with your legs crossed,
Whatever allows your body to feel supported.
Let your hands rest wherever they're comfortable.
This could be on your knees or in your lap,
With palms facing up or down.
You may close your eyes if that feels safe,
Or soften your gaze downward.
Begin by noticing your breath.
Notice the natural rhythm of the inhale and exhale.
Without trying to change the breath,
Just notice it.
Now,
On your next inhale,
Breathe into the heart and lungs.
Pause,
And then exhale fully and completely.
Pause again.
Continue breathing into the heart and lungs.
Pause,
Then exhale,
And pause.
We will continue this for a few rounds of breath.
From here,
You may return to a natural breath,
Or continue with deeper breathing if that feels comfortable to you.
Bring your awareness now to the places where your body makes contact with what's beneath you.
Notice the floor beneath your feet.
Notice your sitz bones on the chair or cushion beneath you.
Bring your awareness to the feet,
Noticing the bottoms of your feet and your toes.
Notice your ankles,
Your calves and shins,
And your knees.
Notice the tops of your legs,
Your hips,
And your sitz bones.
Notice your lower back and belly space.
Move your awareness up the spine,
Noticing the backside ribs,
Heart center,
And front side ribs.
Pause to notice the movement of heart and lungs in relation to the breath.
Now move your awareness up and across the shoulders,
Down through the arms,
Noticing the elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists,
Tops of hands,
Palms of hands,
And fingertips.
Notice if you feel any sensation in the fingertips,
And whether or not you feel anything,
That doesn't matter.
Just notice.
Now move your awareness back up through the arms,
Into the shoulders,
And up through the neck.
Notice the backside head,
The ears,
The jaw and cheekbones.
Notice the tip of your nose,
The bridge of your nose,
And the eyes.
Notice the eyes,
The eyebrows,
And forehead.
Soften the eyes,
Eyebrows,
And forehead if you can.
Now notice the crown of the head.
Notice any sensations at the crown of the head.
Notice the right side body,
The left side body,
And the whole body.
Notice the whole body.
Here let's take one more deep breath in,
Pause,
And one more long breath out.
As you allow your breath to come back to natural,
We will move into the guided imagery.
In this meditation,
I invite you to consider your life as a garden.
This may be a vegetable garden,
Or a flower garden.
It could be a wild meadow.
This is not a perfect garden,
But it is your actual garden.
The one you are attending right now,
In this season of your life.
In any garden,
There are different kinds of plants.
Some may be thriving.
Some may be struggling.
Some are there because you planted them intentionally.
And others just showed up.
There may be plants that you water every day,
Or perhaps there are plants that are struggling that you've been meaning to tend to.
And there may be plants that are overgrown,
Or need to be divided or moved.
There are weeds that crept in uninvited,
Perennials that need dividing,
And seedlings that need space to grow.
Picture,
Again,
Your garden.
Especially when we are in midlife,
The gardens of our lives tend to become overgrown.
Not because you're a bad gardener,
But because you're a generous one.
You've said yes to many things.
You've shown up with responsibility.
You planted beautiful things by investing time in meaningful activities.
Perhaps you are noticing that somewhere along the way,
The garden became too big to tend well.
In today's practice,
We are not going to prune or pull anything yet.
We are not going to make decisions or take action.
We are simply going to witness this garden,
To see it clearly,
To observe without judgment what actually is growing in your life right now,
What wants to grow,
And what has taken on a life of its own.
It is difficult to tend a garden that is growing unseen.
So picture your garden.
Notice the size and shape.
Notice if the plants are crowded or growing in neat rows.
Notice if there is a desired state for your garden.
Sometimes there is this pull of what the garden should look like.
In today's practice,
Just stay with the garden as it is,
Right now,
In this season.
In a moment,
I'll invite you to open your eyes and create a visual representation of your life as this garden.
This does not need to be a literal illustration.
It can be abstract,
With shapes,
Colors,
Symbols,
Or words.
Just flow with what wants to emerge.
Use whatever materials you have,
Paper,
Colored pencils,
Markers,
Or pen.
You can use as much or as little time as you wish on this art prompt.
It could be a painting,
Or it could be a doodle.
When you're ready,
You may flutter your eyes open.
Begin by noticing what you're drawn to create.
Be mindful of the materials,
The creative processes,
And the scale of the work that wants to emerge.
And as you begin,
Try not to edit yourself.
Try to avoid judgment,
Because there is no right,
Wrong,
Or best to this process.
Just let your hands move,
And let the garden show itself to you.
When your garden feels complete,
And it doesn't need to be finished,
Just complete enough,
We will move into journaling and processing this artwork.
You may wish to pause this recording until you're ready to continue.
Now that you've completed your artwork,
Take a moment to simply witness what you've created.
Try not to judge or analyze it yet.
Just see it.
This is what your life looks like when you give it form as a garden.
This is what your body and mind have been trying to show you.
So here I invite you to journal with your garden.
In your notebook or journal,
Consider the following questions.
I will read them slowly with some space in between.
These are just food for thought as you explore the meaning in your artwork.
First,
Is there one good thing that is taking too much energy from other good things because there's just not enough space?
If certain plants had more breathing room,
What would be possible?
What would it feel like to tend fewer things more deeply?
Are there any weeds needing to be pulled?
As you write,
Remember,
This practice is about self-observation.
It is about seeing yourself clearly.
It is about honest assessment without judgment.
So repeating those questions,
What is one good thing that is taking too much energy from other things because there's simply not enough space?
And if there was more space or breathing room,
What becomes possible?
Notice what would it feel like to tend things more deeply?
Are any weeds needing to be pulled?
Just allow your mind to explore the meanings in your garden to reflect on your image.
You may wish to pause this recording to complete your journaling.
Or you may continue listening as I have just a few more parting comments.
Any necessary pruning,
The action,
The release,
The rearranging,
That comes later.
And so does any necessary seeding or replanting.
For now,
Just take note,
You have done the essential work of witnessing,
Of seeing clearly.
This clarity is the foundation for everything that follows.
Because you cannot bloom what you cannot tend.
And you cannot tend what you cannot see.
And now you see.
Thank you for taking this time to witness your garden with me and for giving yourself time and permission to see clearly without judgment what is growing and what needs space to breathe.
The goodness in me honors the goodness in you.
