Welcome to Imagination Meditation,
I'm Diana.
Today we'll be enjoying ourselves in front of a warm,
Cozy fire on a chilly autumn night.
Let's get into a wonderfully comfortable position.
Sit down in a nice cushy spot,
Maybe with pillows under your seat or against your back.
Sit tall so you're alert but also gently relaxed.
Place your hands in your lap or by your sides.
Broaden your chest,
Relax your shoulders.
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Let's take a few nice deep breaths together.
Go ahead and take a long inhale,
Breathe it in,
Pause for a second,
And then breathe it out,
Letting the air go.
Another deep inhale,
Pause for a moment,
And breathe it out.
Now a couple cleansing breaths,
Breathe deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth.
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
Continue to breathe normally,
Finding a regular rhythm.
Don't worry about modifying the breath in any way.
Let's do a body scan to get in touch with how our body is feeling at this moment.
I'll name various areas of the body.
As each one is named,
Call it to your attention.
Notice if there's any sensation there,
Any tingling,
Any warmth or cold,
Anything at all.
If you feel any tension,
Just notice it and then relax it away.
Here we go.
We'll start at the top of the forehead.
Are you growing your brow,
Perhaps?
Feel free to touch your fingertips to your forehead and just relax the brow.
Sound the space between your eyebrows,
Your eyes behind closed lids,
Your cheekbones,
Your jaw.
Is your jaw tense or set?
If so,
Just try to loosen it at the muscles' ease.
You might move your jawbone left and right to help with this.
Breathe in and breathe out any tension.
Moving to your neck,
The front of the neck,
Take some deep breaths to relax the muscles surrounding your trachea.
Breath in,
Breath out.
Moving to the back of the neck,
The shoulders,
Relaxing them away from your ears,
Letting them ease downward.
Moving to your collarbone,
Your upper arms,
Your elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists,
Palms,
Fingers.
Something that feels a bit tight,
Feel free to move the muscles as necessary to help them loosen.
Moving back to the chest,
The top of the abdomen,
The upper back,
The lower abdomen,
The lower back.
Feel free to massage the lower back if needed.
Bring your focus to the sides of your waist,
Your hips,
Where your body meets your seat.
Moving to the upper legs,
The knees,
The calves,
Ankles,
Your heels,
And finally your toes.
Feel free to wiggle any part that would appreciate movement.
And let your focus make its way back up from your toes,
Up your legs,
Through your hips,
Your belly,
Up through your chest,
Your neck,
Up to your head,
And feeling the energy radiating upward from the top of your head.
Imagine any tension you've been feeling is drawn upward,
Up,
Up,
Until it just bursts forth from the top of your head,
Fully released from your body,
And raining down around you outside of your body.
Let the earth just drain any excess away from you.
Let it settle into the earth.
The earth just takes it in.
Take a deep breath here as all negative energy is released away from your body.
Settle into your body,
Into your seat.
And now that we feel a little lighter and a little freer,
Let's get ready to whisk ourselves away to today's meditation destination.
Let's go.
We find ourselves in a beautiful country living room.
You're sitting in a rocking chair made of beautifully varnished wood with a pillow behind your back and underneath you.
At your feet is a beautiful plush carpeted rug,
Perfect for sinking your toes into.
Nearby is a window to the outside.
Peering through it,
You can see a sliver of a white moon and underneath the tops of dark fir trees,
Just visible against the night sky.
A cozy soft Afghan blanket covers your lap,
Enveloping you in a comfortable warmth.
In front of you lies a fireplace mantle replete with homey touches,
A small embroidered tapestry with the words home sweet home.
A few carefully placed knickknacks chosen with love,
A vase of fresh flowers brightening the display.
Underneath the mantle,
A beautiful fireplace,
Surrounded by brick,
By marble.
And within this fireplace is crackling a merry,
Cozy,
Warm fire.
Flames emit a bright amber yellow glow.
Each bit of flame is covering a color spectrum of orange,
Yellow,
Amber as it dances.
The spectrum constantly moves.
The hues never cease to change.
Every second just a little bit different.
The base of the fire,
Where it burns the wood,
Is a deep red hue,
Slowly softening and intensifying in color.
Maybe you even notice a hint of blue quickening through part of the fire,
Where the flames emerge from around the edge of a log.
Each tendril of fire dances at a different height,
Some small,
In the shadow of some larger,
The taller ones leaping up to be seen.
Some flames,
Maybe jumping in front of a log,
Others behind,
The fire surrounding the logs from which it rises.
The movements are quick,
Renewing every second.
Each flame constantly moves,
Dances,
Leaps.
It dodges around a log,
Not to be missed,
Striving upward.
Sparks escape from the fire,
Tiny bright orange embers popping up into the air.
Crackles and pops emit from the fire.
Crackling varies in intensity,
Sometimes quiet,
Almost nonexistent,
Other times a bit louder.
A faint hissing underlies the crackles.
Here and there a louder pop bursts forth,
Perhaps accompanied by a floating spark.
The fire emits a cozy,
Warm heat.
You feel the hot warmth on your cheeks.
You hold out your hands toward the fire,
And feel the heat become a bit more intense against your palms.
Slowly,
You bring your hands back and cloak them within the folds of the blanket,
Protecting them from the high heat.
Looking down at the logs underneath the flames,
The logs have been cut into long pieces with the ends in the shape of triangles.
The edges of the logs are highlighted against the flames,
Which emerge from around and under them.
A few logs appear to have small,
Splintered pieces on their sides,
Which are caught by the fire.
The tree bark on the underside of the logs appears rough,
Like mosaic tiles.
Burnt up pieces of the logs fall to the bottom of the fire,
Lit up with a burning red glow.
You watch the fire for a few minutes more.
Then turn your gaze to the window.
The autumn air outside gets colder and colder,
But you're safe and warm and cozy inside,
Curled up with your comfy soft blanket in this country rocking chair,
Listening to the flames hiss and pop,
Watching the light flicker and dance,
Feeling the heat on your face.
Take a few minutes to enjoy this experience.
And now,
Let's come back to our current surroundings.
Back to the room,
Back to your seat.
Take a minute to wiggle around in your seat,
Circle your wrists,
Move your feet,
Take a cleansing breath in and out,
One more,
In and out.
And finally,
Whenever you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me for this fireside meditation.
Know that you can always come back to this beautifully warm spot anytime you want,
And just enjoy its simple comforts.
And now,
I wish you a wonderful rest of your day.
Come back and visit me again soon.
