Welcome to Imagination Meditation.
I'm Diana.
Today join me on a journey of winter rebirth and renewal as we leave one year and move into the next.
Let's get nice and comfortable.
Meet yourself in a cozy spot,
Settle your body into your seat,
Whether it be a chair,
A sofa or a cushion on the floor.
Lift your chest up and allow your body room to breathe easily.
Take a full breath in and let it out.
If you feel comfortable,
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Let's take a few nice long breaths in and out.
Full breath in and release it out.
Another full breath inward and let it go.
Listen to your breath.
Can you hear your inhalation?
How about the exhale?
What does your breath sound like?
Deepen the breath,
Breathing in as much air as you can and let it all out.
Listen to the audible sound.
There may be other sounds surrounding you.
Can you focus on just this sound of your own breath?
Notice the sound of the life force of air entering your body and exiting and then re-entering,
Always re-entering,
A subtle wind easing down into your lungs and then back out.
Does the sound get slightly louder or softer at times?
Feel free to experiment with the volume a little,
Making the breath louder by breathing more deeply or softer by lessening the breath.
Now return to normal breathing,
Whatever is your natural rhythm.
Notice the mechanism of your breathing.
Are you breathing in through the nose or the mouth?
Are you breathing back out through your nose or your mouth?
No need to change it.
Just notice what you're naturally doing.
Just observe the action.
Now try breathing in through your nose and out through your nose.
How does this feel?
Do your nasal passages feel slightly cool or warm?
Does the air feel warm as it exits your nostrils?
Now let's breathe in through the mouth and out through the mouth.
Notice how does this feel?
Does the air feel cooler than before?
Or does it feel warmer?
Do you notice any difference in air temperature between the inhale and the exhale?
Now try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
What do you notice about this variety of breathing?
Any change in temperature of either the air against the skin of your upper lip or the air as it moves through your body?
Now again return to normal breath,
Whatever feels natural.
Now notice how your upper body moves with your breath.
If you like you can place a hand on your belly and another hand on your chest.
Feel your belly expand with each in breath and feel it fall with every out breath.
How much does it expand?
Do you also notice your chest moving outward and inward?
Does the chest expand first followed by the belly?
Or is it the opposite?
Feel the air as it moves down into your belly,
Into the base of your lungs.
Feel its coolness within your torso.
Feel as your body pushes the air back out.
Your body embraces the air as it enters,
Welcoming the newness.
You hug the air,
Enveloping it like a cozy,
Snug blanket.
You imbue the air with a newfound warmth and then let it go back out into the world.
Feel free to release your hands back down to your lap or to your sides.
Now let's whisk ourselves away to our imaginary destination.
We wake up in an airy wood covered in a soft blanket of newly fallen snow.
The air is quiet,
The snow is untouched and hints with a slight sparkle under the rays of a gentle sun.
The light is not so bright as to make you squint.
It's softer,
As if the rays are filtered through a light mist.
You look up and you're surrounded by trees with their branches stretching to the sky.
With the leaves gone,
The light easily makes its way through the tree tops and down to the ground.
You see snow covering the earth.
The snow covers fallen tree trunks and various shrubs,
Hinting at their true shapes.
The world appears to be still.
Nothing around you seems to move.
You listen and you only hear the slight noise of snow falling from tree branches gently to the forest floor below.
You hear a gentle soft chirp.
You draw your head in the direction of the sound and see a quick dart of red.
Then you hear another small chirp.
It's the only sound that breaks the stillness and you're therefore drawn to it.
You take one small step in the direction it came from and listen for it again.
You hear a very slight rustling coming from a nearby bush.
When you look closely,
You see a spot of red,
A cardinal sitting on its branches.
The bird cocks its eye towards you to look at you from its side,
Its orange beak still.
Then it takes off in flight and the streak of red darts away.
You take a few steps forward.
The stillness surrounds you,
Almost as if the world is sleeping.
You keep walking slowly through the wood,
The only sound being your footsteps as they sink into the cushiony snow,
Uncovering crackly fallen leaves and haphazard twigs,
Their former dryness now eased and quieted by the moist layer of light.
You look up at a tree and notice a hollow within its trunk.
Just within,
The tip of a squirrel's head just peeks out and then disappears as the squirrel snuggles back into its cozy,
Warm home.
You notice a nearby hollow on the ground,
Not too close,
But just within sight.
It's a slight opening in the earth,
Next to a set of tree roots.
Perhaps there's a fox sleeping within its confines,
All snuggled up within the protection of the earth,
Or a bear hibernating for the winter,
Cozied up,
Waiting to emerge in a few months.
Continuing onward,
You find the trees are a little closer together,
Providing more protection for furry critters.
You notice an area of brush with taller grasses,
And you can just make out a slight imprint where a deer may have slept recently.
Stopping in the woods,
You look around.
Take a few moments to think about all the animals that have made their way through this forest that are perhaps sleeping,
Nestled in their dens,
For simply the day,
Or for perhaps the entire winter.
They've gone through the autumn and part of the winter,
And they're now setting themselves down to rest.
On instinct,
They know that this is a time to lay down,
To get a little shut-eye.
Then at different times,
Each will wake and emerge from its slumber,
To the brightness of a new day,
Or for some,
A new season.
Some like bears,
Will even arise with new little ones,
Seeing the world for the very first time.
Just like these animals,
This year is nestling down,
Ready to close its eyes for some much-needed sleep.
Soon the sun will rise on a newborn year,
Opening its eyes with the promise of renewal and rejuvenation.
We all will snuggle down for sleep on the last night of the current year,
And awake to a new year.
And just like the woodland creatures,
We can emerge from one season to the next,
Coming out of our dens to a world full of opportunity and new life.
And now,
Let's come back to our present surroundings,
Back to our current room.
Feel free to adjust yourself in your seat.
Stretch your back,
Your arms and your legs.
Take a deep breath in and out.
And whenever you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
I hope you enjoyed this meditation and that you may enjoy a newfound anticipation of what's waiting for you in the new year.
Enjoy this opportunity of rebirth and renewal as you awaken on January 1st to the prospects of a sweet new year.
Thank you for joining me,
And I hope to see you again soon.
