Hi,
I'm Laura Collins.
I'd like to share with you today a simple exercise.
This is a visualization that you can do almost anywhere that you have a moment to get still and close your eyes for a bit.
Begin by getting very quiet and comfortable.
Notice any tension in your body and take a moment to breathe into those places,
Making a conscious but gentle effort to relax.
And after a few breaths,
Settle into a natural effortless breathing pattern.
If your mind begins to wander during this exercise,
Just gently bring yourself back to your breath.
So when you're comfortable and ready,
With your eyes closed,
Imagine a small concentrated ball of light in the center of your chest.
Picture this ball with your mind's eye and begin to feel its warmth.
Notice the quality and intensity of the light and keep your focus there for just a moment.
After a moment,
Picture the ball of light beginning to grow.
Watch as it expands and fills your chest cavity.
Let it become large enough to enter your lungs and spread through your rib cage,
Side to side,
Front to back.
Enjoy the feeling of warmth entering your heart and your stomach and just stay with that feeling for a moment.
When you're ready,
See the light spreading farther down into your belly and up into your throat.
And with each movement of the light,
Give yourself time to see it inside you and to feel its heat softly caressing your organs and the inside of your skin.
Now let it get bigger.
Let the light grow out through your shoulders and into your arms and all the way down to the palms of your hands.
Let your palms be open and relaxed.
Feel the intensity move down into your pelvis and enter your hip sockets.
Notice as the light expands slowly down your thighs,
Front and back,
And under your kneecaps.
Follow its movement down your shins and into your ankles and feet.
Now enjoy the feel of the light moving up your neck and into your face and head.
Feel its warmth in your jaws as they relax and behind your eyes filling your brain.
Give the light as much time as it needs to illumine all the inside of your skull and to seep into all the areas of your brain.
Now take a moment to feel this light pulsing through your whole body,
The inside of your skull,
The center of your chest,
The depths of your gut,
Palms of your hands,
Legs,
Bottom of your feet.
See your whole body full of light.
Stay with this image for as long as you want.
If you're ready,
Let the light break the bounds of your body and expand beyond your skin.
Like a five-pointed star,
Feel the light shoot out of your fingertips and the top of your head and the soles of your feet.
Let it ground you below like the roots of a tree and lift you like the wind in the tallest branches of an oak.
Shine out from the center of your being,
Knowing that the source of light is still within you.
Slowly begin to bring the light back into your body,
Back through your fingertips and your feet,
Into your brain.
Let it flow back up your back,
Up your legs and arms and down your neck and throat.
Feel it swim across your organs as it gathers back into your center.
Feel its power as it returns to its original shape in your heart center.
See the ball of light there,
In your middle,
In you.
Be with it.
When you're ready,
Gently bring yourself back to the world around you by wiggling your fingers and toes,
Slowly opening your eyes.
You may feel the residue of energy on your skin.
Remember,
You have access to this light at all times.
It never leaves you.
It is yours.
