Welcome.
This is Linda G.
Robert,
And it's your time to slow down,
To breathe,
And to let your mind and body rest.
Before we begin,
Please find a comfortable position,
Either sitting down or lying down,
And let your hands rest gently on your sides or on your lap,
Wherever they are comfortable.
Your eyes close softly,
If that feels right.
Now let's take a nice deep breath in,
And let it out slowly.
Again,
Inhale deeply,
And exhale fully,
Releasing any tightness.
For the next little while,
Your only task is to be here,
To breathe,
To notice,
And to experience.
Now let's prepare your body to relax even more deeply.
We'll gently tense and release different muscles,
And please keep in mind if you have any soreness,
Simply imagine the tensing,
As if your mind alone is moving the muscles.
I invite you to bring your attention to your shoulders.
Slowly lift them toward your ears,
And hold for a moment,
And release,
And notice the difference between stress and relaxation,
Between tension and ease.
Now your hands.
Gently make fists,
Hold them,
And let them go,
Let them go.
Feel the openness now.
Let's move to your legs,
And your feet.
Press your feet down,
And hold the tension.
Hold it,
And release the tension now.
Let the weight sink onto the surface.
Finally,
Bring your awareness to your face,
And softly scrunch your face as if making a silly expression,
And hold it,
And let it go.
Let it go,
Noticing the ease now in your face,
And in your body.
Now your body is more open,
And it's more ready for the journey that you're about to begin.
Imagine now that you're walking along a gentle path,
And with each step,
You arrive in a wide open meadow.
The grass is soft,
And you can see it moving with the breeze.
The wild flowers bloom in colors that lift your spirits of yellows,
And purples,
And soft whites.
And you can hear the bird calls in the distance.
There are songs weaving together like a gentle choir.
The sunlight warms your skin,
And the cool breeze,
Well,
It cools your face ever so gently.
Take a moment to notice how your body feels in this open space.
The meadow here represents freedom,
A place where you can breathe without pressure,
Where you can feel light and spacious.
So breathe in deeply,
Filling your lungs with this fresh open air,
And with each breath,
Let yourself feel more grounded and more at peace.
You continue to walk,
And you notice the path also continues.
And as you walk forward,
Tall trees begin to rise around you.
The meadow fades gently into the shelter of the forest.
Now you find find yourself surrounded by towering trees,
Their branches stretching high into the sky.
The air is cooler here,
And it carries a scent of pine,
And moss,
And rich earth.
Leaves rustle gently in the breeze.
A bird takes flight above you.
You can hear the fluttering of the wings very softly.
And as you walk deeper,
Notice how the forest makes you feel safe,
Makes you feel supported and very wise.
The trees have stood here for years,
Silently growing,
Enduring and adapting.
And they remind you of your own strength,
Of the wisdom that you carry inside of you.
So take a moment to breathe in this sense of inner guidance.
In this forest,
You are never lost.
You are always supported,
Always steady,
And very resilient.
Continuing along the path,
You now hear the faint sound of water.
And with each step,
The sound grows clearer.
The flowing,
Rushing,
Soothing rhythm of a river.
Now you stand at the edge of a gently flowing river.
The water sparkles in the light,
Moving so gracefully over smooth stones.
And you hear its steady rhythm,
Flowing,
Releasing,
And carrying everything forward.
This is the place to let go.
And so I invite you to choose one thing that you've been holding onto.
A stress,
A worry,
Or a burden that feels heavy.
Hold this thing in your mind for a moment.
And now imagine placing it gently into the water.
And watch as the current takes it and carries it downstream,
Farther and farther,
Until it eventually disappears from sight.
Notice how much lighter you feel.
The river reminds you that you don't need to carry everything.
Some things can be released.
They can be allowed to just flow away.
And now you decide to continue walking along the path.
The trees begin to thin,
And soon,
The ground rises gently beneath your feet.
You're climbing now,
Step by step,
Until you arrive at a mountain viewpoint.
And it's beautiful from up here.
So high.
At the top,
The air is crisp and so fresh.
You can see far into the distance,
Rolling hills and valleys,
Rivers,
And forests below.
Here,
I invite you to take a moment to bring to mind a stress or a challenge that has felt so large in your life.
Something that weighs heavily on you.
And hold this stress or challenge in your hands for a moment,
Noticing its size,
Noticing the shape.
And now gently toss it down into the valley below.
Watch as it falls,
Landing so far away at the bottom,
That you can't see it.
From up here,
Notice how small it looked as it was going down.
How unimportant it now seems from this higher perspective.
And breathe deeply into this awareness now.
You are so much bigger than your stress.
You are much more than your challenges.
You have the resilience and the capacity to rise above your challenges,
To rise above your stressors.
As we pause here for a few minutes,
Notice how light you feel now,
That you have gotten rid of some of the stress and some of the challenges in your life.
Before we leave the mountaintop,
Take a few final breaths here.
Soaking in the clarity and the calm and the strength that you've gathered along the way.
Now let's begin to make our way back down the path.
The mountain fades behind you.
The meadow recedes,
And the forest welcomes you once again.
You can't hear the river flow anymore.
But you think of each environment and you notice how they remain within you.
A reminder of your strength,
Of your openness,
And of your perspective.
Now take a slow breath in and exhale fully.
Notice how your body feels now.
Perhaps it feels lighter,
Calmer,
And more grounded.
You've given yourself permission to release,
To restore,
And to return to a healthy balance.
Bring to mind a sense of gratitude for your breath,
For your body,
And for the time that you've taken to nurture yourself.
I'd like you to imagine a gentle light surrounding you now.
It's calming you even more.
It's warming you and it's protecting you.
And know that you can return to this place of peace whenever you need to.
Now take another deep breath in,
Filling yourself with clarity and calm,
And exhaling and releasing any last trace of tension.
Begin to notice the space around you now,
The surface beneath you,
The sounds in your room,
And the air against your skin.
And when you feel ready,
Slowly wiggle your fingers and your toes,
And if your eyes are closed,
Gently open them,
Letting light return at your own pace.
And take one final breath in and out with a soft sigh.
You're here.
You are present and you are at peace.
Have a great end of your day.
