Come to sitting upright on a chair in a comfortable position or lie down on a sofa or bed.
Now close your eyes and come to stillness.
Feel your body's weight on the surface that you are sitting or lying on.
Feeling supported by gravity.
Knowing that the earth is holding you.
Now bring your attention to your breath.
Tune into how your breath is now.
There's no need to change the breath in any way.
Simply notice how it is.
Right now.
Feels tense.
Don't tune into how a tense breath feels.
And if it's smooth,
Be curious about how a smooth breath feels.
Moment by moment by moment.
Feel the breath.
Feel the breath.
Feel the breath.
Feel the breath.
By moment by moment.
And now bring to mind your favorite animal.
That might be a pet.
One that is still alive or beloved pet from your childhood.
Or your favorite animal might be a wild animal.
Just know that you love this animal.
Now imagine it standing or lying in front of you.
Look into its eyes and watch it breathing.
Now imagine if that's okay that you reach out and touch your animal.
If it has fur,
Then touching its soft fur.
Feeling its warm body.
And notice how touching it makes you feel inside.
Do you have a warm fuzzy feeling inside?
Do you feel joy?
Maybe your mouth has taken on the gentle form of a smile.
And if you like,
You may also choose to imagine leaning against its warm body or even cuddling it.
How does that make you feel?
Maybe safe,
Maybe joyful.
And if you like,
You may also choose to imagine leaning against its warm body or even cuddling it.
See whether you can stay with your animal for a while,
Enjoying its company.
And if your mind wanders away from this practice,
Thoughts about the past or the future,
Then see if you can let go of those thoughts and gently redirect your attention back to being with your animal.
Feeling your animal's presence.
Now when you're ready,
Let's let go of your animal.
Before we end this meditation,
Once more coming to your breath.
How does your breath feel now?
How's your in-breath and how's your out-breath?
Following your breath for a while.
Now letting go of your breath and then in your own time gently opening up your eyes.
