So today's meditation is a little bit different because we are going to be listening to the sound of a waterfall throughout the meditation.
So go and get yourself somewhere comfortable and we'll begin.
Now me personally I quite like to have silence or at least just the sounds of life around me.
I have meditated with music and I do like to meditate out in the wild in the countryside with nature but I also like sometimes to have a soundscape or the soundtrack of say a rainforest or a seaside to sort of almost help me to be transported to that place especially if my mind is a little bit busy.
So we're going to try that today so in a moment we're going to start hearing the sound of a waterfall and that might help you to create the image in your mind and almost imagine that you're standing next to a waterfall.
So we'll give that a go and see how it affects your meditation experience but we'll start as always by getting somewhere comfortable just taking a moment to lengthen through the spine and balance your left and right hand side.
Maybe take a little moment of love for the shoulders and the neck making sure you're not feeling any tension in your body and if you are just take a moment to breathe into that tension try and breathe out and let it release and soften and just put your hands down onto your lap or to your knees and if you're happy to now close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Just making sure that your jaw is relaxed your hands and fingers are relaxed and your feet are flat down on the ground rooting you into the earth.
So start to feel your breath that rise and fall and just start to lengthen and deepen the breath a little bit if that's comfortable for you but remember without judgment to any points.
So let's take two deep breaths together so breathing in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth and again and now close your mouth if that's comfortable for you and start to breathe in and out through your nose.
As we're heading to an imaginary waterfall if you're focusing on your Yuzhai breath I'd like you to breathe in to the crown of your head and as you breathe out with your mouth closed maybe you can always hear the sound of rushing water as you exhale through your nose.
Every time we breathe out it's trying to find softness and a sense of release and relaxation within your body softening your muscles releasing any tension that you feel.
I'd like you now to imagine that you're standing next to the top of a waterfall just taking a few deep breaths here almost feeling that cool crisp air that you might feel if you were standing next to a fast flowing waterfall.
Just notice how you feel.
And here at the top of the waterfall you can see that the water flows fast down over the rocks down down down towards the river below.
The sound is loud you can feel the breeze you can smell the fresh air.
Let's take a few moments to experience this power of nature here at the top of the waterfall.
I'd like you to try and make your exhale longer than your inhale really tuning in to the sound of the water and the sensation of your breath.
If there's anything on your mind that's not helping you or serving you you might like to imagine that the waterfall is washing it away.
So as you're breathing out just begin to let go and feel cleansed anything on your mind that's not helping you or serving you.
I'd like you to look a little closer at the waterfall what colour is it are there blues is there froth or white foam can you see through the water and what can you see beneath are there rocks or stones are there parts of tree branches that have fallen into the water can you even see fish take a moment to notice all of the details of your waterfall the shapes the patterns any detail at all watch how the water changes from the waterfall down below into the river everything is washed away in this constant powerful flow notice how you feel nothing is stagnant everything is constantly moving and flowing we'll move down a little lower as we walk down the side of the waterfall down the path and notice your surroundings are there trees or flowers are there rocks notice what's around you and take a few deep breaths here and just notice this feeling of being in nature and taking a sense of gratitude for this moment and let's tune in to our breath so breathing in to the crown as the head breathing out fully from head to toe as if our body is a waterfall breathing out releasing and letting go flowing and helping ourselves to feel the sense of freedom and peace within just imagining the body as a waterfall itself just for these last few moments let everything go as you breathe out as it washes away anything you don't need as our visit to our waterfall begins to draw to a close just allow any images to fade knowing that you can return to them at any time and start to let your breath return to a comfortable rhythm and flow for you and maybe find a little movement in the body with them in toes and fingers maybe take a little stretch and then when you're ready bring your hands together and giving the hands a little bit of a rub create some warmth and some heat and hovering your hands over your eyes and blink your eyes open inside your hands and bring your hands down away from your face and i'm here and i hope that was a different way of taking some time out for yourself remembering the definition of meditation is focused attention on the present moment on purpose without judgment so we can definitely use sounds as part of our experience but do let me know how it felt for you i hope it was a nice part of your day and i look forward to seeing you again very soon bye for now
