Begin to calm your body.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose and let it out through your mouth on a sigh.
Let's do that again.
In through your nose,
Out through your mouth.
In through your nose,
Out through your mouth.
It feels so good to breathe.
Your body is beginning to feel still and heavy.
Now let's imagine.
Imagine that you are at the top of a mountain on a beautiful fall morning.
The early sun's peachy light shines all around you,
Enveloping you like a warm blanket.
Your skin feels warm and comfortable.
You gaze out at the magnificent view.
You see trees all around you,
Pine trees with thick,
Dark needles.
Deep orange oak trees with their little acorn bunches,
Just waiting for the squirrels to come and collect them.
Birch trees with their zebra-like bark and red and yellow leaves.
Your eyes are delighted by all of the rich colors of fall.
Off in the distance are mountains,
Layers and layers of rolling hills.
You count them.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six layers.
The one closest to you,
A dark blue.
The one furthest from you,
A very pale gray,
Almost fading into the clouds.
You take a slow,
Deep breath in.
The smell of the mountain air can only be described as clean.
There's no real smell to it.
Just moist,
Clean air that,
As you breathe in and let the air fill your lungs,
Seems to cleanse you from the inside out.
You pause to listen.
To your surprise,
At first you hear nothing.
No noises from the busyness of our day.
Just silence.
Your body softens,
Your heart slows as the peace of quiet covers you.
As you sit in the stillness,
Your ears begin to hear a sound,
A delicate chirping.
Oh,
You know what that is,
A tiny,
Distant orchestra of crickets.
A moment later,
A cool breeze flows in.
As it passes,
You hear a slight rustling of the trees around you,
As if the breeze is saying to the trees,
Good morning,
Wake up.
Sit and enjoy the sounds of nature.
Every now and then,
A happy bird awakens from his slumber and chirps a little tune.
Or an insect flies by,
Getting louder as she approaches you,
And then easily flying off into the mountain sky.
You feel different out here.
Sitting outside,
Feeling the warm sun on your skin,
Seeing the beautiful trees and mountains,
Smelling the clean,
Fresh air,
And hearing the sounds of nature,
You feel still and at peace.
Your mind doesn't seem to jump to think about this or to worry about that,
Like a little rabbit hopping from thought to thought.
Instead,
Your mind is focused.
In the moment,
You are present,
And you feel great.
You sit for just a few more moments,
Enjoying the chorus of crickets,
Breathing deeply in and out,
Your lungs filling with the clean air.
The earth today is sharing its peaceful quiet with you,
And you feel grateful.
Now,
Bring your awareness back to the present moment.
Slowly wiggle your toes,
Begin to stretch your body,
Hear the sounds in the room.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Take one more deep,
Cleansing breath in through your nose,
And out through your mouth.
Take this moment of quiet with you throughout your day,
And know that you are loved.
