Hi,
Miss Janine here.
Today we're going to do a visualization meditation,
Which is just like making a movie in your mind.
So just try to listen to my words and just like you would watch a movie on TV,
Make the pictures in your mind.
It helps to close your eyes when we're doing this,
Just so you can block out all of the cool things that you would see with your eyes that might distract you.
So go ahead and get comfortable.
You can either lie down or sit in a comfortable chair.
It might be helpful to put a blanket on and get cozy.
And we'll start by taking three deep breaths.
So we'll breathe in through our nose,
Nice deep breath in and then breathing out the mouth.
Breathing in through the nose slowly,
Breathing out through the mouth slowly,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Let's begin our visualization,
Our story.
I invite you to imagine a river,
A wide river.
The water is deep.
Its banks are lined with trees and shrubs,
Mosses and rocks.
Perhaps there's a boat on your river.
It seems to stretch on forever.
The sun shines down on the boat and the water seems still.
It seems as if it's hardly moving.
Up ahead you see that the river narrows a bit.
The water is more shallow now.
Every so often you can see a large rock poking through the surface.
And if you're close to the banks of the river,
You can even see the bottom,
Sandy rocky bottom.
Now the water seems to be moving.
You can see it ripple and bubble,
Ripple and bubble just a bit as it passes by those large rocks that poke through the surface.
And you sit for a moment enjoying this river,
Noticing the animals and watching the water.
Now the river becomes a stream,
Even more narrow than before.
Smaller,
More narrow still.
And the water tumbles over rocks and spills down the small shoots that they have formed.
A mini waterfall.
The sound is relaxing,
But also exciting.
The rocks are slippery.
The trees cover the stream now like a tunnel for the water below.
And a leaf falls from a tree above the stream.
It gently floats down,
Down,
Down and lands on the water's surface.
It floats down the stream.
And then it is quickly scooped up into the bubbles and heads down the shoot,
Surfacing further down than it imagined.
A fallen tree rests just above the stream,
Creating a bridge from one side to the other.
A chipmunk crouches on the log,
Watching the stream below.
It nibbles on the seeds of a pine cone,
Leaving its scraps discarded around him.
A snail clings to the side of the log,
Feasting on a mushroom that has begun to grow from the log.
An acorn that lays next to the tree,
The fallen tree that has become a bridge.
It ever so slowly sends down its roots,
Down into the soil of the forest floor,
Right by the stream.
If you watch closely,
Perhaps you can see it slowly grow.
It's peaceful by the stream.
Perhaps another animal comes down for a cool drink now,
A deer or a raccoon,
A possum.
Perhaps you see birds in the bushes or trees above.
Perhaps the birds use the stream as a little bird bath,
Washing their wings.
Dragonflies fly just over the surface of the stream,
Catching bugs.
Enjoy some time by the stream,
The calming sound of the water,
And watching and noticing the beauty and the wonder of nature surrounding you.
And know that you can come back to this spot whenever you would like,
Whenever you would like to revisit or need some calm,
Peaceful time,
A little escape,
A little relaxation.
All you need to do is lay down,
Breathe,
And imagine.
And breathe in through the nose,
Inhaling your lungs,
And then slowly breathing out the mouth,
Emptying the lungs.
Breathing in,
Nice deep breath in,
And then breathing out the mouth,
Full breath out.
Again,
Deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
If it's your bedtime,
You can slowly drift off to sleep.
If it's not,
You can begin to wiggle the fingers and toes,
Stretch the arms overhead,
Turn the head from side to side,
And gently wake up.
Thank you for meditating with me.
