Joy and comfort is the number one rule for me to meditate,
Especially connecting with animals.
So take a moment to find that.
So let's breathe in and breathe out.
And slowly start connecting with your body and just check in with it.
Start with your toes and your feet.
Go through your ankles,
Your legs,
Your hips,
Your belly,
Your lower back,
Your chest.
Your shoulders,
Your arms and your neck.
You may roll your head from side to side.
Good.
Relax your jaws,
Your ears.
All the way to the top of the head.
Really nice.
And just familiarize yourself with the sounds and the smells around you.
And just feel how comfortable and safe and guarded you are in your own home.
Really nice.
With your next in-breath,
I want you to envision this beautiful,
Beautiful garden.
You're standing in the middle of this garden and everywhere you look,
It just goes.
There are trees and scrubs and there is grass and flowers and bushes.
There is fruit in the trees.
There are vegetables in the garden.
In the little scrubs,
There are raspberries,
Blackberries.
And just take your time.
Start wandering around in this garden.
There are many paths you can walk.
And every time you look around,
It has changed.
There are beautiful birds in the tree.
They're singing their own songs.
They're really,
Really beautiful.
And then on the side,
There is this hedge.
It's quite beautiful.
It has these red little fruit berries in them.
It really looks good.
And underneath this scrub,
There is this beautiful raccoon.
And she's eating the berries and she's also eating some seeds that are on the floor.
And then behind her,
You can see a couple of more heads coming out.
And they are all looking at you.
It's such a fun encounter.
It's almost like connecting with family,
With friends,
With loved ones.
And they're looking and you're looking back and you can start feeling this connection with these animals.
Next to you,
There is this beautiful rock.
And because you don't want to disturb the raccoons,
You're going to just sit on the rocks and you look at them so that they can connect with you on their own terms,
If they want to.
It is really nice and calming to just relax with them.
Wonderful!
It's so calming and relaxing to be in these environments.
You can hear the birds and you can hear the leaves growing off the trees.
And you have this amazing connection with these raccoons.
It's very clear that there is one is the mom and that she's joined you with her kids.
And she invites you to go on a walkabout.
So together all of you are going to go on a walkabout.
And it's so nice and calming.
You can feel the sun.
It's going there.
And you can hear the noises the little ones are making.
And they're getting more and more comfortable.
So they're getting through your feet and they're getting around you.
Mom is staying a little bit on the side.
She's keeping an eye on the kids.
And you can feel this heart to heart connection is coming.
And you can feel that there is a conversation coming.
And the mom looks at you and starts telling you that having a family is something wide,
A wide theme that you can work with.
It's not a given that it's set up by the description of the family in a book that someone describes.
But family is your environment,
Your community.
Family is what you eat,
What you drink.
It's where you spend the most time with.
And while you're listening to her wise words,
You can feel that you're settling into this conversation.
And she keeps going.
She's like,
Family is feeling safe and comfortable.
Family is where you can be yourself 100%.
And then she stops walking and she looks at you.
And she's like,
So where are you putting in time,
Effort,
Attention that you would love to give more time and attention?
And you start thinking about it.
And you get these themes and memories coming up.
And then she looks very straight into your eyes and comfortable.
And she says,
So where are you putting your time that you shouldn't?
Who is stealing your time?
Where's your time going if it's not with loved ones or with your passion or with nourishing yourself?
Just take a deep breath into that.
Don't overthink it,
But just feel the answers coming to you.
Take a breath in and out.
And just take a moment to really get that message.
You can feel the message coming into your body and you can feel it in certain places of your body.
It is interesting how some of the things that you're giving attention is definitely not feeding you and sometimes even depleting you.
This beautiful raccoon looks at you with love and respect and she's like,
Well,
There's no moment like today and right now to make changes.
And you can just feel how you're filling up with this support and love and understanding of the things that you've been doing.
There's no judgment.
It's all okay.
And then you notice that you've arrived back at this hedge and the raccoons or the little ones are diving underneath it.
And the mom raccoon,
She looks back at you,
Is like,
You got this.
And if you need more support,
You can always visit.
I'm here.
There's a little nod exchanged between the two of you.
And you just take a moment and sit down on that beautiful stone to just let everything integrate.
All the messages you just got,
All that beautiful energy that was exchanged and just take a deep breath into that.
And breathe out.
And then when you're ready,
Start walking back in this beautiful garden and just know that this garden is only a thought away.
You can arrive here in seconds.
You slowly start to feel the chair where you're sitting in or the ground that you're laying on and just start wiggling your toes and get your ankles to move.
And if you want,
Just give yourself a really big stretch.
And take a breath in and breathe out and open up your eyes and welcome back.
