Monkey meditation.
Get super comfortable,
Preferably on your back,
But you can also do this sitting up,
Lying or sitting.
Become aware of touch,
Where your body touches the floor or the seat.
Notice how your clothes touch your body.
What do the different surfaces feel like?
Now notice your ears,
The shape of them,
Your instruments for hearing and begin to use them to listen.
How many different sounds can you hear?
Far away?
And near?
Different sounds.
Now bring your attention to your eyes.
Can you see anything behind your eyelids?
Maybe it's all black.
Other times there may be different shades of grey,
Or colour,
Or even images.
Notice your tongue,
The tip of the tongue,
The sides of the tongue,
All the way down to the bottom of your tongue at the back of your throat.
Can you notice saliva in your mouth?
Do you taste anything?
Imagine the taste of your favourite food and swallow the taste.
Lastly,
Bring your attention to your nose,
Your sense of smell.
What can you smell?
Again,
You could imagine your favourite smell.
Enjoy the scent.
Now we're going to take a deep breath in through the nose.
And out the mouth like a sigh.
Again in.
And out.
One more.
Scan your body.
And notice anywhere that you might feel some stress or tension.
In your face.
In your head.
Relax your temples and jaw.
Your neck and your shoulders.
Relax.
Your arms and hands.
Heavy.
Relaxed.
Your chest and belly.
Notice they move when you breathe.
Feel it and just allow that area to relax.
Your whole back.
Relaxed.
Your buttocks and hips.
Your legs.
Heavy.
Soft and relaxed.
And your feet.
Your whole body relaxed.
Now if your eyes aren't closed,
Close them now.
It's easier to relax and imagine that way.
But if you feel safer to keep your eyes open,
That's okay too.
Let's take a walk in your imagination.
Into a lush green jungle or a tropical rainforest.
Can you feel the air?
Thick with humidity.
Smell the ground.
Rich and earthy.
Listen to the soundscapes.
Birds,
Lizards and insects.
See the various shades of green that come in different shapes and sizes of leaves and trees.
As your gaze continues skyward,
Can you see a grey monkey sitting in a tree?
A curious monkey looking down at you.
The look on his face makes you feel like he knows a secret.
And you wonder what it could be.
Monkey reaches for a vine and hangs there with ease.
His other arm hanging loosely by his side.
He suddenly shrieks a laugh and with grace and power he throws his body toward another tree.
The one arm holding the vine lets go.
And now you are flying through the air,
Looking through monkey's eyes.
Halfway between trees,
Mid-flight.
You feel a glimpse of monkey's secret.
To fly,
To get where you want to go,
You need to let go.
Your arm,
The monkey's arm,
Reaches out and grasps another vine and you glide easily to the next tree.
You pause there,
Considering whether to keep moving or to just rest in this tree.
You decide to rest and daydream a little.
The daydreamings are that of the monkey.
You see yourself in the troop,
As a baby,
Clinging to your mum.
You are always on her back,
Her front,
Or with one hand permanently attached.
You want so much to play with the other monkeys,
But you are too scared to let go of your mum.
Over time,
You see yourself,
Bit by bit,
Letting go,
And then bounding back to your mum.
Now,
You see that you are old enough to completely let go.
And you smile to yourself,
As you remember the adventures you had with your friends.
Thinking of friends,
You remember a fierce fight you had with your best friend over a single ripe banana.
The quarrel was intense,
Each of you pulling and screeching.
You felt huge unfairness in the way he was treating you.
You recall how this grudge grew against your friend.
You held a ball of sadness and resentment within you,
Long after he dropped his end of the banana and walked away.
The sadness continued to grow,
And you felt isolated from the troop of other young monkeys.
On your own,
In your grief and sadness,
You noticed an old leaf floating lightly down to the ground from a tree.
You felt this as a realisation,
That you could just let go of resentment,
The way the tree let go of the leaf.
You didn't need to hold onto the past any more than the tree needed to hold onto the old leaf.
A weight lifted off your shoulders.
By releasing this grudge,
You not only mended your friendship with your best friend,
Who welcomed you back with open arms and a playful grin,
But you also found yourself embraced by new monkeys,
New friends,
And much to your delight,
More bananas than he could ever eat.
In letting go,
Monkey discovered that he had made way for receiving even more.
Monkey heard a sigh from the tree.
Ah,
Thought Monkey,
Even the tree knows this.
The tree receives carbon dioxide from the air and releases or lets go of oxygen for us to breathe.
This also occurs through photosynthesis,
Which requires receiving light from the sun to grow and flourish.
And to continue to do this,
The tree also needs to let go of its old leaves and fruit,
Which then nourishes the ground and animals below.
All of this Monkey knew was part of the secret to life.
To be always playful,
Curious,
And to let go of that which does not serve you.
Knowing that not only is this healthy for you,
But when you let go of what no longer serves you,
You open doors to new opportunities.
At the same time,
It allows what you let go of to be free and serve others in other ways,
The way the leaves and old fruit nourish the earth.
Notice how you feel now.
And ask yourself if there is anything you need to let go of.
Give yourself a big hug.
Wiggle your fingers and toes.
Take a few big awakening breaths.
And continue on with your day.
