Welcome to this short meditation on imagining and discovering peace.
We're going to start this meditation by sitting up straight with our feet firmly on the ground and our back straight.
You can imagine a cord attached to the top of your head gently pulling you up.
If you prefer you can lie on the floor for this meditation.
Take a moment or two to get yourself as comfortable as you can.
You might want to have a little bit of a fidget,
A little bit of a roll around before you find a comfortable position.
As soon as you're ready you're going to take a couple of deep breaths in through the nose.
Hold the breath for a second or two and then slowly release the breath.
And again.
We'll do this one more time and this time when you release the breath gently allow your eyes to close.
So if you haven't already a deep breath in through the nose,
Holding,
Slowly releasing the breath and allowing your eyes to close.
Now I'd like you to simply be an observer of your breath.
Don't try to do anything.
Simply watch.
Watch as you breathe in through your nose,
As your chest fills,
As your stomach or your belly fills and then watch as you release that breath through your belly,
Through your chest and through your nose.
Spend a moment just observing that cycle of breath.
Now bring your awareness to your stomach and chest as they expand with each inhalation and as they deflate or lower with each exhalation.
Notice how your body relaxes further with each out breath.
Just watch yourself breathing gently and observe yourself relaxing more deeply with each out breath.
And in this relaxed and peaceful frame of mind I'd like you to imagine that you are either sitting or standing on a beach in the summertime.
See if you can picture the scene,
Notice any seaside smells,
Imagine any of the sounds that you might hear and notice the feeling of the warmth of the Sun on your body.
Bring your awareness now to your toes and your feet and feel the Sun's warmth spreading through them and simply watch as the Sun's warmth spreads into your calves,
Up through your knees,
Into your thighs.
Its warmth spreading through your hips,
Rising to your stomach and your back,
Rising through your chest.
The warmth spreading across your shoulders,
Down through your arms,
Past your elbows and into your hands and fingers.
The warmth spreading now up through your neck,
Into your head,
Until your whole body is filled with warmth from the Sun.
Notice how you are breathing as this warmth spreads through your body and intensifies with each breath.
Notice the sea in front of you sparkling in the sunlight.
Notice the gentle breeze on your face.
Notice the softness of the sand between your fingers if you're sitting on the sand,
Between your toes if you're sanding.
Smile at the peace you have discovered.
Welcome that peace into your body and become aware once more of your breathing,
Of the cycle of breath as it comes into your nose,
Reaches your chest and your belly and as it leaves your belly,
Your chest,
Your nose.
Just observe the rising and falling of your chest and the cycle of your breathing.
Bring your attention now to the feeling of your body,
To the weight of your body pressing on the floor or the chair that you're sitting in and come gently back to the room that you are present in.
