Welcome to this brief meditation designed to demonstrate the power of visualization as a technique in mindfulness.
So we're going to begin in the normal way.
You need to be grounded so your feet on the floor if possible or if you're sitting on the floor the base of your spine should be in contact with the floor.
Have your back upright but comfortable and begin with a couple of very deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.
As you release your second breath you can gently allow your eyes to close.
Become aware of your breathing as it returns to its normal rate and feel where in your body you notice that breathing.
Do you feel it at your nostrils,
In the rising and falling of your chest?
Do you feel it more in the expansion of your belly as you breathe?
Just bring your awareness to that point in your body where you feel your breath.
And next I would like you to imagine yourself outside on a warm sunny day in nature.
Picture yourself barefoot in the grass.
It's actually very warm,
You can feel the sun beating down on you but it's pleasant.
And in the distance you can see what looks to be a lemon grove.
You make your way slowly toward the lemon grove feeling the texture of the grass under your feet and listening to the sounds of nature.
You take in the dark greens of the lemon trees ahead of you.
You can already spot areas of colour where the lemons are growing ripe on the trees.
You hear the song or the sound of insects around you and you feel the warm sleepy sensation of the almost midday sun.
You make your way to the largest tree that you can see.
The faint aroma of lemon is already in the air.
At head height you see a large ripe lemon in the tree.
You reach out your hand and touch the lemon.
You immediately feel its waxy dimpled surface.
It's cool to the touch,
Shaded from the sun by the dark green leaves of the lemon tree.
You pluck the lemon from the tree and sit down at the base of the tree with your back up against the trunk.
You have a knife with you which you take out of your pocket and open.
So in one hand you're holding the lemon.
Feel the weight of the lemon in your hand.
Notice its shape and its texture.
In your other hand feel the weight of the knife that you're holding.
And now carefully cut the lemon in two with the knife.
Feeling the pressure of the blade on the skin of the lemon.
Feeling the movement of the blade through the lemon.
And finally cutting through so that the lemon is now in two halves.
One of them you place on the ground.
The other you raise up to your nose and inhale the smell of the freshly cut lemon.
Now take up the knife again and cut the remaining half of the lemon in half.
Again noticing the texture in your hand.
The feeling as the blade cuts through the fruit.
The juice now running down some of your fingers and the blade of the knife.
When you've cut that remaining half of lemon in half again,
Put down the knife and just hold one quarter of the lemon.
Notice its weight.
Notice the difference in colour from the yellow skin,
The white pith of the lemon and then the pale lemon of the inside of the fruit.
Raise the fruit to your mouth and then bite down on the lemon.
Notice the aroma,
The taste,
The sharpness of the lemon juice.
Notice your body's reaction to the taste of the lemon.
If you'd like to,
You can finish eating the lemon.
Being aware of texture and taste and sounds around you.
And then when you're ready,
You can bring your awareness back to the place that you're sitting.
Back to the room where you are.
You can let go of the sense of smell and taste.
You can let go of the sound of the insects and the lemon grove.
And you can concentrate on the sounds now that you hear in the room where you are.
And when you're ready,
You can gently open your eyes.
