Please get into your meditation position,
Sitting comfortably with your back upright,
Your feet firmly on the ground or if you're sitting on the ground,
Your spine having contact with the ground.
And wash your eyes are still open.
Take in three deep breaths in through the nose,
Hold for a second or two and out through the mouth.
If you haven't already,
You can gently allow your eyes to close.
Bring your attention to the space where you're sitting,
The sounds around you,
The feel of your feet on the floor,
Your legs on the chair,
Your hands on your lap.
Bring your attention to your breath,
Find the point where you notice your breath.
Perhaps it's your nostril where the air first comes into your body,
The rising of your chest or the movement of your belly.
Focus quietly on your breathing for the next few moments.
I'd now like you to become aware of your body,
How your body is feeling.
You're going to do a brief scan down through your body,
Starting at the top of your head and just passing your awareness without judgment,
Without attempting to change anything.
Down through your face,
Through your jaws,
Down through the back of your head into your neck,
Across your shoulders,
Down through your arms,
Past your elbows,
Into your hands and your fingers.
Take your awareness into your chest and your back,
Move down through the core of your body to your hips,
Into your thighs,
Down through your knees,
To your calves,
Into your feet,
Down to your toes.
Again,
No judgment involved,
No attempt to change anything,
Just observation.
Now I'd like you to imagine yourself outside.
Perhaps it's a warm spring day,
You're sitting on the ground with your back against a large tree.
You can feel the texture of the bark against your back and looking up you see the tree stretching up above you.
Through the leaves and the branches you can make out the blue sky and the dancing sunlight as the breeze blows through the leaves.
Try to maintain all the while a soft,
Gentle focus upon your breathing.
Bring your attention now to the roots of the tree which are growing out from around you to either side of you and further out beyond your own feet where they reach deep into the ground,
Deep into the soil,
Through the rocks,
Seeking the dampness and the moisture.
Visualise their strength supporting this huge,
Beautiful tree.
Seek your awareness down through the roots of the tree as they become thinner and they branch out down through the roots to the very tips of the roots of the tree where the moisture of the earth and the energy of the earth is being absorbed by the tree.
Picture this energy flowing back up through the roots,
Through the little tributaries of roots into larger roots,
Up through the soil,
Through the rock,
To the roots that you saw on the surface of the tree.
Picture the energy flowing up through the roots past you and into the trunk of the tree.
As you breathe in,
Picture the energy of the tree transferring from the trunk of the tree into you.
Picture this energy helping you to feel strong,
Helping you to feel supported,
Helping you to feel grounded.
Breathe in the energy of the tree for a few moments.
Now,
Take your awareness up through the trunk of the tree into the canopy of branches and twigs and leaves.
Become aware of the sunshine percolating through the leaves and the breeze waving the leaves softly in the air.
Imagine each individual leaf soaking in the life-giving sunshine.
Imagine this energy combining from each leaf down through the twigs and the branches of the tree,
Forming together and flowing down through the trunk of the tree and transferring from the tree through your back into you.
With each breath,
The energy of the sun is being drawn by the tree into your body.
Picture the sense of warmth and space and the infinite possibility that this sunshine,
This energy is bringing you.
Bring your awareness now to the entire tree system,
The energy of the earth from below,
The energy of the sun from above,
Both being drawn into this tree and being shared with you through your contact with the tree.
With each in-breath,
This energy transfers into you.
Ponder for a moment your gratitude to this tree for sharing the earth's energy with you,
For sharing the sun's energy with you,
For helping you to be as strong and as impressive and as grounded as the tree itself.
Now,
Bring your awareness once again to your breath,
The feeling of the air as it enters your body.
Become aware of the weight of your body in the chair or on the floor where you're sitting.
Become aware of the sounds in your immediate environment,
Any other sense of touch,
Perhaps the clothing on your skin.
And in your own time,
When you're ready,
You can gently open your eyes.
