Thank you so much for joining me for today's guided meditation where we will take a journey into ourselves connecting with the wisdom of nature and may you hear those messages that you are needing to receive in this moment.
And to help guide us into the meditation,
I'll start with a reading of Mary Oliver's poem,
Spring.
Somewhere a black bear has just risen from sleep and is staring down the mountain.
All night in the brisk and shallow restlessness of early spring,
I think of her.
Her four black fists flicking the gravel.
Her tongue like a red fire touching the grass,
The cold water.
There is only one question,
How to love this world.
I think of her rising like a black leafy ledge to sharpen her claws against the silence of the trees.
Whatever else my life is,
With its poems,
Its music,
Its glass cities,
It is also this dazzling darkness coming down the mountain,
Breathing and tasting.
Every single day I think of her,
Her white teeth,
Her wordlessness,
Her perfect love.
Take time now to move into a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down.
Begin to feel the weight of your body softening into the ground,
Connecting with Mother Earth beneath you.
And from this connected place,
Take a deep breath in,
Moving the breath up through your body to the top of your head,
And exhaling gently and completely.
Take one more deep breath in,
Filling your lungs with the air around you,
And exhaling fully.
And you notice that with each breath you take,
Your body begins to match the pulse of the earth,
Connecting you with this rhythm inside of yourself.
From this place of connection,
I invite you to close your eyes.
You find yourself now standing in a place in nature,
With trees all around you welcoming you.
This place may be somewhere you are familiar with,
Or it may be somewhere new and imaginary.
Take time now to look around you and become familiar with the trees that welcome you.
You begin to slowly walk through the trees,
Exploring this space,
And the wind joins you now,
Blowing gently through the trees.
It touches your skin,
Moving across your shoulders,
Welcoming you.
And as the wind swirls around you once more,
Your body feels the temperature of the air in this place cool or warm upon your skin.
Take time now to see what that feels like.
Now you begin to hear the birds in the canopy,
In the trees overhead,
All talking at once to one another.
Your song creating a symphony of light through the air.
There seems to be one bird in particular calling to you more loudly than the others.
You follow the voice of the bird,
You can't see it yet,
Although you scan the trees.
You begin to walk forward through the forest,
Listening to the song of the bird who calls you in.
And as you walk through this forest of trees,
You look up,
Seeing bits of blue sky and noticing clouds drifting overhead.
Take a moment now to see the sky and the clouds.
Your bird companion begins calling you again,
Drawing you forward deeper into the trees and now in the distance you see it dancing upon one of the branches in the trees overhead.
As you move closer to the tree that your bird companion is perched in,
Notice now what type of bird has joined you.
What color is it?
How big is it?
And what does its song sound like to you?
Take this moment now to see,
Feel,
And hear and connect with your bird companion.
You walk forward to stand beneath the tree that your bird is in and as you do,
Your bird companion flies down and lands on a large stone next to your feet.
Near the stone,
You notice that there is a large open space on the ground.
Your spirit bird now begins to fly back and forth between the stone and open space,
Drawing your attention to it.
You realize that your spirit bird wants you to sit down in this space.
As you walk to where this space is open,
You realize that you are carrying with you a pack on your back.
You reach around,
Taking the pack off and finding inside of it there is a blanket.
You take the blanket out,
Unfolding it,
Noticing the colors and images that are on the blanket as you lay it down on the ground.
You now sit down on the blanket making yourself comfortable.
And as you do,
Your companion bird now flies over to your shoulder and she begins to sing her song in your ear.
You thank her for showing you this place,
For being here with you.
Your spirit bird now flies back up into the trees overhead and you begin to make yourself comfortable in this place,
In this forest,
Among the trees.
And as you feel yourself connect to the ground,
You notice beneath you that roots have grown up from the ground and now are underneath you,
Supporting you,
Holding you.
You reach your hand down,
Placing it on the roots beneath you.
They are strong and connected to the whole system of trees around you.
In your imagination,
You close your eyes,
Taking a deep breath in,
Inhaling the strength coming from the roots up through your body and exhaling,
Moving this breath back through you and down into your roots.
In your imagination,
When you open your eyes,
You look and see that a new tree has grown up behind you.
You lean back finding that the trunk of the tree supports you.
And as you lean against the trunk of your tree,
You look up into its canopy.
Take time now to see what kind of tree has joined you.
What do his or her branches and leaves look like?
How tall is your tree?
Take this moment now to connect.
Connected to the ground,
The roots,
The tree.
You are grateful for this day,
Feeling the energy of the life moving through you.
And something out of the corner of your eye catches your attention and you look over.
It is Mama Bear,
Just waking up,
Ambling through the forest.
She comes over to you and sits down next to you.
Her fur is warm against your skin.
You reach over and place your hand and arm on her side,
Resting it against her body.
Her fur is soft under your fingers and her head rests against the side of your leg.
As your hand touches her body,
You can feel her strong heartbeat under the palm of your hand.
Mama Bear,
Who is unguarded,
Is strong and protective.
She is the strength of your spirit sitting next to you.
You feel her strength moving inside of you,
Lifting you up,
Feeling her protection surrounding you.
From the canopy of trees above,
Your spirit bird flies down once more and lands on Mama Bear's back,
Resting.
Closing your eyes,
You breathe in the energy of your tree and her roots,
The energy of the earth she is planted in.
The energy of Mama Bear and her support.
The energy of your spirit bird all holding this loving space for you.
Now you focus your attention first on the tree and her roots.
You notice that your tree is growing new leaves.
The colors are vibrant and light in the sunshine.
With your back leaning against the trunk of your tree,
You now take time to ask your tree if there are any messages that she would like to share with you in this moment.
What images,
Words,
Songs,
Feelings,
Or colors does your tree share with you that you need to hear right now?
Take this moment to listen.
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale,
Thanking your tree and her roots for sharing with you.
Now you begin to focus your attention with Mama Bear,
Your hand still resting on her fur.
You ask her if there are any messages that she would like to share with you in this moment now.
She lifts her head,
Turns it towards you,
And your eyes connect with hers.
And in this connection,
You hear the messages she shares with you.
Begin now.
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale,
Thanking Mama Bear for sharing these messages with you today.
Now you lift your opposite hand into the air in front of your face.
Your companion bird flies over and lands lightly on your hand.
She begins to sing a new song to you,
And as she sings,
Her song sends you a message that your spirit understands.
What message does she share with you through her song?
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale,
Thanking Mama Bear for sharing these messages with you today.
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale,
Thanking your spirit bird for her beautiful song.
She lifts lightly off of your hand and flies back into the forest of trees.
Your hand,
From which your bird has left,
Now empty,
Moves down to the ground,
Your palm resting on the cool,
Strong roots beneath you.
You feel the connection of the earth moving from the ground,
Through the roots,
Into your body.
This rhythm and strength,
This current,
Is strong.
Through this connected rhythm,
An image arises in your mind,
Showing your place in this world.
What image do your roots share with you now?
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale,
Thanking your roots for sharing with you today.
Mama Bear now stands up and stretches,
She turns to say goodbye to you as she moves back into the forest of trees.
You now stand up in the place where you are,
And begin stretching.
And as you stretch your arms and legs,
You see that the tree who has joined you in this space begins to slowly vanish back into the earth.
The roots also moving back underground once more.
You bend down,
Pick up your blanket,
Shake it off,
Fold it back up,
Placing it back in your pack.
After placing your pack on your back,
Your bird companion flies down once more joining you.
She flies past you into the forest from the direction you first came.
You follow her back out through the trees.
And as you leave the forest,
You take with you the wisdom that has been shared with you,
The wisdom of your tree,
Her roots,
Your spirit bird,
And Mama Bear.
All of these pieces stored within you for your journey.
You are grateful knowing that you can come back to this place anytime you need to.
It will always be here for you.
And as you step out of the forest,
Your bird companion sings a quick goodbye to you and flies back into the trees.
You take a deep breath in and exhale.
And when you are ready,
You open your eyes,
Finding yourself back in this present moment.
And as you take time now to gently stretch your fingers and hands,
Your legs and feet,
Your shoulders,
I'll close this meditation by reading Mary Oliver's poem once more.
Somewhere,
A black bear has just risen from sleep and is staring down the mountain.
All night in the brisk and shallow restlessness of early spring,
I think of her.
Her four black fists flicking the gravel,
Her tongue like a red fire touching the grass,
The cold water.
There is only one question,
How to love this world.
I think of her rising like a black and leafy ledge to sharpen her claws against the silence of the trees.
Whatever else my life is,
With its poems,
Its music,
Its glass cities,
It is also this dazzling darkness coming down the mountain,
Breathing and tasting.
All day I think of her,
Her white teeth,
Her wordlessness,
Her perfect love.
Thank you so much for joining me for our guided meditation today.
And may your day continue to be blessed by the wisdom of your tree,
Her roots,
Your spirit bird and mama bear.
Have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
