Guided Imagery To Let Go

This track takes you on a forest walk in your mind, allowing time and space to let go of what is weighing on you - not as a means of ignoring or escaping the problem, but more so to offer a respite from the busyness of your day, your mind and your life. Take this time for you!

Transcript

Welcome to this guided imagery meditation with the theme of letting go. I invite you to find a comfortable position seated or lying down. Wherever you might be supported best. Allowing your eyes to close. Or if that's not comfortable, Feeling free to soften your gaze, Maybe lowering it downward. You Taking a full breath in through the nose, Deep belly breath. And letting it go. Slowly, Easily. Taking another breath in, Deep and slow. Allowing that exhale to linger slowly through the mouth. Let your body begin to settle into whatever is supporting you today, The chair or the floor, Just the ground. Bringing your attention now to the top of your head, Imagining a spotlight. That you're controlling the temperature, The warmth, The brightness. You allowing that spotlight now to shine at the top of your head. Noticing any sensation there, Any warmth or tingling. Or maybe nothing at all, Just notice. And allow that spotlight to just open up, Pouring over. Your forehead, Back of your head. Your eyes. Noticing if there's any tension being held here and if it feels right to let it go. Moving over your mouth, Your cheeks. Over the ears. Down to the neck and the shoulders. Shoulders that carry so much. Seeing where they are, Noticing if you might be able to let them drop just a bit. Allowing that light now to move over the upper back. The upper arms, The elbows, The forearms, The wrists, The fingers. Allowing that glow to just envelop your glow. To envelop all parts of you. Allowing that light now to open up over the chest and the belly, Noticing the rise and fall that your breath causes, Allowing your belly to soften. Allowing the light to illuminate what's here with no judgment, Just noticing any sensations, Any feelings. Or maybe that there's nothing at all. Allowing the light to move now over the hips. The rear, The thighs, Over the knees and the backs of the knees wrapping around the bottoms of the legs. Over the ankles. The tops of the feet, The bottoms of the feet, The heels. Finally, Each of your toes. Allowing the breath to flow. As you exhale, Letting the body settle just a little bit deeper. Sensing that glow of the light you've created around you, Feeling the energy that buzzes Just allow yourself to sit here in that stillness. And the glow you've created. You Start to imagine yourself in a beautiful, Wide-open meadow. Find yourself sitting in tall, Soft grass. Warmed up by the sun. Moment to look around. What colors do you see of the grass of the sky? What time of day is it? Is it early morning light or is it more full like the light of the midday or later afternoon? Is the sky above you clear? Are there a few clouds? Allowing this vision to come into clearer view for you. Feel the ground beneath you. The earth itself is holding you up. Feeling that grass against your skin, Maybe even a little ticklish. Maybe it's soft and blowing with the breeze. The temperature of the air? Is there even a breeze? Is it cool or is it warm? If so, Just feel it moving across your skin, Maybe blowing in your hair a bit. Now listen. What do you hear in this meadow? Maybe you hear the grass moving in the wind. Perhaps there are birds somewhere in the distance. Maybe it's just wide, Open, Quiet. You Notice the smell of this place you're in. Is there sweetness to the grass? Sun warming everything around you. Perhaps there's a scent, Maybe there are flowers nearby. What do you notice? You If you see flowers around you and you smell them, Notice their colors scattered through the field. Using all of your senses to create this vision. And taking a moment to just be here in this meadow. With all of it just coming up around you. Feel ready, Imagine yourself rising up. Standing in the grass. In the distance, At the far end of the meadow, You notice a line of trees. The edge of a forest. Begin to walk toward it. Feeling your feet moving through the grass. Noticing if the ground shifts maybe as you step. What do you feel as you move? As you get closer to the forest. Noticing how the trees begin to take shape. The color of their trunks, The shapes of their leaves. Are they tall? Are they not so old that they haven't quite matured yet? What does your forest look like? As you reach the edge of the forest, You take a step in. Suddenly, What do you notice? Pausing here and noticing the difference in the air and the smells. Maybe it's cooler here. The greens are more muted. What do you notice? As you keep moving. Notice what shifts from the outside of the forest. That sweet smell of the grass might be now something a little earthier. Smelling leaves and soil. As things grow. You You find a path and as you begin to walk. Noticing the difference under your feet. Perhaps there are sounds or feelings, Sensations of the earth. Here there might be fallen leaves. Dirt. Begin to walk along the path deeper into the forest. Noticing the shift in light. There's a dampness perhaps. Shade, Darkness perhaps. You noticing the canopy and how the light filters through. You feeling that cool air around you and against your skin. Allow yourself to listen to the forest around you. Perhaps you hear leaves rustling, Birds chirping and talking to each other. Bugs Buzzing Just the small sounds that often fade into the background of a living place. As you continue your walk. You start to hear something new in the distance. As you approach, It's the sound of water rushing. It's faint at first, But then it grows louder and louder as you walk closer. Finally, You come out in the face of a waterfall. Follow that sound. The loudness. You see it with the water falling over the rocks. Missed moving up. Catching the light. That waterfall with its steady, Constant energy. Near that waterfall, You notice a bench. You can make your way toward that bench and sit down, Taking a moment here to really engage all of our senses. Noting what you see. That water falling steadily, The mist rising up. The light playing on the spray. The rocks. How they've been worn down by the water over time. Perhaps the green around it, Moss, Ferns. Taking a moment to take in what you see. Notice what you hear. That sound of the steady water pounding. And perhaps it's a trickle, Perhaps it's stronger. But hearing that sound and that steady drip, That steady rush. Powerful, Constant. Perhaps even a little loud sitting so close to it. Consider what you feel. Is the bench beneath you stone or wood? How does that feel? Is it cold? Is it damp? You Maybe that mist from the waterfall is blowing over your way and reaching your skin. What does the temperature of the air feel like in this part of the forest? Notice what you smell. That clean, Minerally scent of the spring water. Smelling the damp soil and maybe the moss around you, What do you notice? Do you notice the taste in the air? Perhaps you sense that sort of faint feeling of freshness that comes with being near misting, Moving water. Take a moment now just to sit with the fullness of where you are. Everything that's moving around you, Alive, Buzzing. Rushing. Moving. As you sit still and grounded. And you feel ready. Stand up from this bench and begin to walk down the path again. Following the stream this time. As you move away from the waterfall. The farther away from the waterfall you get, The quieter it becomes. And as you walk along the bank notice that. Bank along the stream. Notice the floor. Are there leaves, Are there small twigs, Maybe a flower or two? As you continue to walk. Gently allow your mind. To start gathering up whatever's been sitting with you lately. Keeping present along the riverbank. Walking with purpose. But allowing thoughts, Perhaps worries, Things that might be weighing on you to sort of show up. Remembering that you don't have to engage with them at the moment. Think what comes to mind. And joins you on this walk. There might be thoughts about other people. It could be something someone said or a worry about someone that you love. Maybe it's thoughts about you, Yourself. Critical feelings, Something you've been hard on yourself about. Or it might just be your to-do list making noise in your brain. Maybe it's a decision you're thinking about, Something unresolved. Now as each thought comes. Clear. Imagine you were reaching down and picking something up from the forest floor to represent it. It could be a leaf, It could be a twig, It could be a flower. There's no need to rush here. You can let your hands just gather these things up as your mind gathers the thoughts one at a time. Until you're holding maybe a collection of five or six of them. Reminding yourself that this is your time not to engage. Just notice. And as you continue to pick up. Items from the forest floor. As you move away from the loudness of the falls, All you hear now is just the quiet bubbling of the stream. Having gathered. An array of items. You now come across another bench right along the water's edge. You can choose to sit here, You can choose to sit right on the forest floor, Whatever feels right. Your body connected to the earth either through the bench or through the earth itself. Feeling that connection. With that collection of leaves and twigs and flowers and whatever you found just resting in your lap and your hands. And just be here. In a moment, I'm going to ask you to place these items in the water. Essentially letting go of each of these thoughts or things. But one thing I want to note before we do, And that is that this exercise is not about letting go of everything on your mind all at once forever. We know that's not possible, And that's not what this practice is for. Some of whatever you place in the water today may drift away and just disappear into the ether and truly settle down for now, For good. Some of it you'll pick back up again downstream once you leave this meadow. And that's all right. This is just a chance to set something down for a while. Give yourself a little bit of space. Even if for a moment. So that when you do return to whatever is on your mind, You might have a little bit room, A little bit of room to think a little bit more ease with which to approach this problem. So keeping in mind that letting go here doesn't mean that thought is gone forever. It just means that you do not have to hold it every second of your day. Now bringing to mind one of the thoughts you've gathered. And choosing an item from your collection. Could be a leaf, A twig, Flower, Whatever else you might have found. To represent it. Hold it for a moment in your hands. Let this item fully absorb the thought, The feeling that goes with it, Whatever it is. Let this item take on the weight of it, So that as you look at it, That thought is represented by this item. When you're ready, Lean forward towards the water and just gently place it right on the current. Watch the current grab it and take it with it. Watch it drift, Flip, Turn, Move away from you. Carried by water that is strong enough to hold all of these. And carry it away. You Notice how you feel as you watch it go. Maybe lighter, Maybe you feel just a small relief even if it's just for a respite. Something more hesitant, Almost reluctance to let it move away from you. Whatever's happening right now, Just notice it. There's really no right way to feel here. When you're ready. Bring to mind another thought that you've gathered and repeat that process, Picking up a twig this time. Or whatever is in your hand. Letting it hold the thought. And when you're ready, Just place it on the water and watch it go. Take your time here. Okay, Move through the rest of what you're holding one at a time. Each item. Hold the next thought. A feeling. At whatever pace feels right with each one, Placing it on the water. Taking note of what that thought is, The item that's holding it, What the water is doing. And most especially, How you feel. You taking another moment. To continue to empty your hands one by one, Allowing these thoughts and worries to just float down the river. When you've placed what you needed to place today. Just let your hands rest empty in your lap. Just noticing that that stream continues to move in front of you whether or not you're still adding to it. It'll keep flowing regardless. When you're ready, You can stand up. And begin to walk back the way you came. Past the waterfall, Through the forest, Toward the meadow. As you walk that path, See if you can notice any shifts, Any lightness perhaps in your body, Even a tiny amount, Even if it's just for right this moment. Remembering that there's no need to hold on to any of what you just let go of tightly. It's also fair to say that this lightness, This freedom from it might not last forever, And that's all right. Just notice if it's there. Notice that forest around you as you move through it, Smelling the leaves, Smelling the earth. Listening to the sounds of bird. Birds or the wind perhaps moving through branches. And as you approach the forest edge, Feeling the cool air that canopy above you is allowing. Just one more time. And as you arrive at the edge of the trees, Stepping out into the meadow where there's open light and warmth. Find your way back to where you started. Sitting yourself down in the grass. Feeling the sun again. Noticing that it's warmer here than it was in the forest. Listening to the breeze moving through the grass around you. Feeling the air against your skin. Smelling that sweetness of that grass warmed by the sun. Just sitting here in this moment, In this open place, With whatever is coming up for you. And bringing your awareness back to your actual body, Sitting with you in your room. Noticing the body itself, Perhaps that glow is still there. Noticing what has shifted, If anything. If anything has come up or gone away. Just bringing the whole body into awareness. Even a small shift can be meaningful. You But even if you don't notice much different at all, That's alright too. What we practiced today wasn't really about clearing your mind completely or making the argument to yourself that everything's fine and there's nothing to worry about or nothing's bothering you anymore. It's not about that. Some of what you placed on that water today might come back. Later today or tomorrow. And that's not. Failure, That's not, You did it wrong. That's just what it means to be someone carrying real stuff. And what this practice today offered you was a pause, A chance to just set it down even briefly, So you are not holding everything all at once, All the time. And sometimes that can be all the difference. Just a few minutes of lighter hands. A settled nervous system, A little more room to breathe. Before you pick things back up and keep going. Allowing yourself to just sit and breathe into this presence of this moment. Grounded energy. And mindful awareness that you can take with you even into the next several minutes, The next several hours, And maybe throughout the rest of your day, Even into tomorrow. When you hear the chimes. Take your time coming back. When you feel ready, You can let your eyes open.