Welcome to this meditation for children,
The hot air balloon ride.
Take a moment to think about all the fun things you did during the day today.
Now take a deep breath and sigh it out of your mouth,
Letting go of anything you might be worried or upset about.
Right now you are warm and comfortable in your bed and you do not need to concern yourself with anything but how nice it feels to be right where you are.
You've had a busy day and you will have lots of fun things to do tomorrow.
In order to be ready for your day though,
You need to take a little bit of time to relax and rest so you are not too tired to play and learn in the morning.
It might seem difficult to calm down at first,
But you know that the more you relax,
The closer you get to an adventure.
Take a deep breath now all the way to the bottom of your lungs.
Exhale letting it all rush out.
You are safe and warm.
Feel how soft your pajamas are against your skin and how cosy you are with the blankets around you.
Your bedroom feels like a safe,
Cosy den.
It's quiet here,
So quiet that you barely hear the imaginary sound of a hot air balloon floating in next to your bedroom window or door.
You know that the balloon is empty,
But you also know that it has come here because it wants to go on an adventure with you.
The hot air balloon is pretend,
But it is so vivid in your mind's eye that it almost seems real.
You are excited because you know that wherever you and the balloon go,
You will have a very safe and enjoyable time.
When you are ready,
Imagine yourself climbing into the basket of the hot air balloon and running your hands across the walls.
You can see and feel how strong and safe it is,
And you feel excited about your adventure.
You know that if you ever feel like you are soaring too high or too fast,
The hot air balloon has a number of buttons and levers you can use to steer the aircraft however you would like.
With your next breath in,
Imagine the hot air balloon taking off.
You are floating upward slowly and gently.
The wind and sunshine are warm,
And you will know you will see a great number of interesting things on your little trip.
As the balloon takes off,
Watch the trees grow smaller and smaller until they look like tiny little pieces of broccoli below you.
As the trees get smaller,
The evening sky grows larger and larger,
And you seem so close to the clouds that you could almost reach out and touch them.
As you take your next breath in,
You realize that you are close enough to touch the clouds.
You pull off a big handful of the cloud just outside the hot air balloon's basket,
And notice how it smells and tastes like cotton candy.
You eat this cotton candy as you float over the landscape below,
Enjoying the view and thinking about how excited you are to discover more about this world below you.
Soon the hot air balloon is dipping down a little lower,
And you see that you are flying over your favorite zoo.
The people have gone home for the night,
And the animals are getting ready for bed.
The monkeys are picking out the most comfortable tree branches to curl up on.
The lions give their cubs a bath with their tongues before tucking them into bed.
Even the penguins are done swimming for the day as they dry off their feathers and get ready to doze off on the rocks.
Your hot air balloon sinks even lower,
Drifting towards the spot where your favorite animal in the whole zoo lives.
You know that although most of the animals are going to bed,
Your favorite animal is waiting up for you.
There is no rush,
So simply let the hot air balloon drift down closer to the zoo.
Soon you are so near to the ground that you can see the cracks in the sidewalk underneath you.
Find a nice spot to land your balloon and steer it in for a landing.
As it touches the ground,
You hop out of the basket and tie it to a nearby park bench.
You are a good knot-tier,
So you know that the balloon will be right where you left it when you come back.
The zoo is quiet and sleepy,
But you can see that your favorite animal is still awake.
As you step a little closer to its enclosure,
It waves at you.
You can ask it if it would like to join you for a little adventure tonight.
Almost as soon as the words leave your mouth,
The creature nods excitedly.
You reach in the pocket of your pajamas and find a little key and use it to unlock the animal's cage.
Your animal climbs out and helps you lock the door again.
You walk back over to your hot air balloon and help the animal in,
And then you,
The captain of the ship,
Launch the balloon back up into the night sky.
As you float up over the trees again,
You see the lights of the zoo grow smaller and smaller until they look like tiny stars.
You know that you can go back to the zoo,
Or anywhere else you would like,
At any time.
You are in charge of the hot air balloon.
Your animal companion is excited.
It looks over the edge of the balloon's basket and points out interesting things below.
It shows you how the cars on the highway look like a ribbon of light against the dark ground.
Further on,
You can see two children reading storybooks in a blanket fort by the light of a hand-held flashlight.
You ask your animal friend where they would like to go next.
Listen carefully to their suggestion.
If it sounds like a good idea,
You can agree to fly the air balloon there.
Otherwise,
You can get to pick where the hot air balloon should visit.
Once you've made a decision,
You fly your hot air balloon higher and higher until it is floating through the cotton candy clouds.
Your animal friend has never had cotton candy before,
So you pull some of the clouds off and give it to them.
They think it is very tasty,
But you tell them not to eat too much or they will get a tummy ache.
Steer the hot air balloon towards your destination,
Floating over the trees and roads and houses below you.
You know that the place you are about to visit is just a little bit ahead and you can feel how excited your animal friend is to be spending time with you and the hot air balloon.
As you float closer and closer to the place you will visit,
You feel so happy to be flying your hot air balloon wherever and however you like.
You are safe and in charge.
Enjoy your time in the hot air balloon and your final destination as you drift off into a comfortable and peaceful sleep.
