As guided meditations like this can make you drowsy and sleepy,
It's not a good idea to drive,
Operate machinery,
Or fly a jumbo jet while listening to this meditation.
And if you do fall asleep,
The guidance in this meditation will still work,
It's just your body telling you it needs some rest.
So make yourself comfortable either lying down or sitting up.
If you are sitting up,
Make sure your back is nicely supported and your spine is straight.
If you are lying down,
Prop your head up on a pillow and you may like a cushion or a pillow under your knees.
So notice any tensions in your body,
Starting with your forehead,
Slacken your jaw and let your tongue lie at the bottom of your mouth.
Drop your shoulders,
Give your arms,
Hands and fingers a wiggle,
And imagine any tensions leaving your fingertips floating out into the air around you.
Give your legs a little wiggle too,
And imagine any tensions from the lower half of your body seep out from the ends of your toes.
Now take a large in-breath through your nostrils,
Really expanding your belly by using your diaphragm.
Then expel the air through your mouth by opening it slightly and really pushing all the air from your lungs.
And now do two more in and out breaths just like that,
So that you release any stale air from all the nooks and crannies in the deepest parts of your lungs.
Just imagine,
It is mid-afternoon on a pleasant warm spring day.
You are walking down a long straight and level path that extends as far as you can see.
Either side of the path,
You are surrounded by tall trees.
The air smells fresh,
And the foliage of the trees has created a cool corridor for you to walk down.
You can hear the chorus of the birds way up in the canopy.
In the distance,
You can just hear the sound of a gently bubbling stream.
The branches above you are moving on a light breeze,
And you are drawn to the gently moving dappled pattern made by the sunlight streaming through the leaves above.
You have treated yourself to some quality me-time and have all the time in the world to wander.
Some movement in the distance catches your eye.
You see a figure walking towards you,
Moving in and out of the shadows.
You slow your pace,
So you can check that they are friendly.
As you get nearer to the figure,
You notice that when you move to the left,
They move to their right,
And if you move over to your right,
They move to their left.
As you get closer and closer,
You can see that you are past each other,
Where the path widens at a clearing,
Where there is a gap in the trees,
And with a little more light.
You sense this person isn't a threat,
And you take your cap off so they can see your face clearly.
Bizarrely,
At the very instant you take your cap off,
They take theirs off too.
Even more bizarrely,
As you get closer and closer,
You see they are dressed identically to you.
You raise your right hand to signal hi,
And at exactly the same time,
They raise their left hand,
Returning your wave.
As you get close enough to speak,
You notice that the air in the middle of the clearing is shimmering and fizzling.
You are just about to take a big step to the side,
So you can walk past this figure,
When your jaw drops and you come to a halt.
You realise that the figure is a reflection of you,
And the shimmering air is a giant mirror but made of a very strange substance,
Stretching right across the path.
It seems to be attached to two particularly large pine trees either side of the path,
And extends upwards,
High into the treetops,
As far as you can see.
You are just about to say something,
When out of nowhere,
A voice says,
Welcome to the mirror of success.
You take a step forward,
And reach out to touch the mirror.
It feels like a soft,
Warm liquid,
But your fingers don't get wet.
When you touch the surface,
Ripples go out in a circle,
Just as if you dropped a pebble in a pond.
The surface of the mirror settles down,
And what you now know is your reflection on the other side,
Comes back into focus.
The voice starts up again and says,
I can show you what success looks like to you,
Both in the past and the future.
Just think about events in your life you would like to see again.
You notice this time,
That the surface ripples in times with the words,
And you realise it's actually the mirror itself that is speaking to you.
You cast your mind back to events a day ago,
A week ago,
A month ago,
And something magical happens.
The clothes on your reflection change to what you were wearing at those times.
So you take up the mirror's offer,
And you think about all the successes in your life,
Some big,
Some small,
And as you do,
You see the pride and joy on your face in the mirror.
You think back more and more,
And as you do,
Your reflection gets younger and younger.
You start to realise that where you are right now in your life is a direct result of all those events and successes in the past.
What you've learned from them has brought you to a new level of understanding.
You've been travelling down a timeline to bring you to this point in your life.
A bird flutters and calls out in the trees just above you,
And your attention is brought right back to now.
You look right at your face in the mirror,
And the quality of your skin improves,
And you seem calmer and happier.
Then the mirror's surface ripples again,
And it says,
You are now ready to step forward and join yourself on the other side.
So you take a tentative step forward,
And your future you comes to meet you at the surface of the mirror.
At this point,
A white light envelops both of you,
And it's like both of your bodies merge together.
You look around you,
And the mirror seems to have gone.
So you take a few steps forward in the direction you are travelling,
Knowing now you are walking along as a new and lighter version of you.
So when you are ready,
Open your eyes slowly,
Come back into your room,
Stretch out your arms and your legs,
And reflect on your mind's journey,
And know now that you are stepping forward towards a lighter,
Healthier and more successful version of you.
