Hello and welcome to the Travel with Meditation podcast.
My name is Pam and I am honored to accompany you on this journey today.
Please only listen to this podcast if you are in a situation where it is safe for you to potentially fall asleep.
Sitting fully in the present moment is a precious gift that we can give ourselves.
I invite you to accept this gift along our journey today.
Take a moment to settle into your surroundings.
Settle into the most comfortable position for you.
Either sitting comfortably or lying down.
Once you are comfortable,
Set your gaze on one spot.
Take a deep breath.
Take another deep breath.
When you are ready,
Close your eyes.
Take a moment to settle into your breath.
Bring your awareness to the sensation of breathing throughout your body.
Feel your breath fill up your entire body and relax your whole body on the exhalation.
Feel your body deepening into relaxation as you keep breathing.
Imagine that you are surrounded by darkness,
Just like how it looks with your eyes closed.
You are completely safe here and you feel secure.
You can leave at any time by opening your eyes.
This is darkness and that is all.
Before you is a door and it has your name on it.
If you open this door,
You can move into a magical place and embark on a joyful journey where your body and mind will be refreshed.
When you are ready,
Move towards the door.
Place your hands on its handle and open it up.
Beautiful warm white light pours into the darkness that surrounds you.
You feel the warmth of the light rejuvenating your skin.
You move through the doorway and it disappears behind you.
You are now in a brightly lit grey room.
You feel a burst of warmth from the fireplace that is heating this room.
In front of you is a door and a window.
You look outside the window.
You see snow as far as the eye can see.
You see a sign that is hanging from a large candy cane pole and it reads North Pole.
You are about to embark on the same journey as Buddy the Elf back to New York City.
You notice a hat,
A scarf and gloves on the grey couch.
You put them on one by one.
When you are ready,
You open the door and a refreshing burst of coolness hits your face.
The air is cool and crisp but is so easy to breathe.
You feel the snow crunch beneath you and you see it's glistening all around you.
You wave goodbye to Leon,
The wisest snowman around.
When you make your way to the sea,
You see your animal friends.
Arctic Puffin,
Baby Walrus and Polar Bear Cup.
You say goodbye and then get on a large,
Steady block of ice.
As your ice raft slowly drifts away,
There is a bubbling in the water and Mr.
Norwalk pops up to wish you well on your journey.
As you imagine yourself drifting gently on the large raft of ice,
Think about your own life and people that wish you well on your journeys,
Big and small.
Or think about talents that you have that propel you forward in life in all kinds of ways.
The ice raft gently keeps moving forward and when you look above,
You take in the beauty of the sky filled with stars.
When we feel overwhelmed in life,
We can always look up at the sky and see how amazingly big and mysterious the world is in a wonderful way.
The ice raft brings you to a place where you will get out and explore.
It is the Candy Cane Forest.
Vividly picture this in your mind,
A forest that is filled with candy canes instead of trees.
The candy canes are all different sizes with many much taller than you.
You see a particularly big candy cane and when you wrap your arms around it,
Your hands are nowhere near close to touching.
This is how tall this candy cane is.
The air smells of candy canes,
Peppermint with a hint of vanilla.
There are seven levels of the candy cane forest.
I will count down from seven and with each new number,
Picture yourself making your way through this level of the forest.
After I say one,
You will have exited the forest.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Now,
Take a deep breath.
Before you is the Sea of Swirly Twirly Gumdrops.
This is your last journey to see before you enter New York City.
As you sail along on your ice raft,
You pass by gumdrops floating in the sea.
They are sparkling under the moonlight and they are all different colors.
Some are purple and they smell like grape when you pass by.
Some are swirly and some are twirly.
You drift along peacefully.
When I count down from five to one,
You will be in New York City.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Take a deep breath.
You are now in the Big Apple,
New York City.
You look up and see the city skyline.
You are in a place that feels full of opportunity and adventure.
With the right perspective,
This is how we view each day.
An empty page.
A blank slate.
A fresh start.
With the step taken each day,
No matter how small it feels is progress.
If we think about it,
The code of elves can be adapted to our everyday lives.
Treat every day like Christmas.
Try to find a little joy in each day.
Sometimes we have to put effort into finding joy,
But this effort is worth it.
There is room for everyone on the nice list.
We are all capable of growing into the person that we want to be and it is important for us to not be so hard on ourselves.
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.
You have gifts and talents that should be shared with the world.
The sun is rising and it is a new day.
There is no rush to accomplish anything.
If you wish to fall asleep,
Gently stop listening and doze off.
When you are ready to leave,
Just remember that you can always come back to this feeling of hope,
Joy and peace.
Take a moment to come back into your body.
Notice the sounds around you.
Perhaps take a very slow and gentle stretch with your body.
And when you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Take in your environment slowly and patiently.
Refreshed,
Relaxed and ready for the day.
