Lie down and get really comfortable,
Closing your eyes if you want to.
I'm going to take you on a hot air balloon ride in your imagination.
Are you ready?
To start,
Notice how heavy and comfortable your body feels lying here.
Notice your breath,
Your tummy or chest gently rising and falling as you breathe in and out.
In and out.
See if you can watch your breath.
And now in your mind,
Imagine a huge hot air balloon.
The hot air balloon has a square basket at the bottom and the big balloon floats above it.
Hot air balloons are always so bright and colourful.
What colour is your balloon?
Does it have lots of different colours on it?
Is there a picture or a pattern on it?
See above and around the hot air balloon that the sky is clear and bright and blue.
It's a beautiful day.
The warm sun is shining down onto you and you feel calm and happy.
Look at the bottom of the hot air balloon,
At the big basket.
There's a small ladder leaning up against the basket.
Climb the ladder and get into the basket.
As you stand in the basket,
You can easily see out over the edge,
But the basket is big enough so you feel really safe and there's no way you could fall out.
It's like this basket was made especially for you.
Notice your breath again.
Breathe deeply and smoothly to get the hot air balloon to lift off the ground.
Your deep breaths are making the hot air balloon rise.
You keep breathing and your balloon keeps rising into the clear blue sky.
Look out over the edge of the basket and see the ground far below.
The trees,
The houses and people all look tiny.
And so too do any worries that you might have down there far,
Far below you.
So small and so far away.
You're floating here in your balloon in the sky and you feel happy and calm and free.
Look out all around you.
How far can you see?
Can you see mountains in the distance?
Can you see the sparkling ocean far off to one side?
Notice how everything around you feels calm and light and you feel happy and safe,
Far away from anything on the ground that was making you feel sad,
Worried or scared.
Floating up here in the sky feels so nice.
And now it's time to make your hot air balloon float gently back to the ground,
Gently floating down with every time you breathe out.
Take a few more long breaths so that you float back down to the ground,
Gently landing your basket.
You look out of the basket and see that small ladder again.
You step out onto the ladder and climb down onto the ground.
If it's bedtime,
You can snuggle down and drift off to sleep.
But if it's not time for sleep,
Gently start to move your fingers and your toes.
You can stretch your arms wide,
Wriggling and moving your legs and your arms.
And then when you're ready,
Sitting up.
