Lie down on the floor or your bed.
Make sure you feel warm and comfortable.
You can close your eyes if you'd like to.
Can you notice your breathing?
That gentle in and out of the breath.
Your tummy or chest rising and falling.
Snuggle down and make yourself feel even more calm and soft.
Let your whole body be heavy and relaxed.
You're going to use your imagination to visit the beach.
I wonder if you have any happy memories of visiting the beach.
Times when it made you feel calm or happy.
Let's go there now in your imagination just like a dream.
You're walking down a sandy path towards the beach.
The sand underneath your feet feels warm but not too hot.
And as you walk along this path,
You see the ocean up ahead and you arrive on the beach.
What can you see?
The sparkling ocean stretching wide before you.
The beautiful blue sky with the sun shining down.
Maybe there are small shells in the sand.
Take a long breath in and a big breath out.
And then again,
But imagine this time you were smelling the beach as you breathe.
Breathing in,
Smelling that salty sea air.
And as you breathe out,
You feel relaxed and soft and heavy.
One more time.
Breathe in,
Smelling the ocean and breathe out,
Feeling relaxed.
You walk down to the water's edge.
See where the ocean is sliding up onto the sand.
The sand feels different here.
It's harder underneath your feet and it feels wet from those little waves that are lapping up on the shore.
Imagine you can feel that cool water tickling over your feet.
The sun is shining down,
Warming your face and your shoulders and the water is cooling your feet.
You start to take a walk along the beach in this really shallow part of the water.
Walking along and feeling the water swish over your feet and your ankles.
Up ahead,
You see a beautiful big shell that has washed up onto the beach.
Walk over to it and pick it up.
This is a special shell just for you.
What does your shell look like?
See if you can imagine it clearly in your mind.
Its shape,
The colours on it.
This is your special imaginary shell so it can look however you like.
Bring the shell a little bit closer to your face so you can see all the details,
The patterns,
Textures and colours that are on the shell.
Maybe you run your hands over it and notice what it feels like.
Now you might like to whisper a special message into your shell.
If there's been something worrying you,
Making you sad or you have a secret you feel like sharing,
You can whisper it into your shell.
This shell is a special safe place on your imaginary beach.
You can do that now.
Share that special thing with your shell and when you're finished you can put that shell back down onto the sand.
And know that this shell will stay here on your imaginary beach for you to visit any time you like.
Notice your breath again.
In and out.
Chest,
Belly rising and falling.
If it's bedtime you could turn off your meditation and drift off to sleep.
Or you can start to gently move your body.
Bringing yourself back from your beach and then slowly open your eyes.
You
