Welcome.
Thank you for being here today and joining me on this journey into the heart and promise of summer.
Take a moment and settle in.
Roll your shoulders up,
Back and down.
Lift the crown of your head toward the ceiling as though a string is pulling it upward.
Breathe in and feel the stretch in your neck and shoulders.
And as you breathe out,
Let your body move gently as it needs.
Then,
Coming to stillness,
Sit straight but not rigid,
And if you're comfortable doing so,
Let your eyes gently close.
Begin now to tune in to the sounds in your environment.
Simply notice them,
Not as distractions,
But as companions in the present.
Mindfulness is about tuning in,
Not tuning out.
And we welcome what is in the here and the now.
Slowly move your focus to your body.
Feel your feet upon the ground,
Your bum and your back against the seat.
Notice the position of your hands and the posture of your shoulders.
Tune in to the places where your body meets the world,
How it rests and is held in this moment.
And with each exhale,
Let your body soften and rest more deeply into the seat beneath you,
Allowing yourself to fully,
Gently let go.
As you continue to tune in to your breath,
Feel the inhale moving ever deeper,
Expanding into your whole body,
Filling every cell from your toes to the top of your head.
And on your exhale,
Feel your body release,
Feel it let go and soften.
With the in and out of your breath,
It is as though your whole body is breathing,
Expanding and softening,
Expanding and softening.
The breath moves out now beyond the boundaries of the body,
Surrounding and cocooning you.
Imagine this whole body breath becoming a color,
Any color that calls to you,
A golden or white light,
Blue or green or violet.
See the light,
Like the breath,
Surrounding and filling you.
Now imagine that you stand before the light,
And you hear yourself called through it.
Stepping in,
You move to the other side,
And here you find yourself in the middle of a beautiful park,
On a perfect summer morning,
The sun just on the verge of rising.
In this early hour,
The air,
With a slight breeze,
Is comfortable on your skin.
Looking around,
You see trees,
Tall and gallant,
Green and full,
Their branches and leaves slightly swaying,
Welcoming you here.
Your senses come alive,
Flowers are in full bloom,
Colors bright and joyful,
The song of birds announce the day,
Life is at its most open,
And it invites you in.
Your eyes,
Your ears,
Your nose,
Your whole being opens to the beauty and brightness of summer,
And you feel it alive within you.
Ahead of you,
Upon an almost hidden path,
You notice an opening,
Beautifully canopied by the trees.
You walk through it,
And see on the other side an outcropping of rocks,
And beyond the rocks,
The sea.
Calm and still,
Like glass,
It reflects the morning sky.
And just above the horizon,
The sun greets the day,
Long beams of light reach out and shine upon the water,
Turning it to a golden shimmer.
The line between sky and sea alights with this gold,
And as it moves up,
It gently gradates into a soft blue,
Lit with small puffs of white.
Drawn forward,
You sit.
Your eyes are pulled to the horizon,
This line between earth and sky.
With all of life truly alive around you,
You recognize and feel here the quiet and the stillness beneath it.
You breathe into that stillness,
And find it within yourself.
Slowly,
You return your gaze to the ocean,
To its vast and seemingly infinite unfolding.
Feel the solidity of the earth beneath you,
And the playful tingle of light from an awakening day upon your skin.
From somewhere,
Perhaps upon a ray of light,
Or carried on the soft breeze,
A question arises.
What within you seeks to bloom more fully?
Listen for whatever offers itself,
Whatever words or images might knock upon your heart.
If silence presents,
Embrace it.
For in silence,
In stillness,
Truth unfolds.
Upon your next breath,
See yourself rising.
And with one final look at the wide open sky,
Feel your mind expand,
All possibility coming alive within you.
Carrying this expansion with you,
See yourself walk back through the canopy of trees,
Through the park,
To find the color you first came through waiting for you.
You cross over,
Coming home,
Fully into this space,
This here,
And this now.
Bringing your focus to your breath,
Let it fall into its natural rhythm.
Tune into your body,
Feeling your feet upon the floor,
Your bum and your back against your seat.
Noticing once more the position of your hands and the posture of your shoulders.
Hear the sounds in your environment.
And when you are ready,
Wiggle your fingers and toes and open your eyes.
