Find a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down.
Let your body settle,
Your spine lengthen just a little and your shoulders soften.
Take a slow deep breath in through your nose and a long gentle breath out through your mouth.
Allow yourself to arrive,
Here,
Now.
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to do,
Just this moment,
Your breath,
Your body,
Your being.
Notice where your body meets the ground,
The weight of you being held,
Supported,
Always supported.
With every exhale,
Imagine yourself sinking a little deeper into that support.
Let go of the day so far,
Let go of what's next,
Let yourself simply be.
As we settle into stillness,
We honour the directions,
The sacred compass that connects us to the world around and within.
To the east,
Air.
Turn your awareness towards the east,
The place of dawn and beginnings,
The soft whisper of breath and wind.
Take a slow deep breath in and out.
Feel the clarity and renewal of air moving through you.
Affirm silently,
I breathe deeply,
I welcome clarity and new light into my mind.
To the south,
Fire.
Now bring your attention to the south,
The warmth of fire,
The spark of life.
Feel the gentle ember glowing within your chest,
Your courage,
Your passion,
Your purpose.
Even in stillness,
Fire lives quietly within you.
Affirm,
I honour the flame within me,
Even in quiet,
I am powerful.
To the west,
Water.
Turn now towards the west,
The element of water,
Emotion and intuition.
Imagine yourself standing at the edge of a still lake,
Its surface calm,
Reflecting the soft light of evening.
When emotions ripple,
Remember you can always return to this place of calm reflection.
Affirm,
I allow my feelings to flow gently,
My inner waters are peaceful and wise.
To the north,
Earth.
Finally turn your awareness to the north,
The grounding steady presence of earth,
The soil beneath your feet,
The stones,
The roots,
The trees.
Breathe deeply and feel the strength of the land rise up to meet you.
Affirm,
I am rooted,
I am supported,
I belong to the earth and she belongs to me.
Now return to your centre,
To your heart.
Honour the balance of all the elements within you,
Breath,
Fire,
Water and earth,
All working together in quiet harmony.
Bring your attention gently to your heart space.
You might even rest your hand there,
Feeling the warmth of your palm against your skin,
The quiet rhythm beneath it.
Take a slow deep breath in and as you exhale,
Imagine softening into that space as if each breath is creating a little more room around your heart.
More space to feel,
To listen,
To simply be.
Begin to listen,
Not for words or answers,
But for the quiet hum that lives beneath it all,
That soft,
Steady pulse of you.
The ancient rhythm that has always known how to return to calm.
Pause for a moment,
Noticing the sensations in your chest,
The temperature,
The subtle movement,
The energy there.
Can you sense a quality to it?
Warmth,
Spaciousness,
Tenderness,
Maybe even resistance.
Whatever is there,
Just notice it.
Now imagine your breath as a soft tide,
Flowing in and flowing out.
Each inhale gathers gentle awareness,
Like collecting the golden light of dawn.
Each exhale releases whatever you no longer need,
The old stories,
The tightness,
The self-criticism that's ready to fall away.
And remember,
If your mind wanders at any point,
Bring your attention back to your breath,
Its natural rhythm.
And the sound of my voice.
With each breath,
You move closer to your inner stillness.
The place where nothing is missing.
The place that has always known peace.
You might imagine this stillness as a pool of calm water resting within your chest,
Clear,
Luminous and perfectly still.
When you breathe in,
Ripples of light shimmer across its surface.
When you breathe out,
It settles back into quiet reflection.
Now imagine yourself sitting in a quiet autumn woodland.
The air is cool,
Scented with damp earth and fallen leaves.
The golden light filters through the trees,
Soft and dappled.
You can almost feel the texture of the moss beneath your fingertips.
The grounding presence of the earth beneath you.
You hear the gentle whisper of the wind in the branches.
The steady rhythm of nature exhaling around you.
A bird calls in the distance.
Everything feels unhurried,
As though time itself has softened.
As you sit there,
Notice how this stillness fills inside you.
Not as an emptiness,
But as a fullness.
A quiet luminous presence that has nothing of you.
Now allow your imagination to open a little wider.
Before you,
In the clearing,
A small path appears,
Carpeted with golden leaves.
You stand and begin to walk slowly,
Each step steady and grounded.
The path leads you to a large smooth stone at the base of an ancient oak.
You sit upon it,
And as you do,
You feel an old,
Deep wisdom rising up through the stone into your body.
Steady,
Ancient and kind.
From this place,
You can see a part of your life from a new perspective.
A situation or feeling that has felt tangled or heavy.
Imagine placing that situation gently into your hands.
Holding it as if it were something delicate and alive.
No need to fix or change it,
Simply witness it with compassion.
Now visualize your heart expanding softly,
Like a lantern being lit from within.
Its golden light spills over what you're holding.
You begin to see this situation,
Not through fear or frustration,
But through understanding.
As something that has been guiding you home to yourself all along.
Take a few breaths here.
Let the light of your heart show you something new.
Perhaps a message,
A sense of relief,
Or simply peace.
Trust what arises,
Even if it's just a feeling of ease or warmth.
This light,
This quiet strength,
Has always been within you.
Even when you forget,
Even when life gets noisy.
As you sit in this gentle glow,
Repeat softly to yourself,
In your mind.
In stillness,
I find strength.
In softness,
I find truth.
In silence,
I come home to myself.
Allow these words to ripple through you like waves on still water.
Let them land where they need to.
Now,
Picture that soft light from your heart,
Radiating outward.
Filling your whole body,
Then the space around you.
Until the whole woodland glows in that warm golden hue.
You are part of this peace.
You are this peace.
Stay here for a few breaths longer,
Soaking in the quiet.
The light,
The knowing that you can return here,
To this place of peace.
Anytime you choose.
Stay here,
Breathing and listening.
Let the quiet remind you of your own wisdom.
You are enough.
You are whole.
You are held.
Begin to bring your awareness back into your body.
Feeling your breath deepening.
Wiggling your fingers.
Wiggling your toes.
Starting to notice the surface beneath you again.
Solid,
Steady,
Real.
Take one final deep breath in,
And sigh it gently out.
Before we close,
Bring your hands to your heart.
And whisper softly to yourself,
I carry this quiet with me.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Taking the space around you.
The warmth,
The faces,
The shared stillness.
The quiet within is not something you visit.
It's something you remember.
Namaste.
