Put Stress In Perspective: The Pond In The Woods

This is a guided visualization which will take us into a forest in search of a lake.

We are then going to merge with the lake and become the lake and practice putting stress into perspective.

So if you're ready to follow me,

Just take a comfortable seat.

Make sure your spine is nice and straight,

Your muscles relaxed,

Your feet flat on the floor and you can put your hands on your lap or wherever convenient.

And if you want,

You can close your eyes.

And now imagine that you're walking down a lovely beach.

This sea is to your right and you can hear the gentle lapping waves coming to caress the beach.

It's a beautiful day,

The sun is high in the sky and everything is sparkly,

Everything is clean.

You can smell the sea,

You can smell the salty air,

The temperature is just right,

Not too hot,

A lovely breeze.

And as you are walking,

You can see that in front of you now is a beautiful forest,

Majestic old trees towering high.

And there's a path leading into this forest.

You can see colourful wildflowers,

Tall grasses and as you're getting closer and closer,

You can see the colours.

You can smell the forest,

The grass,

The trees,

Inviting you in with its peace,

With its shade,

With its sounds and smells.

So as you start to enter the forest,

The sound of the sea becomes fainter and fainter and more and more distant,

Starting to merge with the sounds of the forest,

The sound of your birds singing in the trees.

And as you are walking on this soft path,

Notice how your steps are supported.

Notice how the ground is springy under your steps.

How comfortable it feels to walk.

Notice the beautiful green smell of the trees.

The shade cool on your face and all the shades of green around you.

Just breathe in deeply this wonderful smell,

Fill your lungs with it.

Hear the crunching sounds of your steps and see the sunlight filtering through the trees creating patterns on the ground.

And notice the sound of water in the distance.

Notice how it's getting louder as you are walking on.

And still getting louder and louder as you walk on until you get to an enchanting waterfall.

Like one of those scenes from paintings,

Towering trees all around,

The blue sky overhead and this little playful waterfall just for you to enjoy.

The water falls into a shallow pond,

So get closer to the bank now and see how clear how clean the water is.

You could even if you wanted to bend down,

Make a cup with your hands and drink it.

Taste how fresh it is.

How cool.

You could even sit on the bank of this pond and dip your feet in the water.

Just move them gently and feel how refreshing the water is against your skin.

Enjoy the sensations.

The spray caressing your skin.

Everything is so relaxing.

You could lay back,

Rest on the soft grass and just stare at the sky.

See the trees framing the sky.

And just enjoy this moment of peace,

This moment of calm and solitude which is all for you.

Okay,

Let's take another look at this lake now,

This shallow pond.

Have a look at the bottom of it.

Have a look at the little pebble shining under the water.

And indeed when there is no wind,

When it's all calm like it is now,

The surface is flat,

It's like glass.

And you can see through it very clearly.

Sometimes depending on the light it will become like a mirror,

Reflecting the trees,

Reflecting the sky,

Any passing clouds.

And just holding everything in it without any effort.

And then a breeze might rise and it might create little ripples on the surface.

So the reflections will disappear just for a moment and the sunlight might play with the surface,

Sparkling.

Shimmering.

And then night will come and different things will be reflected.

The moon,

The stars,

The dark outline of the trees and shadows,

So many shadows.

And it will change again in winter,

It might get so cold that it freezes over.

And yet there will still be life at the bottom,

Ready for spring.

And as you are resting here just taking in the lake,

Taking in all of these different images,

All of the life cycle of the lake,

Allow yourself to feel so close to this lake,

So in tune with this little pond,

That you can merge with it now,

Merge with it and become the lake.

Feeling that your body has become its body.

Feeling that your mind has become the water clear all the way to the bottom.

Open to reflecting whatever is there.

Open to containing anything without judgement.

Whatever comes near it and just experience the deep stillness now that you are clear,

Now that there is no breeze,

Now that you are see through.

As you are observing things going on in your mind,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Fleeting feelings and sensations,

Instincts,

Reactions,

Impulses,

They are all coming and going just like those little ripples in the breeze and then coming down and then rising again.

The same ones,

Different ones.

And all of these changing energies,

Flowing energies playing out on the surface of the lake,

The waves,

The breeze,

The light and shadows,

All of those different reflections,

All of the different colours,

Just like the fleeting energies in your mind.

Changing as your mind changes.

Reflecting as your mind is reflecting.

And what happens when you are having a thought,

Maybe a thought which is a little bit stronger than the others,

A little bit more forceful,

Creating ripples on the surface.

Is that okay with you?

Can you accept that there are ripples?

Can you accept that that is an integral part of being a pond?

Can you accept that for now these ripples are part of you,

Part of your surface?

And also noticing and remembering that you are not only the surface,

You are the entirety of the lake,

You are the whole pond,

The surface,

The bottom,

The depth,

The banks.

Notice the stillness at the bottom as well.

Notice how the water doesn't move at the bottom.

Notice the pebbles,

Always there,

Always the same.

And then remember how you will change through the seasons,

In spring teeming with life,

In summer getting a bit dried up,

Autumn all of the colourful leaves floating on the surface,

And in winter when it gets cold and nature goes to sleep and you freeze over.

And throughout all of these changes you will still be you with the surface,

The depth and the bottom,

The ripples and the stillness.

At the same time both part of you.

Remind yourself how you will change tonight when you will be reflecting the moon,

Reflecting the shadows.

When everything will go quiet around you and then the sun will rise again and play on your surface and create shimmery diamonds and you will still be you with the calm surface and then the ripples,

See through,

Mirroring,

Reflecting on your depth and your still bottom with the pebbles unchanged,

Calm,

Still,

Immutable.

All of those changes around you and on your surface which you naturally,

Effortlessly take in,

Embrace,

Reflect and the peace inside you.

Let's take a few more moments to enjoy being this lake throughout the cycle of day and night,

Throughout the cycle of the seasons.

Now bring your awareness back into your body,

Become aware of your feet on the floor and start wiggling your toes and then your fingers.

Becoming aware of your body on the chair,

Moving your limbs gently and when you're ready you can have a little stretch and open your eyes.

Welcome back.

Enjoy the rest of your day.