Welcome to this space.
I'd ask you to just start to come into settling into the breath and feel free to sit comfortably or lie down.
And if you fall asleep during this meditation,
That's okay.
We're just learning.
We can compassion with ourselves as we learn how to sit with the breath.
And I'd like you to set the intention for this meditation to focus on an emotion,
Either an emotion that you're wanting to cultivate more of,
And then also perhaps one of those emotions you find difficult to sit with in the body.
So whether you choose joy and contentment or something like anger or frustration or anxiety,
That's perfectly okay.
So as you settle into the breath,
We come into that breath space,
Taking a nice big deep breath in and holding for the count of two and then exhaling longer than the inhale.
Then inhaling again,
Holding for the count of two and then exhaling out.
One more breath like that,
Taking a nice big deep breath in,
Holding and then exhaling.
And starting to become aware of a tingling sensation in your toes and the soles of your feet.
As we start to ground down visualizing roots or silver cords going into the earth,
Anchoring us and making us feel safe.
Feeling that breath just expand throughout the body,
Feeling your shoulders relax,
Your jaw relax.
Maybe even the skin of your scalp starts to just release a little bit.
Just feeling that breath move in and out of the lungs,
Shuffling or making any movements you need to get really comfortable in this space.
And if you haven't done so already,
Go ahead and decide which emotion you'd really like to focus on for today.
Really locating where in the body that emotion might reside.
And just noticing that.
We're going to take this emotion with us on a little visualization.
So as you're relaxing in your body,
You start to imagine a beautiful pathway in front of you.
And as you walk along this pathway,
You can hear the crunch or the gravel underneath your feet.
The further you walk,
You realize that that gravel starts to turn into finer and finer particles until eventually it is pure white sand.
You continue along this pathway and you start to hear in the distance the sound of waves.
You realize that you've been craving the sound of the water.
So you continue to walk along and as you come to the end of that pathway,
A clearing opens up and you can see expanses of beautiful white sand.
You walk through the sand,
Feeling it through your toes.
And you settle in to sitting on a log just at the edge of the water's edge.
You can see the sparkling,
Shimmering water,
The sun just setting on the horizon,
Creating a beautiful orange,
Pinky glow on the water.
And as you sit on the log,
The water just gently laps over your toes.
With every wave in,
You feel the cooling,
Freshness of the water.
From the out-breath,
You feel it releasing anything you no longer need.
Getting into the rhythm and the flow as it waves in and waves out again.
Waving in and waving out.
You can hear also a gentle rustling in the trees on the side of the beach.
Maybe the birds flying overhead before they go to sleep with the sunset.
And as you sit here,
I'd like you to bring forward the emotion that you're struggling with,
The emotion you want more of,
And feel it almost start to be held in the palms of your hand.
And as you hold that emotion there and examine it,
You see a beautiful rock that's been washed in by the waves.
And you pick up that rock as a representation of that emotion and you examine it.
What color is the rock?
Is it smooth or jagged?
What is its color and texture?
And as you sit there holding this rock,
You place it gently down into the water.
And scrub clean anything else,
Any other marks or imperfections on the rock that maybe aren't permanent.
They might be a piece of mud or something else that is adhered to the rock.
And I want you to blow into that rock anything you no longer need.
There may be a part of you that feels like you need to keep the rock and that's okay too.
If you feel like you'd like to release it,
Then you notice the rock slips from your fingers into the water and is immediately washed away with the beautiful waves.
And you sit on your log looking out over the water feeling a deep sense of peace and relaxation and pure contentment.
And as the sun slips even further down along the horizon,
You know that it's time to go.
And so you stand up from the log and take one last look over the water feeling gratitude for having released or invited any emotions you need or no longer need.
And you start to make your way up the beautiful sandy beach back to the pathway.
The pathway turns back to a very satisfying gravel that crunches under your feet.
The beach and the pathway start to fade behind you as you come back into your space feeling more relaxed and content and settled in your body.
Starting to come back to the awareness of the breath and the body in this room.
Breathing in again and holding the breath and releasing it.
And breathing in and holding and releasing.
And one more time,
Breathing in and holding and releasing.
And if you'd like to slip into sleeping,
Just allow yourself now to go into that space.
And if you're ready to continue with the rest of your day,
Start to wiggle your fingers and toes,
Gently blinking your eyes open,
Maybe rolling your shoulders and coming back into the room.
