Welcome to Imagination Meditation.
Today we'll be savoring the beauty of a vast field of brilliant tulips.
Let's get settled in our physical space.
Find some comfort in your seat,
Maybe a cushion or a blanket if you like.
Let your body relax into your chair.
Set your shoulders back.
Open up your chest and your heart.
Now feel free to close your eyes or simply soften your gaze downward.
Let's settle our bodies into relaxation with some calming breaths.
Slow deep breathing automatically helps to steady your pulse and slow down your whole body,
Allowing peace.
Breathe with me,
Deep breath inward,
Long exhale outward.
Another full deep breath in and another extended release outward.
To draw our attention to the length of our breath,
Let's count to four while we breathe in and then hold the breath for two beats and then we'll release the breath while counting to four again.
I'll count us together.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Hold for one,
Two and release slowly for two,
Three,
Four.
One more time.
Slow,
Full breath in for two,
Three,
Four.
Hold here for one and two and then let the breath release for two,
Three,
Four.
Know that any time during your day that you need a calming breather or if you feel your heart start to race,
You can always come back to this breath,
Counting long and slow to calm your body.
Now let your body ease and relax.
Soften your face,
Your jaw.
Let your shoulders settle away from your ears and feel your arms melt downward.
Allow your body to feel completely supported by the seat underneath you.
Let your feet relax toward the earth and just settle and melt.
Feel your whole body rest in ease and peace.
And now let's float off to our spring destination.
We awake in a grassy meadow.
The air around you feels pleasantly warm.
There's a light scent on the breeze,
A scent of freshness and greenery.
And in front of you is a most wondrous sight,
Endless rows of gorgeous tulips.
They look like full,
Thick stripes of color.
You see a broad block of bright red extending off to both sides and then a stripe of bold yellow and then a ribbon of pink is next to that and so on.
You see thick rows of orange,
Scarlet,
Lavender,
Violet,
One after another extending into the distance.
You move slightly closer to the flowers approaching the row closest to you.
It's a wide swathe of bright crimson,
Rich scarlet.
The light from the sun above bounces off the petals,
Making the color appear to burst forth from the tulips and hover around them.
It's incredibly vibrant.
You bend to gaze straight down into a flower.
The center is a golden yellow with a central stem of a slightly paler yellow shade extending upward and five dark,
Almost black shafts surrounding that.
You look closer at the petals.
Each one is a separate piece of the flower,
Yet they overlap each other,
Creating the shape of a cup,
Letting the tulip face the sun and drink up its rays.
The petals are separate,
But they come together to help the flower focus the sun's energy where it's needed most.
You move gently through the flowers to the next row.
This one is filled with more crimson blossoms,
But a different kind,
Side by side with blooms of a sunny golden hue.
These flowers have a different shape than the ones we saw last,
Resembling an open rose.
These have a multitude of small petals overlapping one another in a circular pattern of rows,
Fully open to the world.
The sun's rays appear to shine on the surface of these blossoms,
Giving them a glossy finish.
The next stripe of tulips holds blossoms of a multicolored nature.
Some are the color of pinkish red watermelon with stripes of pure white lining the top of the petals and the flower's center.
Some display hues of a golden yellow,
Mixing just lightly with a creamy white.
Bright pink petals on other flowers give way to pale white centers with bright yellow central stems.
Golden blossoms are decorated with bright red centers and stripes going up the petals as if an artist had let a drop of scarlet paint fall and the paint spread outward,
Up the sides of the flower.
Some blooms have a marbleized pattern of multiple shades of pink,
Red and white coming together.
They're even tulips with a base of creamy white but mixed with a bright crimson,
As if the artist had drawn the tip of a paint brush through red paint and swirled it over the petals.
The petals of these flowers have a bit more of a pointed shape and start to bend outward.
Some flowers even display a beautiful frayed quality to their edges.
You lastly come across a row that looks like a veritable band of the rainbow.
This ribbon looks like an array of reds,
Oranges,
Yellows and purples.
So many different shades of each.
When you approach closer,
You see that every flower is different than its neighbor.
Some are relatives of the scarlet blooms we saw earlier.
Some are a sunny yellow or pure lavender or tiger orange.
There are marbleized blossoms,
Some striped,
Some with a multitude of rounded petals and others with petals that are slightly pointed.
You find multiples of every kind of tulip you've seen to date.
But instead of being separated by their colors and designs,
Here they all come together,
Each living in harmony with its neighbor.
The diversity is amazing to see.
Each tulip asks and deserves to be seen,
Each one a surprise of its own.
Together the effect is astonishingly beautiful.
Under the sun,
The colors radiate from within,
Almost palpable.
Take some time here to enjoy the colors.
For now,
Let's bring ourselves back from this blissful paradise.
You can always return anytime you like.
But for right now,
Let's come back to the present room.
Feel the chair or the cushion underneath your seat.
Feel the floor against your feet.
Wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Take a nice full body stretch.
And whenever you're ready,
Feel free to open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me for today's Imagination Meditation session.
Anytime you need a little reassurance of the world's beauty and the magic of coming together in diversity,
You're always welcome to come back to this peaceful spot among the tulips.
I hope you enjoy a wonderful rest of your day.
Until next time!
