Take a deep,
Cleansing breath,
A breath that opens you and takes away any stress from the day.
And breathe in deeply again,
Letting the cool comfort of your bed relax you as you sink deeper into it.
And as you breathe,
Let your breath form a rhythm,
Gently moving in and out,
And lulling you into a deep,
Restful calm.
Now imagine the breath lightening your body so that it feels more open,
Almost weightless.
And with this beautiful,
Relaxed feeling,
Notice the sheets of your bed transforming into fluffy clouds beneath your body.
After a moment,
The clouds lift you up,
Out of the room,
And above the house,
Sailing slowly and gently through the air.
The air is like satin around you,
Giving you a wonderful level of comfort as you float along.
Now imagine the cloud taking you to a wooden door with an arched frame,
And iron spikes all around the gate,
The door that leads to a garden.
The door creaks open,
And the cloud lets you down,
And you are amazed at the lushness of the summer garden before you.
There are white and yellow daisies,
Purple geraniums,
Pink peonies,
And brilliant magenta hibiscus blooming everywhere.
You breathe in and catch the scent of lilac blossoming in a corner,
Its beautiful purple stalks bending in the breeze.
As you stroll through the rows of rainbow-colored flowers,
One of the hibiscus flowers catches your attention.
A tiny pink and green hummingbird is sipping its nectar.
You draw closer to the flower,
And the bird doesn't seem to mind as you watch its tiny wings beat so fast you can barely see them there.
After a satisfying drink,
The little hummingbird lifts in the air and leaves the garden.
Moments later,
A honeybee lands on the daisy,
Buzzing like a violin.
Safely,
You watch the bee as it goes to work,
Gathering its food and then flitting to another flower,
Pollinating it,
And giving the garden continued life.
Moments later,
A dragonfly flutters by,
Pausing briefly in the air,
And then on the ground,
Its stained glass wings shimmering in the sunlight.
A tiny black and gold chipmunk pokes its head out from behind a shrub,
And a bushy-tailed squirrel shakes a pine tree,
Bouncing from limb to limb.
In the center of the garden,
You notice a fountain.
It's carved from stone with two cherubs dancing on top.
Water tunnels out from the heart of one of the cherubs,
Splashing gently into the water below.
And as you draw near,
You notice two large koi fish swimming in the fountain,
Their golden scales shimmering in the water.
You pause and sit on a stone bench near the fountain,
So you can take it all in,
The beauty of this garden.
After a while,
You notice the sun slowly fading,
And the azure blue sky turning to midnight blue.
A few fireflies light up the garden,
And you watch their hypnotic lights before noticing the fluffy cloud has returned.
It's time to leave the summer garden,
But you now carry its beauty with you,
Day and night.
Namaste.
Beautiful.
