Welcome,
Friends.
Welcome to a journey to take time in sanctuary.
Our ancestors of long past would perhaps have found time for prayer,
Reflection,
And finding comfort in cathedrals and churches,
Or shrines or altars,
Amongst standing stones or sacred wells,
Amongst sacred groves of trees.
Any place can be sacred for us,
And in this journey of meditation we will find a journey within a place within our mind's eye.
The beauty of visualization is that our sacred place can be elaborate as stained glass windows and vaulted ceilings and a thousand candles,
Or as simple as a glow of warmth behind our eyelids.
We will journey to a place of some quiet time today,
But I will journey with you.
I will guide you in and guide you out of your sacred place,
Your time in sanctuary,
And hope that it is a place you can return to whenever you need to take pause from your day.
So let us take time to let the body relax.
Find your place of refuge,
Of softness,
Of coziness.
Wrap yourself in blankets or jumpers.
Find an easeful seat,
Restful place upon the earth.
When you feel ready,
You can close the eyes as we begin our journey,
As we bring the awareness,
Drawing our attention inwards to the rise and fall of the breath,
Letting the limbs,
The joints and the bones be restful and supported upon the earth,
Drawing in to rhythms of breath and heartbeat,
Letting busy thoughts drift away,
Letting noises of the world outside fall into soft focus.
Here,
Within our mind's eye,
We find ourselves journeying,
Walking towards our place of sanctuary.
This will be personal to you and may even be different every time we journey.
It could be a home or a garden.
It could be a great tall cathedral glowing from within like a lantern calling you.
It might be a sacred grove of trees lit by moonlight or fireflies.
It could be a place of nature,
A stone of water,
Sand.
It could be simply a quiet corner,
Safe space,
A place to allow yourself time to be still,
To find quiet,
To find space to breathe and space to simply be.
There may be others around you.
There may be the scent of burning incense.
There might be low flickering lanterns to guide your way.
In this beautiful place,
You have found yourself.
You may wish to light a candle or many.
You may have an offering that you would like to place or you may find a little place to sit,
To kneel,
To rest.
There is a feeling you are being held so safely in this place.
Your sanctuary is supporting you.
Whatever you wish to journey with today,
Whether that is prayer,
Reflection or simply a moment of stillness.
And when the time comes for you to leave this beautiful sanctuary,
You feel a little refreshed and a little restored and also reassured that you may come back to this place within your mind's eye whenever a pause is needed.
And you may take as long as you wish to say farewell to this place or the people that may have been present or a moment's gratitude for this wonderful place of quiet and rest that you have taken a little time out within.
You may extinguish any candles or leave any offerings.
Your sanctuary has served you well today.
So you may wish to wiggle the fingers and toes or to take a stretch or a movement.
Take your time.
When you do feel ready,
You may open the eyes and I welcome you back to the day and I hope that your onward journey is peaceful and filled with a little joy.
Thank you once again and I hope to journey with you again soon.
Farewell for now.
