Visualization: Woodland Cave

Enter into a position where you can let your body take up space in a comforting way, where you feel safe to take a few moments to go inward. Settle into this place of comfort. Please know that you are free and encouraged to move and adjust as needed or if this position doesn't connect with you. Down into your low belly take a deep breath in, and let it go.

Find yourself in the middle of a dense forest on a warm summer afternoon. Emerald trees stand tall, their leafy branches shimmering with sunlight. Moss drapes heavily over logs and rocks, making the forest look soft. Ferns and flowers and tall grasses lazily sway like waves. You feel the comforting presence of animals. Treefrogs, rustling squirrels, the quiet wandering deer. The sounds of the forest echo - wind breaths through plants and leaves, buzzing insects come and go. Listen - nearby you hear the sound of water, the trickling of a stream. Follow the sound, and see the narrow, winding brook. The lapping of water over stones. Smell of damp soil. Walk onward, keeping with the stream’s path. It winds through the trees, through the forest. You notice it winding alongside a slope in the ground. Look closer, and see an opening in the slopeside, obscured by leaves and green plants. It’s large enough to walk through. Drawn closer, you approach it, and find the entrance to a cave.

Walk through the opening - you are in the cave. The air is noticeably cooler. You still hear the forest, but it feels distant, overcome by the clear presence of your steady and calm heartbeat. Your hand reaches for the smoothed and simple cave walls; the ground underneath your feet is gentle. Behind you, the light dims as you curiously walk further into the cave. Your heart beating calm and clear. One foot slowly after another; distant, chirping birds are quieter...Just as you are about to enter full darkness, the cave reveals flickering shadows from light. Closer, move closer.... Beyond a turn in the cave you approach the Source of light: A simple flame on the cave floor, fed by pieces of wood. It casts a soft glow on the belly of the cave. It is warm. It is inviting. Sit before the flame, bathed in warmth...gazing into pure light...overcome with joy and ease. The light is what you were born to find. Somehow, the light is you. You are finding peace. Your heart is beating calm and clear… catharsis. Remain here for awhile. There is no urgency. Only the warmth of peace, and purity…in the light……..

Remember the stream, and the living forest. The light is so sweet, and now you have spent healing time with it. Begin to rise to your feet, and know that you carry this flame within. Retrace your path to the cave’s mouth. The smells of leaves, wood guide you back toward the growing light of the sun. Step out of the cave and into the boundless warm summer afternoon. Over there is the babbling stream. Glistening, and playful. On you walk. You don’t know how long you were in the cave, but the forest waited and picks up where you left. Continuing as it has every day, and as it always will. In peace and in purity.

Bring your awareness back to your breath as it rises and falls in the body. Feel the weight of your body making contact with the object that is supporting you. Bring your attention to the sounds within the room. Just lie quietly, knowing that your inner light is always existing and there to trust.

Draw a deeper breath into your chest, into your belly. Breathe out completely.