Visualization: Alpine Meadow

Soften yourself by entering into a gentle and easy shape. Begin to relax the mind through relaxing the body... Awaken a feeling of heaviness in the body...the feeling of heaviness. Become aware of heaviness in every single part of the body...so heavy you are sinking into the earth. Now awaken a feeling of lightness in the body...the feeling of lightness. Become aware of lightness in all parts of the body...so light you are floating away...away. Awareness of lightness.

You are walking in warm, soft grasses beside a mountain forest of pine and spruce trees. You are in no hurry - yet your steps are with purpose. The feeling of gently moving through the meadow clearing is so comforting. Bright and fiery colored flowers dot the land… the fragrant blues, reds, and yellows drifting within the alpine forest’s crisp essence. In you breathe, bringing into you the fresh mountain air...exhaling contentment back to the mountain. The summer sun shines pleasantly.... Notice the warmth meeting your shoulders, the crown of your head…

Your arm is supporting a woven wooden basket. There lies the meaning of this amble in the meadow - you are seeking to collect. A deep part of you knows exactly where to go and what to collect. Although you aren’t sure why you have this feeling, you smile at the adventure, and at the trust you feel in your deepest self to meander forward. Time seems to stand still, and you are glad. This place is beautiful, and of peace. The gentle roaming winds seem to carry whispers of something great and interconnected. The trees rustle, hawks and eagles scout the skies, songbirds deliver stories across the meadow. Quiet deer graze just alongside you and small mammals forage for grains and nuts as you walk in ease - all is well.

Appearing softly, suddenly, you notice the splashing sounds of water. The sounds grow clearer as you near their source...a lively creek, entwined amongst the meadow and forest line. It is a wide and shallow body of water. You feel in your heart that this water is important, and alive.

Underneath your feet, the grass wanes and smooth, flat pebbles form a shore of a bend in the creek. The water laps onto the stones...see how the stones continue into the current to form the creekbed….larger stones and fallen branches, clumps of grass shape smaller ripples and patterns of the water.

Kneel down... the water is so clear… it looks sweet…almost like you can reach through the water and grasp something just beyond the pebbles. And now you realize why you are here - to collect the stones which speak to you, which embody that source of something greater that weaves you and the trees and the meadow and creatures together. The source of which the wind speaks and carries through the mountains. And so you follow the ripples and bubbling of water to the shapes to which you are drawn, and place the stones in your basket to keep with you in your future journeys. You take your time and enjoy the pull of your deepest self to follow the creek and its bends under the warming sun.

The time comes to rest, for you have collected enough for now. Find your way back to the sweet grass, the sprawling meadow, and sit down to rest. Feeling connected, attuned, and a part of nature and the way of things more than ever before.

Come back to that feeling of lightness in your body...and add a little more weight. Feeling more heavy, more present. Take a deep breath in, and breathe out.