A Rock in the Sun

Lie on your back and spread out your arms to make sure you are not touching anyone. If you touch someone, move away until you have space to yourself. Now place your arms at your sides and close your eyes.

Take a deep breathe into your whole body.

Take a deep breathe out.

Keep taking strong, slow, deep breaths into your whole body.

Feel your tummy rise up as you breathe in and sink in as you breathe out.

Breathe in the strong Happy feeling of love and quietness.

Breathe out your twitchy feelings.

Breathe in the strong Happy feeling of love and quietness.

Breathe out your unhappy feelings.

Breathe in the strong Happy feeling of love and quietness.

Breathe out tight parts of your body.

You are strong and slow and quiet.

You are happy and calm.

(Pause)

Breathe into your tummy and relax your tummy.

Breathe into your heart and open your heart.

Breathe into your feet and relax your feet.

Breathe into your legs and relax your legs.

Breathe into your back and relax your back.

Breathe into your arms and hands and relax them.

Breathe into your chest and heart and relax and open your chest and heart.

Breathe into your neck and face and relax your neck and face.

Breathe into the top of your head and relax the top of your head.

(Pause)

Feel warm sun on your body.

Hear the delicious trickling of a cool river.

You are a calm, strong, rock in a small river.

The sun is shining and warming your skin. The water is cool and sparkling in the sunlight. Golden leaves are floating past you in the current.

(Pause)

You are calm and strong and happy.

You are breathing in the good stuff and breathing out the bad stuff.

You are warm and steady and the water is cool and full of life.

The river is trickling past you.

(Pause)

The sky is blue and light is shining in the leaves and on the water. You can hear the water.

You see a white bird flying in the sky above you.

(Instructor stands up and starts to walk around among the children, with his or her arms outstretched)

Keep your eyes closed so you can continue to see the white bird in the blue sky.

The white bird has wide wings.

The white bird is looking for a still and happy rock to land on.

(Instructor chooses the calmest and happiest child, and making her hands into a bird, she swoops her hands down to the child’s face. Gently the instructor touches the tips of her thumbs to the child’s ajana door (between the eyes) and moves them softly like bird claws.)

You can feel the breath from the bird’s wings. You feel the bird whooshing down. You stay still and quite while she rests on you.

(Slowly the instructor makes her way around the room, making sure to land on each child—but only once they are calm. Then she “flies the bird” back up into the “sky” and, with her arms outstretched, makes her way back to a sitting position.)

The radiant bird flies back into the blue sky. You see her getting smaller and smaller.

Now you hear the sound of the rushing river water get quieter.

Now you hear the sounds outside this room again.

Now you feel your body lying on the floor.

You are a calm, happy, person, lying in the room.

Breathe in the happiness of the Mystery and wiggle your toes gently.

Breathe in the happiness of the Mystery and wiggle your fingers gently.

Breathe in the happiness of the Mystery and scrumple your face up.

Open your eyes.

“The way you seem to be when you wake up is only one of the ways you are.”