Helena

You will journey through a vibrant rainforest, experiencing its sights, sounds, and the life-giving power of water, cultivating a sense of wonder and gratitude.

English

In this rainforest visualisation, we will explore the cyclical nature of water and how it forever links us to the trees. In under 20 minutes, we will walk into the depths of a rainforest, finding nourishment and play. Letting your mind wander into your curious imagination, we create a world together that is filled with peace and joy.

Rainforest Visualisation Meditation

Welcome to this visualization meditation. Today we will be exploring a rainforest, so as we start to settle in here, I invite you to find a comfortable position, either seated or lying down and taking your time to settle. Once you've found your body in a comfortable position, start to notice how it feels in your body, scanning yourself from the tips of your toes all the way to the crown of your head, letting go of any tension or gripping as you go. Letting any thoughts that arise just fade into the background, not attaching any story to any of these thoughts and whenever the mind does wander, as it will, just bringing it back to the breath so that you can honor this time that you've carved out for yourself. Notice any feelings that arise in the body with curiosity and kindness and be open to wherever the imagination takes you today. Our sankalpa or intention for this meditation is to explore the circularity of water and how each new raindrop has an opportunity to fall wasted or can land on a plant and nourish, feed and sustain it. We'll explore the power of this water as we walk through a rainforest together. If you've been to a rainforest and there's one in your memory, bring it to mind. If you've only seen rainforests in movies or documentaries, see if you can bring that to the front of your mind's eye right now. Your version of this rainforest is just that, yours. There's no right or wrong here. Then as you let this image appear in the front of your mind, start to deepen your breath, relaxing the jaw, the shoulders, the hips and any other parts of your body that tend to hold tension, letting the mind and the memory expand into the idea of this rainforest surrounding you, noticing the vastness of the trees around you, the height of the trees, the shades of green and maybe the way the light shines through the canopy and towards where you're standing. Think about the time that each of these trees has been in existence, the things that they would have witnessed in their lifetime, the water that they will have drunk, the oxygen that they will have provided. Choose one tree and look at it more closely. Notice the texture of its bark, the depth of its outer skin. Maybe you touch it. What does it feel like as you run your fingers along its edges? Following your senses, notice the smell of this place. Maybe there's heat in the air, maybe the smell of the plant life around you. Allowing your body to feel the moisture, maybe you're barefoot and you can feel the vegetation beneath your feet, maybe even the dampness in between your toes. Let's walk deeper into this forest and as we do, you touch more of the trees, feeling alive with them, feeling their energy, their life force. You hold a humble respect for the trees that surround you. It brings you joy, a playfulness. There's a safety here in this humble natural playground. You listen out for other nature. You hear the beautiful singing of the birds in the far distance and it soothes you. A bird song is a signal of safety and ease. Maybe you can hear a stream in the distance or the dripping of raindrops from above. Maybe the earth crunches under feet. Exploring deeper into this plant paradise and treading carefully not to disturb too much of the plant life underfoot, you watch for movement around you. You can feel the trees are alive and you wish to see them move. This place is expansive, a universe that seems to exist all of its own. The trees communicate to one another, like we do, but it's beyond your ability to hear it. You know they have an intelligence, you can feel it just by being in their presence. They share a warmth. You can sense it and even though you can feel it without understanding, you know it's there. It somehow makes the trees more interesting to you than ever before, that in your silence they are talking around you. Your mind returns to the idea of water. You can see beaded water droplets amongst the leaves that surround you. You wonder what they taste like. You know this water would quench your thirst, just like that of the trees around you. You try the water, gently tipping the leaf into your mouth, pouring the droplets onto your tongue and quenching your thirst. This water relieves you for a moment and the moisture soothes you. You think about the power of this water and all that it offers us, and all the natural things that we are surrounded by. You feel grateful, not only for it quenching your thirst today, but always. You feel connected through this water to the tree. You then wonder why the leaf is a perfect pouring size, as if it's a natural cup that allows the water into our mouths. Like a perfectly designed single-serve jug, you wonder if there's some intelligent design here that you've never noticed before. You look to more leaves for their surface and the beads of water that cover each one. Each bead perfectly round, its edges invisible. You wonder if each leaf holds the same quantity of beads as the one next to it. Your curiosity makes you start counting these beads of water. You start to look for patterns in the way that the water sits so gently on the surface of the leaf. You notice as the light hits the bead, it makes it glimmer like magic. Under the sunlight, the water looks transparent and you trace the edges of the droplet, wondering where the edges are. You wonder how many droplets of water there are in this vast forest that you've imagined. Walking deeper once again into the forest, you notice how this curiosity has relaxed you. Your mind is quiet and you are happy here, exactly where you are in this moment. This happy feeling is in your heart. It makes you feel silly, childlike and carefree. You begin to run through the forest, playing with the leaves, tapping them with your hand as you pass, watching the beads of water fall to the ground, spilling the water to nourish whatever sits beneath it. You find joy in this play, running through the forest, tapping the leaves as you go, every drop of water reused with your intervention. This joyful expression nourishes you. You run through the forest, innocently enjoying the dance of the leaves as they spring back into position, a little lighter, relieved from the weight of the beaded water droplets. You laugh as you run, creating a symphony with your ruckus, the crunch of the vegetation beneath your feet, your laughter and the swishing of the branches as they bounce back into place. I shall leave you here so you can enjoy this gentle play. I'll let you know when it's time to come back. The water in the rainforest is never wasted. It is renewed, reused and recycled through all beings. It nourishes everything it touches in its journey, always moving forward. You are just like the trees that surround you, nourished from the same source. As you start to make your way back out of the forest, notice if the trees look different from this view. Are they just as grand? Or now that you are familiar with them, do they somehow feel friendlier? With your newfound gratitude of the place and how the plants hold a very special part of our ecosystem, you hold them in your heart with this natural and mutual relationship that you share. Think about the way that water always finds a way. We'll finish this meditation practice with a short poem called What is the Meaning in a Raindrop? When the rain drops from the sky, it transforms the ground beneath it, if only for a moment. This temporary change is part of the cyclical nature of our world. What in your world is like this? A change that is temporary, life-giving or momentary? One that you wish to explore? A ritual that could hold more meaning? A moment you wish you could steal back? Each raindrop either falls pointlessly into a pavement or lands on a plant, providing nourishment, growth and possibility. What if we could see the same patterns in our moments? Moments of opportunity or a reason to try something again? As it calls us to repeat the action till we have learnt the lesson it is trying to teach us. Imagine if you were a raindrop. Every time something doesn't go to plan, you evaporate and try again. When you do land the way that you want to, it changes the very make-up of you. Your journey alters and a new path appears. You are forever changed by the patterns of something that once felt pointless. Deepening your breath. Deepening your breath here. Taking your inhale all the way into your belly. Taking your hands to your heart. Finding a moment of gratitude for yourself and the practice that you have found time for today. Thank you for joining me. Namaste.