Falling Water
Here is a visualization experience that begins as a walk in nature and
hopefully takes you someplace pleasant. If you chose to join us, allow
your body to relax. Take a few slower, deeper breaths. Release
any tension you are holding in your muscles. Let go of distracting thoughts.
Just focus on the
words and the imagery they create for you. Take your time as you read.
Don’t rush. Enjoy the trip.
Let’s take a walk today. We’ll go to a nice place—a peaceful place, but
a place of power. It is winter, but it’s not too cold. It is raining a
little, but that’s perfect. We are dressed for rain and this place is
its most beautiful in the rain.
We
are at the entrance to a small canyon. The dark gray stone reaches
toward the sky. It is moist and covered here and there with a soft
covering of moss. The moss is green, but not just green. Its colors
range from deep green to almost golden. Trees grow on the sides of the
canyon. Some grow right out of the cliffside. Looking up, the tops of
the evergreen trees rim the canyon. Set against the almost white sky
their tops look like the points of a crown.
Down the middle of this
canyon flows a small river. In the summer, you
might call it a creek, but today after heavy rains and snowmelt from up
in the mountains, it flows with force. The water runs white as it
tumbles over stones and logs. The sound of water flowing mutes other
sounds. This place is not
quite quiet, but there are no distracting sounds.
Up the left side of this
canyon we find a well-tended path. We can walk this path comfortably
and safely. The elevation rises as we go, but not too steeply. We are
in no hurry; there is no need to be out of breath. On the contrary, the
moist air seems filled with oxygen. The mist soothes our lungs,
smoothes our skins and bathes us in those calming negative ions that
bring a sense of well-being. Everything here has been washed clean.
Take time to breathe now.
A gentle rain falls from the
sky. The raindrops hang from the trees, ferns and other shrubbery like
jewels. It is as if a million tiny
crystals decorate the surroundings. Water flows from the greenery and
from the canyon walls making silvery, crystalline threads. At many
places
along the path, the threads form streams making waterfalls small and
large. Some are so close that we can touch them. They don’t impede our
path, because where necessary bridges cross the flow.
As we proceed, we see water falling from high cliffs where the flow
disperses into the air, so that it never seems to reach the ground,
except as rain. Farther on, we can hear the roar of the river falling
over a series of cascades. As we make a turn on the path, we look ahead
at a beautiful, white waterfall. As sometimes happens with waterfalls,
the flow of water has carved out an area behind the falls where one can
stand to watch the flow from the back. We climb to that spot and all of
our senses are attuned to the falls. The water roars as it leaps from
above and falls to the pool below. All we can see in front of us is
moving whiteness. We feel the spray on our faces. The stone upon which
we are standing vibrates with the energy of water in motion.
As we stand there
appreciating this moment, it becomes clear to you
that it is not just water that is moving. Energy itself is flowing all
around us. The beating of your heart resonates with the flow of
water.
The pulse of your nervous system vibrates with the stones. Your body,
which is mostly water, feels at home here. You are very relaxed. You
are comfortable and warm from the recent exertion. You breathe easily
and peacefully. You feel no separation from your surroundings. You are
merging with the power you sense around you. Life flows in you and the
life energy comes to you just as the rain falls and grows into streams
that
grow into rivers that flow to the ocean.
As you emerge from
behind this beautiful waterfall, you feel lighter,
and yet you feel an odd pressure as if you are standing in the flow of
energy pouring down from the sky. This energy is life force. It is the
power of love. It is a manifestation of the divine. It flows down from
the sky to the crown of our head streaming over and through every cell
of your body. It cleanses, washing away all dis-ease, all fear, anger
or other negative emotion. You sense yourself in the flow of this
life energy as a droplet of water is part of the eternal flow of ocean,
river and sky.
Just as it would make no
sense to hold onto a bucket if you were
standing in the strong flow of falling water, you recognize that there
is no point to holding onto the emotions that impede the flow of your
life energy. Where you have collected hate, resentment, jealousy,
shame, fear, you now let go. You let these unnecessary emotional dams
break. They wash away in the torrent of powerful life affirming flow.
You feel cleansed. Filled up with light. Your mind is at peace.
Now you notice that this energetic flow is not just coming toward you
and washing through you, but that it comes out of you too. The flow of
energy is unlimited and some of it pours out of you touching those
around you and all those living beings who intersect with your life.
You touch many people. Some are people you love. Some are people you
have held negative emotions about. Some are strangers you meet just
briefly. You know now that we are all connected. You know that kindness
and benevolence are gifts you have to give and that gratitude is a
natural consequence of understanding the way things work. As water
flows over a rock, benevolence flows from you. As a shallow place fills
in the rain, gratitude fills you.
You can spend as much time as you like in the vicinity of this
waterfall and in the flow of life-force energy. Take your time to
appreciate your surroundings and to feel the flow. When you are ready,
see yourself walking back down the path refreshed and ready to move
back into the flow of daily life.
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© 2006 Tom Barrett