Shakti Gawain - Meditations: Creative Visualization and Meditation Exercises to Enrich Your Life

Copyright 1991, 2002 by Shakti Gawain

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may a part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

Cover design by Alexandra Graham
Text design and typography by Katie Blount
Author photograph by Susan Schelling

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gawain, Shakti

Meditations : creative visualization and meditation exercises to
enrich your life / By Shakti Gawain. 1st rev. ed.

p. cm.
ISBN 1-57731-235-X (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Meditation. 2. Visualization. 3. Self-actualization
(Psychology)
I. Title.

BF637.M4 G39 2002

158.1'28dc21

2002007501

Revised edition printed in September 2002
ISBN 1-57731-235-X
Printed in Canada on acid-free, partially recycled paper
Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

T his book came about in a special way. Over the years, I recorded a series of guided meditations on audio cassette. Several people contacted my publisher and asked if there were transcriptions of the tapes for various reasons, they preferred the written to the spoken word.

One of the first requests came from a group of older people who met regularly. Each time, a different person would lead the group, reading a meditation from one of my books to the others. They had gone through every meditation in my books, and now wanted transcriptions of the tapes so they could continue reading the meditations to each other.

These stories and requests were touching, and they prompted me to make transcriptions of the tapes. Then several people at New World Library told me the transcriptions would make a beautiful book. All I needed to do was go through the text carefully and add or change as I saw fit. It was certainly one of my more effortless projects!

When it came time to do a new edition, we all felt that adding some more meditations would make the book even more complete, touching on so many different areas of our lives from intuition, creativity, and spirituality to prosperity, relationships, and global healing.

There are several different ways this book can be used:

1. Sit down with a friend, or several friends, and appoint one person as a reader who guides the others through the meditations, like our friends the elders did.
2. Read through one of the meditations, alone, and then put your book down, close your eyes, and do your own version of the meditation.
3. Read through a bit of the meditation, relax and do it, and then read a bit more, relax and do it, and so on.
4. Record the meditations on cassette and lead yourself through them.

There is no right or wrong way to work with any of this. Any time you spend relaxing and doing these meditations is time well-spent.

I hope that these meditations will inspire and support you on your path of self-discovery.

Shakti Gawain
Summer 2002

Note to readers:
The ellipses (three or four dots...) indicate
places to pause a bit.

T his exercise is designed for very deep relaxation. Just as with learning any kind of new activity, such as riding a bicycle or running, it takes a while to train your body and mind to respond in a new way. The instructions given here will help you achieve a balanced and effective relaxation response in a minimum amount of time. Once you have done this version a few times, youll discover that you can enter a deeply relaxed state within just a few seconds by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths.

Some people find that conscious relaxation of this kind is enhanced by playing very soft, relaxing music in the background. Make sure it remains very peaceful throughout.

F irst give yourself permission to take five to ten minutes to relax deeply, without having to think about other things you should be doing. Choose a quiet place and time of day when this will be possible.

Loosen any tight clothing.

Sit with your back well supported in a comfortable position, hands gently resting in your lap with your palms open, or lie down on your back with a pillow under your knees if needed.

Take a deep breath and exhale slowly, allowing your shoulders to be loose and relaxed.

Open your mouth wide. Yawn, or pretend you are yawning. Let the areas around your eyes and forehead be relaxed and loose. Let the areas around your nose, mouth, and jaw be relaxed.

Breathe slowly and easily.

If ideas or feelings come into your mind at this time, pretend they are a telephone ringing in the distance, perhaps in a neighbors house. Acknowledge that someone is calling, but you do not have to answer.

Take a deep breath, inhaling gently and slowly, imagining the breath entering your right nostril. Hold the breath for a moment, then exhale slowly and comfortably, imagining that you are exhaling through your left nostril.