Relax: Reference to Go

When you feel the cares of the world weighing upon your shoulders, it is important to find a way to lighten the load. Visualize a large, colorful hot air balloon with an empty wicker basket attached. Now watch yourself put all your worries, one by one, into the basket. After you have filled the balloon with all your problems, imagine it taking off and rising up into the sky until it disappears over the horizon, taking all your worries with it.

Amid the frantic pace of modern life, it is easy to get caught up in material concerns and to neglect your spiritual side. To get in touch with your inner self, visualize a lotus blossom in a pond and imagine light pouring outward through the petals, filling you with radiant calm. Just as the lotus shines out from its muddy surroundings, so you will find that focusing on your inner self will restore harmony in your busy life.

Worries often buzz around in our heads like bees around a hive, creating a perpetual background hum of anxiety. To help retune your mind, imagine a hive surrounded by honeybees, each bee representing a niggling problem. Now visualize the bees disappearing one at a time into the hive, and notice how your mind also quiets.

Our world is composed of opposites: light and dark, male and female, positive and negative, as symbolized here in the Chinese yin-yang symbol. The opposing forces are interdependent, each carrying within it the seed of the other; thus, hidden in even the gloomiest outlook, there is always a tiny spark of hope. Imagine this hope as a beam of light piercing the darkness and shining forth to reinforce your faith in the future.

Since time immemorial, humankind has looked to the skies for spiritual guidance to try to discover its purpose in life. Meditate on the connection between the heavens and the destiny of humanity, starting with the stars and planets, then the moon. Feel your eyes gradually draw inward until you reach the sun, the heart of our solar system, the source of light and life itself. Close your eyes and imagine you can feel its rays gently warming your body until you glow with light.

When we are tense or anxious, our breathing becomes shallow and rapid. To calm your breathing, imagine lying on a beautiful beach on an island in the middle of the ocean. You can hear waves gently lapping against the shore. Listen to the pattern of your breathing, then try to synchronize it with the inward and outward flow of the waves, until they become onethe rhythm of lifeand your breathing is restored to its relaxed state.

In Western society, we often find ourselves trapped by less-than-ideal circumstances in the pursuit of material goals. For a few moments each day, allow yourself to stop striving and free yourself from worry. Envision yourself swimming with a school of dolphins in the warm waters of the South Seas, and share the dolphins wonderful sense of freedom as they leap playfully in and out of the waves.

As the laws of nature reign over all living things, we should realize that our lives, too, have a natural pattern. If you are having difficulty getting the desired results out of a particular situation it may be that you are trying to force the issue Meditate on these ancient Egyptian symbols of the seasons. Have the courage to let go and trust in your lifes natural flow, for what is rightly yours will come to you; nothing happens before its designated time.

We often dwell on the past because we are fearful of the future, but in order to progress we have to move on. Imagine yourself looking out through the window of the present at a peaceful stretch of beautiful countryside. This is the land of the future. In your minds eye, open the window and let in the gentle winds of change. There is nothing to fear; you can embrace the future with confidence.