sea

Originally published in Massage & Bodywork magazine, August/September 2006. Copyright 2006. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.

Winding down after a demanding day often means turning on the television, pouring a drink, or breaking into a pint of ice cream. A more productive, healthy way to chase away tension, anxiety, and the daily blahs is meditation. Here’s a meditation designed to help you quiet mind chatter, focus inward, and explore the limitless realm of your heart and soul.

Sit in the warm sand on the beach and enjoy the sights and sounds of the seashore that surround you. Soak up the misty rays of light from the sun. They’re reflected from the big, puffy, white clouds that float leisurely through the azure-blue sky.

Watch the waves as they gently wash upon the shore. Listen to the ebb and flow of the tide. Allow the warmth of the sun and the sound of the waves as they softly splash on the sand to relax you and take you into those soothing, serene places within your mind.

Let your thoughts and feelings drift in and out with the sound of the tide. Close your eyes and watch the images inside your mind float gently in tune with the rhythm of the ocean. Feel your mind blending in harmony with the motion of the gentle waves as they softly wash into your awareness.

Breathe in the calm breeze and smell the scent of the ocean air. Be in the pleasant warmth and gentle quiet of this beautiful day. Just be.

Sense yourself—your awareness—blending completely into this soft, soothing, serene moment of here and now, feeling perfectly content and at peace with yourself, at one with the world around you and within you.