GUIDED VISUALIZATION:Personal Cove.   

This meditation is an exercise in spiritual cleansing, energy renewal, 
maximizing positive potential, and increasing and refining personal power.  
It is a pleasurable experience. It can also be useful to relieve chronic 
stress or to provide an extended peaceful experience. It can be done in 
the evening to prepare for sleep or more often for stress relief.

Assume a comfortable position, sitting with your back straight, or lying 
on your bed, or on a mat on the floor on your back.  Any tight clothing 
should be loosened.  Close your eyes and begin to breathe in deeply and 
out slowly in a calm, relaxed manner.  Breathe in through your mouth, 
feeling your abdomen expand with fresh energy; breathe out slowly through 
your nose as you feel your limbs, your body, your head and face relax.  
You are breathing in fresh clean energy, nourishing your body, and  
breathing out stale breath, stress, tension and pain.

You are feeling comfortable and at ease with yourself as you continue 
breathing smoothly with your eyes closed.

Now you see yourself at the top of an open-air staircase that leads to a 
beautiful light tan beach.  You look out towards the sea and before you 
are glistening waters stretching out to the horizon where the deep blue
waters meets the light blue sky. .  The sea breeze blows your hair and 
you breathe.  It smells wonderfully clean.  Let it caress you, the surface 
of your skin.  The beach and the sea are inviting, so you grasp the wooden 
rail on the right and start descending the sturdy hand-hewn steps.  

As you go down the stairs, each step takes you into a deeper state of 
relaxation - deeper - deeper.  Down the stairs - safe - safe - comfortable 
- deeply relaxed.

And now you are on the beach.  The warm, soft sand is beneath your feet.  
You take off your shoes and leave them at the bottom of the stairs. The 
sand feels soft and warm beneath your feet.  You sink into it and it feels 
good as your toes curl into the tan, giving grains.  You feel the energy 
coming up through your feet as you feast your eyes on the horizon, the sea, 
the waves gently lapping the shore.  You take deep, clean, refreshing breaths.
... You take long, pleasurable strides eager to get to the shore - you are 
so relaxed - you feel safe - you see strips of kelp, bits of abandoned 
driftwood, seashells.  You remember how much fun it is to collect beach 
treasures but decide not to do so today.  You are now at the edge of the beach, 
where the wet sand meets the dry sand.  You walk along the edge of the beach 
and enjoy the sensation of your feet sinking into the wet sand.  You take 
pleasure in observing the footprints your bare feet leave in the wet sand.  

The tide is coming in.  On your left side the waves rush in and a residue of 
bubbly foam wraps around your toes before the water rushes back out to sea.  
You are so relaxed.  You watch the water fill up your footprints and merge 
them back into the sand.  A sea gull flies above you and calls.  You follow 
it, watching its path across the clear blue sky, lightly spotted with fluffy 
white clouds.  You stop briefly when you see that you have reached a cluster 
of large, weathered rocks.  The sea gull has flown past this barrier and you 
decide to follow it.  You know that the path is safe.

You easily climb up the rocks and down the other side.  You find yourself in 
a small, quiet cove.  You look around at the beautiful cove.  The cove is 
shaped like a horseshoe, curving around to your right.  You look out at the 
ocean, where you see white crested waves shining in the sunlight and a ship 
passing in the distance, making a dark silhouette against the light horizon.  
You deeply breathe the moist salt air and smell the ocean fragrance.  The 
gull has flown away, leaving you alone in this special chamber - your own 
private beach safe from the entire world.  The sound of the waves breaking 
on the shore is even muted here.

At the curved end of the horseshoe, formed of golden sandstone and clusters 
of large, rough rocks, you see an inviting flat ledge.  You walk over to the 
ledge, enjoying the feeling of the warm sand under your feet as you go.   As 
you get closer you see an unusual crystal like box there.  The transparent 
box is empty, but has a sturdy lock.  You pick up the box, noticing it feels 
light but sturdy.  You lift the lid of the box.  You know that this is your 
personal box and that you can use it to store away things that you do not 
need now.

Now, one by one, you place your cares and pains and troubles in the box - all 
the troubles and stress of your world - you name each trouble as you place it 
in the box - You place your biggest worry in the box; you feel lighter.  You 
place your biggest disappointment in the box;  you feel calmer.  You place 
your biggest anxiety in the box; you feel stronger.  Now you place the anger 
you have, naming each thing or person which causes the anger, your spouse, 
your boss, your relatives, your neighbors, your co-workers, the traffic, 
the government, the news, in the box; you are beginning to feel serene.  
You now place your fears of the future in the box, one by one, naming them, 
forgetting them, they will be stored away here and will not bind you; you 
feel lighter and calmer and stronger.   Continue this until you can no 
longer name another thing that needs to be stored here....  It is O.K. 
if you miss something on this trip.  You will have many other chances.  
Whatever you decide to store away at this time will be the things that 
you need to clear out of your mind...

When all your troubles have been transferred to the box, close the lid and 
lock the box.  Put the box back in a safe place on the ledge.  This box will 
stay here secure in your private cove.  If you need to examine the contents 
of the box you can come back to the cove and take out your cares, one by one, 
however many you feel you can handle, or you can leave the box alone forever. 
Only you can unlock this box.

You turn and find a nice spot on the beach.  You sit down.  You let sand 
sift through your fingers.  You feel so good - so peaceful - so light - 
so relaxed - breathing - renewing - so relaxed.

Now you lie back.  The warm, resilient sand molds to and supports your 
body perfectly. You feel the warmth along your spine, gradually spreading 
over you like a protective blanket.

If you want to go to sleep you now drift off into a deep, refreshing sleep 
- if not, slowly sit up, then stand up, looking around at the ledge, the 
beach and then the sea.  Walk slowly back to  the rock wall and walk over 
it back to the beach.  The waves are once again breaking boldly on the beach.  
Walk along the edge of the surf, enjoying the squish of your feet in the wet 
sand.  Look out at the sea and breathe in its energy and mystery and walk 
slowly until you come back to where the stairs are, and then cross over the 
soft sand, feeling the warm energy come up through your feet, back to the 
stairs where you left your shoes.  Sit on the bottom step and look out over 
the sea, breathing in its smells and sights as you shake off the sand and 
put your shoes back on.  Stand up and turn around to go back up the stairs. 

As you go up the stairs, you find yourself more and more refreshed and 
energized with each step.  One - two - deeply breathe the warm moist 
ocean air - three - you are awakening - four - you feel so relaxed and so 
wonderful - five - wide awake - refreshed - really relaxed - energized.  
You stretch your arms, flex your feet and open your eyes.  You are ready 
to face any challenge. 

Look around at your current surroundings.  Notice the size and shape of 
the room.  Notice the objects and colors and sounds and smells.  Notice 
if there are other people in the room.  If there are, see how bright their 
eyes look.  Your eyes are just as bright and clear and strong.  You are 
keenly aware of the room, and the objects and the people in a way you were 
not before this meditation.  You are totally in this situation right now.  
You can summon this focus and this awareness whenever you need it by taking 
deep breaths, closing your eyes, and remembering the trip to your personal 
cove. Notice how relaxed and alert you feel.  Notice that you feel lighter 
and taller and more energetic. You can repeat the complete trip to your 
personal cove every day if you wish. 

This guided visualization is an adaptation of Madeline Cooper's
"Enchanted Cove" as it appears in Meditations for Healing
by Larry Moen, United States Publishing, Florida, 1994.



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Private Cove