Guided Meditation Techniques A Visit To A Country House

Here\’s a guided meditation technique that takes you on a trip round a beautiful country house…

Imagine that you are visiting a beautiful country house … a really beautiful old country house or stately home, on a warm, sunny, summer\’s afternoon. You are standing on the staircase that leads down into the entrance hall, one of those wide ceremonial types of staircase. And as you look down across the entrance hall, you can just glimpse, through the open doors opposite, a gravel drive, and the sunlight on the gravel. It\’s a beautiful, sunny, summer\’s afternoon and there is no one around to trouble or bother you as you stand on that staircase . . .

Now you are moving down the last ten steps to the hall-way, relaxing more and more -with each step down.

10 Taking one step down, relaxing and letting go…

9 Taking another step down, feeling at ease . . .

8 Becoming more relaxed, letting go even more . . .

7 Just drifting deeper . . . and deeper . . . and even deeper down still . . .

6 Becoming calmer . . . and calmer . . . even calmer still …

5 Continuing to relax, continuing to let go and feeling good . . .

4 Relaxing even more . . . letting go even more . . .

3 Sinking deeper . . . drifting even further into this welcoming, relaxed state . . .

2 Enjoying those good feelings, feelings of inner peace and relaxation . . .

1 Nearly all the way down now, feeling very good . . . beautifully relaxed . . . and 0.

You are wandering across that hallway now, towards the open doors and the gardens beyond, soaking up the atmosphere of peace and: permanence in that lovely old building.

You wander out through the doors and down the stone steps 6utside . . . and find yourself standing on the gravel drive outside, a wide gravel drive that leads down to the entrance gates.

As you stand there you notice the lush green lawns, so flat and well-clipped . . . and there are shrubs and trees, different shades of green and brown against a clear, blue sky . . . and you can feel the warmth of the sun on your head and shoulders as you enjoy this beautiful summer\’s afternoon in this lovely old garden.

. . . There are flowerbeds with their splashes of color so carefully arranged and neatly tended. And there\’s no one else about . . . nobody needing anything, nobody wanting anything and nobody expecting anything from you, so you can enjoy the peace and serenity and solitude of this afternoon in this beautiful garden that\’s been so well looked after for so many, many years.

A little way down on the right-hand side of the driveway, you notice an ornamental fish pond, the sort of fish pond you only find in the grounds of an old country house or stately home. So you decide to wander down and have a look at those fish, and begin to scrunch your way down that gravel drive, with nothing disturbing the peace and stillness of that afternoon but the scrunch of the gravel as it moves beneath your feet, and the occasional bird song from a long way away, emphasizing the stillness of the air.

You are wandering down towards the fish pond, soaking up the atmosphere of this beautiful garden full of flowers and butterflies.

Eventually . . . eventually you find yourself standing near the edge of the fish pond, looking down into that clear, cool, shallow water, just watching those fish . . . large ornamental goldfish of red and gold, black and silver, swimming so easily . . . gliding so effortlessly among the weed, in and out of shadows and around the lily pads. Sometimes they seem almost to disappear behind the weed and shadows, but always they reappear, with their scales catching the sunlight, red, gold, silver or black.

And as you watch those fish your mind becomes even more deeply relaxed …

… As you watch those fish you notice that the center of the pond is very, very deep, it could be the top of a disused -well.

You take from your pocket a silver-colored coin, and with great care toss that coin so that it lands over the very centre of the pond, and then you watch as it swings down through the water. The ripples drift out to the edges of the pond, but you just watch that coin as it drifts and sinks deeper and deeper through that cool, clear water, twisting and turning; sometimes it seems to disappear as it turns on edge, at other times a face of the coin catches the sunlight and it flashes through the -water . . . sinking, drifting deeper and deeper, twisting and turning as it makes its way down

. . . Finally it comes to rest at the bottom of the pond, lying on a cushion of soft brown mud, a silver coin in that still, clean water on its own cushion of mud . . .

And you feel as still and undisturbed as that coin, as still and as cool and motionless as that water, enjoying that feeling of inner peace and stillness.