More videos can be found at my YouTube channel, Silver Lining Therapy

A guided mindfulness visualization to help you build a personalized safe, calm place in your mind. 00:00 Deep Breathing 00:30 Identify a Space 00:52 Notice the Details 02:43 Relax and Breathe 03:28 Closing

This mindfulness meditation is intended to help you feel confident, strong, and secure, as you embody a tree. Transcript: Get comfortable, sitting upright, if possible. Your eyes can be open with a soft gaze or closed. Take a few deep breaths. Focus on the sensation of the air entering and exiting your body. Begin to imagine a tree. It can be any type of tree, as long as it is strong and resilient. Notice what this tree looks like. See how the roots dig deep into the earth. Notice its trunk. Is it thick or thin? Flexible, firm, or something in between? Notice the bark. If you’d like, you can reach out and feel the texture. Notice the color or colors of the bark. As your gaze rises upward, notice the height of the tree. Are there branches? Notice the shapes that the branches make against the background. If there are leaves, pine needles, or flowers, notice these. Observe the details – shapes or colors. Are they swaying in a breeze? Do they have a scent? Can you reach up and touch them? Notice if there is any life in the tree – bugs, squirrels, birds. If there are any, take a moment to observe them. Now, you can start to become this tree. Allow your toes and feet to dig deep into the earth. Rooting and anchoring you. Your legs and torso can slowly morph into the trunk of the tree, steady and strong. Your arms reach out as branches, while any flowers, leaves, or needles begin growing from your fingers. Your neck and head stretch up, tall. You can see the world around you from a new vantage point. The ground looks small beneath you. Problems melt away as you become this tree: confident, solid, and secure. Notice how the world around you affects you as a tree. Perhaps people walk or sit beneath your canopy. Maybe animals play in your branches. Perhaps a strong winds rushes by. How do you react? Notice how your tree weathers the changing seasons. How it adapts and changes, but never breaks. Notice its resilience against destructive forces of nature and its ability to heal in the aftermath. Remain this tree for as long as you’d like, enjoying the constant stability. You can pause this video if you would like more time. When you are ready, you can begin to shift back into your human form. Your head and neck lower back toward the ground. Your fingers shed their leaves, as your arms lower to your sides. Your legs and torso shift back into their usual forms and your feet and toes begin withdrawing from deep in the Earth to hold you upright on the ground. Now, you can begin to become aware of the room you are in. You can notice the temperature of the room, the surface beneath you, and any sounds around you. Finally, when you are ready, you can open your eyes and take this feeling of groundedness with you.

This guided mindfulness meditation can help you relax by taking you through each color of the rainbow. Start by getting comfortable, either sitting or lying down. Your eyes can be open with a soft gaze or closed. Begin taking deep, intentional breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth. In and out. Notice the rhythm of your breath. Allow your body to relax. Let your shoulders drop and your jaw unclench. As we begin this visualization, know that your mind may wander. That is okay. If you realize your mind has wandered, simply notice this without judgement and bring your attention back to your breath, the colors, or my voice. In your mind’s eye, imagine a rainbow. Notice the curved shape, how it stretches across the sky, how each color blends into the next. Imagine you could float up to this rainbow and walk across it. Begin by stepping into the color red. Notice any sensations that you associate with red. Surround yourself with all shades of red. Bricks, firetrucks, apples. Notice red. As you continue walking across this rainbow, you enter the color orange. Notice all the gradations and hues of orange. Clementine, carrot, tigers. Experience any sensations that you associate with orange. Experience orange. Next, you find yourself entering yellow. Notice any sensations you associate with yellow. Fill your vision with all types of yellow, from gold to daffodil to lemon. Engross yourself in yellow. Continue walking through the rainbow until you reach green. See all shades of green: pine trees, frogs, limes. Experience any sensations that you associate with green. Immerse yourself in green. Next, you reach blue. Notice any sensations that you associate with blue. Surround yourself with all shades of blue from baby blue to navy to indigo and more. Enjoy blue. Finally, you step into purple. Surround yourself with all tones and hues of purple: grapes, flowers, plums. Experience any sensations that you associate with purple. Notice purple. Now allow yourself to walk back through this rainbow noticing and enjoying each color. From purple to blue to green to yellow to orange to red. Finally, notice whichever color or colors you wish. Maybe you find yourself drawn to a color that suits your mood. Perhaps you choose to immerse yourself in your favorite color. Whatever you choose, take a moment to sit and enjoy this color. At your own pace, begin bringing your awareness back to your breath. Notice the room you are in – the temperature, any sounds, the feeling of the surface beneath you. Notice how relaxed and calm you feel. When you are ready, you can slowly open your eyes and take this feeling with you.

You are encouraged to fully dim your screen and close your eyes for this visualization. This mindfulness meditation begins by instructing you to envision a ball of soothing light moving through your body and relaxing it. It then moves into a visualization of a cozy living room with a warm fire. The guided portion runs 10 minutes. The remaining 5 minutes are peaceful music. Transcript: Begin by lying comfortably in your bed and breathe deeply and slowly. In and out. Notice the feeling of your breath as you breathe in and out. Nice slow, deep breaths. Begin to notice the sensations in your body: the feeling of the mattress beneath you, the pillow under your head, the sheets or blankets around you. As you begin noticing these sensations, allow your body to sink heavily into the mattress. Remember to continue breathing deeply. Envision a soothing ball of light hovering just above your head. What color is it? How large is it? Is there any movement in it or is it still? Does it have a temperature or texture? Once you have an image of this soothing ball of light, you can begin to allow it to wash down over your head, releasing any tension in your head and face. Next, allow the ball of light to move down your neck and throat, washing away any discomfort there. If at any point your mind wanders, just notice that, allow the thoughts to float by like a leaf in a stream, and bring your thoughts back to your body, your breath, or my voice. Notice the ball of light moving over your shoulders, down your arms, all the way to your hands and down to your fingertips. Allow it to release any tension you may be holding and allow your shoulders, arms, and hands to fully relax. Now focus on your soothing ball of light as it makes its way down your chest and over your back, allowing your shoulder blades to relax and any tension in your chest to dissipate. Remember to keep breathing slowly and deeply. Move the ball of light down further, releasing any discomfort in your abdomen and lower back. The light continues down through your pelvis and thighs and continues down your legs, through your knees, shins, calves, all the way to your feet and toes, allowing your lower body to fully relax and sink into the mattress. Allow the soothing ball of light to envelop your whole body. Breathe deeply and allow the mattress to support all your weight, as you sink into it. Now that you are feeling relaxed, begin to imagine a cozy living room. As you enter, you see a crackling fireplace. In the dim room, the fire gives off just the right amount of light. You walk forward to your favorite comfy seat. As you sink deeply into it, you notice that it provides you with just the right amount of support and has the perfect, coziest texture. You feel just the right amount of heat coming from the fireplace as you wrap yourself in your favorite, most comfortable blanket. Continue breathing deeply and slowly. Allow your mind to drift as you enjoy spending time in this space. If you notice your mind wandering to uncomfortable thoughts, simply notice without judgment and then bring your attention back to this living room. Enjoy watching the crackling fire as the flames dance in front of you. Perhaps there is a book beside your chair that you would like to pick up and read. Maybe you notice a plate of warm cookies, their scent drifting up to your nose, mingling with the scent of the fireplace. As you look around the room, you see a window. Through it, you see the moon shining brightly and stars twinkling gently in a dark sky. You are warm, comfortable, and safe in your chair as you notice trees swaying in the wind outside. Your eyes begin to feel heavy as your body sinks more deeply into your seat. Your body is entirely relaxed and is supported fully by the surface beneath you. You feel a heaviness in your limbs as your eyes begin to close. With each blink, it gets harder and harder to open your eyes until, at last, they remain closed. Your breathing is deep and slow, creating a soothing rhythm in your body. You sink deeper and deeper into sleep, knowing that you are safe here in this space.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR, guides you to tense and relax your muscles, helping your body learn to release tension. With consistent practice, it can become easier to intentionally relax your body.