~A meditation to clear a distracted and cluttered mind based on Bilbo climbing above the Mirkwood for fresh air and to figure out which direction to travel~
This meditation is one to clear your mind, so clearing your mind before you begin isn’t entirely necessary, though you can if you wish. I used this meditation last week after a long, stressful and overbearing week at work.
Prepare yourself and your space for your meditation. I always tidy up the space in front of my altar and set down a blanket that I always sit on for meditations. I showered, lit a couple candles and incense, and then set out a cup of tea to drink after the meditation is done.
Center yourself. Close your eyes and draw yourself inward. Do not focus on any one thought, as we will do our best to sort them out later. Imagine yourself on the edge of a forest, the trees are tall, and the light from the sun is filtering down through the leafy boughs overhead, but only barely. The shadows are deep but not scary, there is nothing to fear in the forest, you are safe. Begin walking through the trees.
Each tree is a thought, simply pass by them as they go through your mind. Do not latch onto any one thought, not not follow any trail of thought, just let them go where they go. Your mind will organize them however it will, we are just here to travel through the thoughts, to find our path to a calmer mind. Keep walking, do not stop, though you will most likely feel tired due to the thoughts around you, that is alright. If in your visualization you need to sit and rest, that is fine. Do so. Open your eyes, take a breath, drink some water, then continue.
When you begin to feel overwhelmed by your thoughts and the energy they are taking from you, stop, Look up, find the nearest opening in the boughs of the trees where even the slightest sunlight is filtering down. Climb the tree nearest that break in the canopy.
As you break through the top of the canopy, take a few deep breaths. The sun is shining above you, the sky is blue, the air is clear and fresh, there is a breeze that stirs the top of the trees in a comforting whisper. Now we will begin to clear your thoughts.
As you are enjoying the fresh air, trickle back through your thoughts to the ones that flitted past in the woods below. This time, each one appears before you on the wings of a butterfly emerging from the treetops. For the most brief moment, focus on each of the thought-butterflies individually, and force the thought away. As you do so, the butterfly flies higher above the trees.
Once you’ve cleared your mind of all the unwarranted thoughts and distractions, the flock of butterflies above you soars off, dissipating as they do so, flying in a thousand different directions away from you. Take another deep breath before descending back down into the forest and continuing on through the trees. This half of the forest is more open, more clear, with more light. The air smells of a scent that is pleasing to you and soon the trees begin to have more space between them until you are finally out of the woods.
**This is one of my personal meditations! I do this at the end of a long and stressful week where too much has gone on for me to handle.**
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