Guided Imagery Exercise 2:

An Early Morning Walk

BY ARLENE HARDER, MA, MFT — PHOTO BY FABIAN

Illustration for Guided Imagery Class 2

This exercise is designed to help you become more aware of how your imagination works. While it is obviously not an audio tape, which is the topic of the class, you can record it (see Using Imagery Scripts), have a friend read it to you, or simply read it yourself.

Just as reading a book in which the author uses vivid descriptions of a scene can make you feel as though you can see exactly what the heroine sees, you can experience this script in a similar way. Therefore, as you read or listen to this piece, allow your body to relax, sensing what it would be like to feel refreshed by an early morning walk in a beautiful meadow. In fact, you may even be able to "see," in your mind's eye, flowers like these pretty foxgloves.

As you prepare to take an imaginary walk through a meadow, take a deep breath (the kind you would take if you were outdoors on a clear, invigorating morning) and, as you exhale, allow your muscles to feel relaxed and loose and notice the quieting sensation of your hands at rest. . . . Relax a little more by noticing your feet and how they feel within your shoes and stockings or how they feel if you do not have them covered. . . . Allow your body to be fully supported and relax your muscles even more. . . .

And now, I invite you to imagine that it is almost dawn and you have camped in a beautiful meadow next to a vast and ancient forest. You are absolutely safe here.

As the night's darkness gradually lightens, you listen to the calls of the early-rising birds and wonder what creatures you will see in the forest. You feel an almost primitive joy in anticipation of spending time with nature's bounty.

Feeling refreshed by the slight chill in the early morning air, you take a deep breath and quickly get dressed. . . . You fix your breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. . . . Then, pulling a light day pack onto your shoulders, you leave your camping spot and follow a path that leads across the meadow. . . . Looking up, you watch a flock of geese as they fly wing-tip to wing-tip in formation across the sky. Behind them small white clouds dissolve into blue space. . . .

As you begin walking along the trail and look out across the meadow, the early dew sparkles on purple stalks of lupine, blue Columbine, white daisies, yellow buttercups and bright orange poppies. . . . The wildflowers in the tall yellow-green grass contrast sharply with the deeper greens and browns of the forest. . . . And then your attention is drawn to what appears to be a grand entrance to the forest with leafy sentinels growing on either side of the trail. The smaller guards are tall fern which grow in dense clumps, attended by an occasional wild iris. They are flanked by quaking aspen with shimmering leaves. . . .

Imagine what it would be like to stand in the middle of the meadow, taking in the sights and sounds and smells of nature. . . . If you would like, you could imagine you follow the path and walk into the forest. . . .

When you have finished wandering through scenes in your inner landscape, gently open your eyes . . . noticing how your imagination was able to use your past experience to create a mini-vacation and bringing with you whatever you need to remember today from this experience.

© Copyright 1997, Arlene Harder, MA, MFT