Do this meditation outside, if you can find a quiet spot. All the natural scents and sounds will intensify your experience. However, it is very important that you should not be disturbed.
Method
Start by relaxing completely. Close your eyes and either imagine the actual place where you are sitting/lying or that you are somewhere else in Nature. Take the time to see this in detail. If you are using the place where you are, do not be surprised if it changes in some way.
Around you there are soft sounds of rustling and scuffling. The undergrowth seems to be moving here and there,this way and that, as if there are creatures within it. Each time you turn around to get a better look, the movement seems to stop. You feel that you are being watched by curious eyes.
The vegetation around you is becoming indistinct. You realize a soft gray mist is rising from the ground,slowly obscuring all that you see. Up, up goes the mist, around and above you, until you find yourself in a bell jar of whiteness. Peace surrounds you, and you wait patiently.
Now the mist is clearing in front of you, revealing a different scene entirely. You see there is a forest path,dark and over-arched by thick branches, winding deep into the heart of the woodland. You know that you must take this path.
You get up and begin to walk into the tunnel of green. Bird calls echo overhead. The air is still and cool, and there is a scent of moss and soil. The earth beneath your feet is springy and even, although the forest grows thick on both sides. As you walk, you are aware that the undergrowth on either side of the path is moving from time to time. Gradually you realize that beings are walking alongside you. As you walk on, they become clearer and clearer, until you can see their faces and fairy forms.
Ahead you can see a dark shape looming. The earthy scent intensifies, and you realize you are approaching the mouth of a cave. You stand before it, and the beings on either side of you stand still too. Beside the path there is a flat stone. You sit on it and wait.
You are becoming aware of a rhythmic sound, like a heartbeat or a muffled drum. The noise is steadily getting louder, and you realize that it is the sound of footsteps approaching. You feel a little apprehensive, but notice that all your companion earth spirits are clustering expectantly at the mouth of the cave, as you also watch patiently and hopefully.
The sound intensifies to a steady boom, until a figure appears in the shadowed arch of the cave. This is a mighty creature,which looks as if he has been hewn from solid rock: gnarled,gray-brown, and sinewy, His feet are like tree roots and his arms like the branches of an oak, and he carries a great club over his shoulder. For a moment you feel afraid, until you notice that above his tangled beard his eyes are brown and twinkling.
This being squats down, and as he does so he looks much more homely. All the gnomes and nature spirits throng around him and he laughs a deep,booming laugh as they climb upon his knees and shoulders and whisper in his ear. All the while he looks sidelong at you, winking and nodding, until you approach a little closer. “Look around you.” he says, and his voice is surprisingly soft, like the rain falling on thirsty ground. “Look around,listen around,feel around!” You look about you, into the green fertile forest. “Here.”. he says, “Is where it all happens. Do you understand? All takes shape,you take shape,everything is.”
Thoughts rise in your mind and feelings within your heart. Ask questions of the Gnome King. Speak to him especially of your plans and ambitions, your practical difficulties, and matters to do with your home,money,and body. Ask how you can proceed in love and harmony with the earth,while finding fulfillment. Don’t be surprised if some of his answers are quite short and to the point.
Soon the time comes to take your leave. Do so respectfully and thankfully. Walk back along the forest path,with such of the earth spirits have chosen to accompany you. As you approach to the place where you began, see that the mist has disappeared and all is normal.Come back gradually to everyday awareness.
what about bathtubs and bubbles and rubber duckies and warm water and bath salts and the small splashes and wine and candles and relaxation and did I say BUBBLES??
