Close your eyes and imagine that you are sitting on a beach.
You are alone. It is a perfect day. The beach stretches as far as your eye can see in either direction. Feel the sun’s warmth on your skin, the faint sea breeze on your cheek, taste a little salt in the air. Gaze out to the horizon, where the mighty ocean meets the vast sky and folds into the infinite.
Make your breathing deep, controlled and steady, focusing all your attention on your breath, counting slowly with each inhalation and exhalation.
After some time you notice that the waves are gently rolling in and subsiding in perfect rhythm with your breathing. As you breathe in, the wave rolls in to shore: as you exhale, the water retreats to the bosom of the sea. Your breathing and the ocean’s breathing – embodied in the motion of the waves – have become one. The sea is breathing in and through you.
You notice that your breath is actually controlling the movements of the waves: as you breathe in and the wave rolls in to shore, if you hold your breath for a moment, the water pauses and waits for your outgoing breath before returning to the sea.
You and the ocean are one.
Look into your heart and see and feel that you have become the ocean’s depths. No matter what is happening on the surface – wind, waves, even a storm – your depths are vast, silent, profound peace, the source of immense power.
After some time absorbed in the peace of your inner depths, you notice that the sun has started to sink. It is time for you to depart. With a happy heart, collect your things, rise, bid a fond farewell to the sea and turn for home…