Kangaroo Collection (teens/adults): Sample Transcripts

Sleep — Expanding Calm

Let's take some time to practice mindfulness while transitioning from the lively bustle of your day to a peaceful, restorative sleep. First, lie or sit comfortably in or near your bed.

Begin by shutting your eyes if you would like, then take a deep, gentle breath in through your nose and slowly let it out through your mouth.

And once again, deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Now, close your lips softly and let your breath return to a natural rhythm in and out of your nose.

You don't need to focus on your breath. Simply remain aware of it in the background, the steady cadence of air moving in and out of your chest as it rises and falls.

As you breathe, let your body grow heavy. Feel the sensation of contact with the bed or floor beneath you.

Allow your shoulders to relax down away from your ears and let that wave of relaxation travel down through the rest of your body.

Now take some time to recollect your entire day in your head. Remember all the things you accomplished, both big and small, for yourself and for others.

If you had moments of stillness or rest, cherish those too, for they are essential to your well-being. If you were busy nonstop, be proud that you fit so much into daylight hours. Recall the myriad of feelings you experienced throughout the day.

Notice which moments and experiences loom larger still, like footprints in your mind. Imagine waves lapping at them, gently washing them smooth.

There's no need to clear away these thoughts forever. We're just letting them surf the waves for a while, freeing them from this present moment until we might want them again.

Let's do the same for any thoughts, worries, or excitement you might have about the future.

Let the waves wash these impressions smooth, knowing that there may be a time for them later, but there is no need at this moment. Right now, you only need to be here.

Observe any remaining tenderness or clenching in your physical being and try to release it.

Release your forehead, release your jaw, release your neck.

Release your shoulders, release your hips and legs.

Release your fingers and toes.

Let all the tension drift out of you with each breath.

Gradually, let your breath become deeper, slower. Feel each inhale renew your body, and each exhale cleanse it of residual tension.

Breath — Awareness Through Breathing

Come to a comfortable seated position. Breathe easily, and rest the weight of your body on your sit bones and center your spine. Sit up tall. Feel the force of gravity, how it holds your feet to the floor with no effort from you. Feel it pulling you downward, securing you to the earth, to this spot, to this moment.

Let gravity pull your shoulders down from your ears. Allow your tensions to release without judging what the release feels like. Simply notice that in this moment of mindfulness, your tension is dissipating.

Feel the air around you. Is it warm or cool? Warm in some places and cool in others? Moving or still? Moving in some places, still in others? Just notice. Try not to prioritize the sensations by good or bad, only notice your ability to notice. Feel air as it flows in and out of your body. In this moment, do not try to breathe in any specific way.

Try to notice as the air moves in and out.

Turn your attention to the air inside of you. Is it warm or cool? Warm in some places, cool in others? Fast or slow? Fast in some places, slow in others? Again, notice without preference for one sensation over the other.

In this moment, allow yourself to feel thankful for your breath. Deep breaths, shallow breaths, fast breaths, low breaths. However you are breathing in this moment, allow gratitude for your breath to fill your chest and heart space. Know that at this moment your breath is carrying life giving oxygen to your lungs.

Oxygen is coursing through your veins to every cell and atom of your being. Feel how easy it is to be thankful for this, how light and lifting. Allow this feeling of gratitude to lift your chest and chin. Allow it to elongate your neck and raise the crown of your head toward the ceiling. Notice how this peaceful feeling of gratitude holds you in a relaxed but upright position. Take several slow deep breaths, pull the air into the lowest part of your lungs, feel your belly swell as your lungs inflate. Then as you breathe out, use your abdominal muscles to pull your belly button inward towards your spine, send the last wisps of old air up and out. Breathe in filling your lungs. Breathe out, emptying your lungs as completely as you can.

Continue breathing deeply and slowly.

Notice if your awareness has wandered from the breath or become distracted by thoughts or sensations.

If it has, simply return your attention to your breathing.

Stillness — A Work of Art

Let's take a few moments to practice mindful stillness.

First, locate a tranquil place where you can sit or lie comfortably. Once you're content with your position, begin by taking a deep breath in through your nose, pause for a few seconds, then exhale slowly through your mouth.

Once again, full inhale, pause, and exhale. As you continue to breathe mindfully, become aware of your body settling from the constant motion of your day. Though you may appear still, the memory of movement still pulses through your muscles and joints tugging on your inner conscience to stay busy and be productive as we are programmed to do.

Let's turn off this program by gently shaking out the last of these active memories.

Start with your head, slowly turning it from side to side, releasing the tension in your neck. Turn it one last time before gently coming back to center. Rest your head here. Now wiggle your shoulders up and down, slower and slower still, until they come to a complete stop sending the feeling of stillness down your spine.

As this sensation spreads outward, feel your hips become solid and dependable, like boulders and your legs become unmovable, fallen trees which nature has blanketed with her beauty over time.

Delicately wiggle your fingers and toes, freeing the last bits of motion, like the end of a song, drifting softly into silence.

Notice your body feel the strength and stillness, the power in peace.

The only movement is the slight rise and fall of your chest as you breathe in the serenity and breathe out movement.

Now bring the focus back to your mind where your thoughts have been swirling, like a sandstorm blowing from one place to another, always shifting, creating new piles and dunes, filling in holes and making new ones. Even when your body stops, your mind keeps going, like a snow globe that has been shaken furiously.

See if you can curtail that wind to a leisurely breeze so most of your thoughts relinquish their flurry of flight and descend toward the ground out.

Now imagine that breeze tempering slowly to a complete and utter halt. Picture all of your thoughts coming to rest like the sand in a Japanese rock garden in beautiful, serene, satisfying patterns.

They do not need motion to be effective. They don't need action to be accomplished. Observe the intricate pleasing lines in the sand of your mind and remember that stillness is a work of art.

Even as you breathe softly, not a single grain of sand is disturbed. Your mind and body are so emotionless you could be a portrait of yourself letting the world pass by you as you remain regal and resolute in your frame.

Gratitude — Thank You and Good Night

Let's take a moment to practice mindfulness as you journey into sleep.

Begin by reclining in a cozy, restful spot in or maybe near your bed. Once you are settled into a comfortable and relaxed position, begin to follow the steady sound of your breath as it weaves countless circles of life in and out of your body.

Take a deep inhale through your nose and release through your mouth slowly and graciously, like a long sigh of relief.

Continue to let your breath flow naturally, but do not focus on it. Instead, let it guide you with its steady rhythm to your other physical sensations as they gradually abate their daily activity.

First, your sight. Close your eyes, taking reality into sudden black, as little remnants of light sparkle and fade behind your eyelids.

Become aware of how wonderful it feels to finally let them rest in the dark. Shutting out the harsh lights of screams and the sun, like suddenly stepping off the Vegas strip into a shady, tranquil garden. The contrast brings instant gratification you didn't know you needed.

Be thankful for both the vision your eyes have provided during the day, and the subconscious visions they will allow you to have all night by remaining closed.

Now focus on your ears. While you may be grateful for all the laughter, the kind words, the marvelous music that they hear during the day. Now is the time to appreciate them for hearing the smaller, quieter things in life. The breeze and the leaves outside your window. The tick of a clock, the beat of your heart, the whoosh of your breath, your ears have endured a long day of loud noises.

Now that the volume has been turned down, let these softer sounds play your ears a thankful lullaby, telling them that it's okay to stop listening and rest. As you take a deep inhale through your nose, be thankful for that breath and for the wonderful smells that travel with it, smells that draw you in and make you linger.

Then exhale through your mouth, feeling fortunate for that air and for your voice, which you use to speak both your mind and your heart.

Recall with pleasure, the tastes and textures that your tongue experience throughout the day. Making eating and drinking so much more than a means of survival. Acknowledge these sensations and then let them go. Like saying farewell to the hosts of a wonderful party. Thank you and good night.

Let this sense of gratitude travel throughout the rest of your body as you continue to count your blessings in their purest simplicity.

Empathy — A Walk in Your Own Shoes

Begin by sitting comfortably resting your hands in your lap. Keep your eyes gently open and bring your focus to your breath. Inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale.

Let your breath guide your attention to this present moment. We often think of empathy as an exercise in putting ourselves in someone else's shoes. It's certainly useful to try to see the world through the eyes of someone who's experience is different from yours. But empathy can be as much about putting yourself back into your own shoes, shoes you haven't worn in a long time, so that you may see the world again as you once saw it and have since forgotten.

Think of a baby, few, if any of us can remember being a baby, but we know what it feels like to be shoeless barefoot, how the earth feels under our toes. How it feels to walk on warm sand, a scratchy wool rug, slippery river rocks. How we would've marveled at all these sensations the first time we experienced them, there was a time when every day you saw something you'd never seen before.

Can you remember the last time you saw something that was completely novel?

Something that left you awestruck.

Can you think of a person who might be experiencing a bit of this sensation right now? It might be a baby, but it could also be someone entering a new phase in life, a new school, a different job, a new role as a spouse or parent. Draw on your own experience of awe to connect with the people who are in your life today, who are in the midst of these experiences.

Think of when you were a child. Can you remember outgrowing your shoes every year? How each new pair would start off too loose, gradually fit perfectly, and then begin to squeeze your feet. As you continue to grow, perhaps there is someone in your life who is growing and changing in ways that don't always fit comfortably with their present situation in life.

How might you be with them on their journey supporting them until they can walk in peace on their own?

Inspiration — Bloom Without Inhibition

Bloom without inhibition.

Let's take some time to find inspiration through mindfulness. Begin by finding a peaceful place to lie or sit comfortably. Once you are situated, take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a few seconds, and release it slowly through your mouth with a sigh. Once again, inhale and long, gentle exhale.

Now close your eyes, focusing on all the sparkles of energy that remain behind your eyelids. Imagine that energy growing, spreading through your body like electricity. Feel it coursing through your veins and pulsing into your heart. Notice it vibrating in your fingers and hands ready to create something incredible.

Sense it traveling to your shoulders, your neck, and tingling through your spine. Feel it whirling down around your hips and your legs, and pouring into your toes. At the same time, make sure your muscles are utterly relaxed, like the energy is massaging out the tension making room for inspiration. Let this vibrant glow of energy reach every dark corner, lighting your insides like a floating lanter in the night sky.

Let the brightest and most colorful light rise to your brain. Your mind is now alive with creativity and buzzing with imagination. Imagine that this luminosity is warm like candlelight. It melts away any blockage in your physical body as well as your mind opening all the spaces for endless possibilities.

When you feel mentally stuck, it does not mean that you've reached the limit of your potential. You simply need to rekindle this warm glow of energy and remember that no ideas are wrong when they are stimulating your thoughts. Keeping the light burning bright is like keeping an open mind, devoid of judgment and doubt. When you believe you are out of ideas or that your ideas are inferior, remember that this is a delusion created from fear.

When a room is dark, you often see horrors that aren't really there. Shine the light in the corners of your mind and you will see that there is nothing to fear. Let your creativity bloom without inhibition. Take a deep breath in and let it out with a sigh or a smile, or maybe a quiet laugh. Channel your inner child, the curious wild creature who once believed in magic and dragons and elves, that childlike imagination is still there trapped in the dark, waiting to be brought out into the sunshine to make mud pies.

Melt the false boundaries you have built in your mind…

Awareness — Emotional Warehouse

Sit comfortably. Close your eyes and begin with an easy life affirming breath.

There is no need to control your breathing, simply notice that you are breathing.

Notice the air entering your body, becoming breath, and exiting again, returning to the air all around you.

Follow the breath as it journeys through your body. In through your nose, around your sinus cavities, down into your lungs, back up through your windpipe and out of your mouth, flowing over your tongue and past your lips.

Notice this journey is happening now, in the present. your attention on following the breath, allowing the breath to keep your awareness in the present moment. This is now. And now.

Bring this awareness of the present to your emotions. Look at what you are feeling just now.

Are you feeling more than one way?

Don't worry if the feeling is unnameable. Simply notice it.

What thoughts are attached to it?

Where does it show up in your body?

Pain in your chest? Tingling? Hotness? Soreness in your muscles? Slowing of breath?

How does it affect your heart rate? Simply notice. In this moment, this is how this feeling is playing out in your experience.

Now take a step back from this feeling and observe it as if you could see it hanging on a museum wall. Does it appear big or small? Outside you? Inside you? All around you?

Step back further to a time in your past when you felt angry, frustrated or out of control. Do you feel that someone made you feel this way? or was it self-motivated? There is no right or wrong answer. We are simply noticing ourselves. Try to bring up the memory. What time of day was it? Season of the year? What were you wearing? shoes, what shirt? What do you hear? Smell? Taste? Notice your heartbeat. your body posture, your breathing. Feel how tuning into this memory triggers reactions in your body.

Now take a step forward into the future, to a time when you imagine feeling joy, connecting with an old friend, or making a new connection, taking time in nature, mastering a skill, keeping a promise to yourself.

Who will have supported you?

How will you have supported yourself?

Try to make the future images vivid.

What time of day will you feel this joy?

What season of the year?

What will you hear?

Smell, taste, touch.

Notice your heartbeat, your body posture, your breathing.

Feel how tuning into this imagined moment triggers reactions in your body?

Return your attention to the air around you and its journey as breath. Notice the air as it flows into your body and down becoming breath. Notice the breath as it flows up and out. Returning to the air, bring your attention to your awareness, the thing that is able to notice the space where your emotions and sensations play out. Notice this awareness. Notice how vast it is, how it can hold even huge emotions.

Notice how refined it is, how it can detect the tiniest feelings.

Imagine your awareness is a large empty warehouse with giant doors.

Stand in the middle of this vast silent space.

Fill the space with anger. Maybe it shows up as a lightning storm or a red fog. An army of zombies, a powerful blackness or a thunder of noise. Notice this anger.

Open the doors of the warehouse. And let a gentle breeze blow the anger out. Feel the coolness flow across your skin.

Now, fill the warehouse with excitement. Imagine rainbows or the Aurora Borealis, a swirl of golden sparkles, a joy-filled music festival, or a symphony rising to a crescendo. Notice this excitement.

Restoration — Sensations of Sunrise

Let’s take a moment to restore ourselves through mindfulness. Find a calm, quiet place where you can sit or lie comfortably.

Once you are situated, begin by taking a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth slowly. Then repeat. Inhale deeply through your nose and then exhale through your mouth, letting your breath carry you to a restful state.

Now, close your eyes if you can, and continue breathing mindfully as you focus on the sensation of that breath, flowing through your nose, your mouth, and lungs.

How does it feel as it enters the body? How does it feel as it departs?

As you inhale, feel the air fill you with a rising warmth, a glow of hopeful energy, a radiance of renewal.

Imagine it soothing, smoothing, repairing as it travels through you. Then exhale and push out the cold air.

The frigid sensation that makes you stiff and achy.

Feel your limbs become heavy, yet loose and fluid, sinking into the surface supporting you like melted wax. As your body softens, your mind opens, allowing for restoration to begin.

As you scan through your body, become aware of the places that feel good, the parts that feel strong and healthy. Open them up further like windows, letting in sunlight and fresh air.

Where you feel tension, pain, or fatigue, envision that sunlight reaching there, warming. Imagine a gentle breeze, caressing the most weak or tender areas, letting in new life with each inhale and exhale.

Now concentrate on individual parts of your body, beginning with your toes and feet. Circle them around a few times as the warm glow passes through them, upwards like the sunrise over the mountains. Let those comforting rays spread to your legs and through your hips, soaking up the radiance of dawn.

Notice the soft, steady beat of your heart and the rise and fall of your chest as this healing light rises through your torso.

Roll your shoulders gently releasing tension and pain, letting the feeling of restoration melt down your arms to your fingers. Wiggle and stretch them feeling the buzz of energy at their very tips.

As the sunrise reaches your neck, turn your head side to side gently massaging out the tightness, letting in the light. And then feel the sun's gentle morning rays move up over your lips, your nose, your eyelids. With every beam of light, feel the promise of a new day, a new beginning.

Bring your focus back to your mind. Now that you are open and relaxed, direct your thoughts towards healing.

Relaxation — Sculpting Yourself

Let’s begin this relaxation practice by coming to a comfortable seated or lying position. You can close your eyes or leave them gently open. Take a deep, cleansing breath in and exhale with a sigh. Another big inhale, and exhale.

Slowly, gently bring your awareness to your body. Simply notice, without judgment, where you feel relaxed, where you hold tension, and where there might be pressure or lightness.

We are just observing here, tuning into our bodies and gathering information. Just observe and breathe. That is all you need to do right now.

Now imagine that before you is a great lump of clay. It is as tall and wide as you. It is an earthy color, perhaps yellow or orange or red, or a shade of gray. You dimple it with your fingers and notice how readily it responds to your touch. In fact, any pressure you use on it is mirrored on yourself.

Imagine using your hands to shape this lump into a clay version of you. Starting at the top, let your hands smooth down the clay and begin to form the round shape of your head. There is no need for perfection, intention is enough to render the lines and curves that you envision. Feel the pressure mirrored on yourself as the scalp is smoothed.

Massage facial features into the clay. Smooth out the eyebrows, the nose, the mouth. Create cheeks by pressing your palms into the clay and sweeping upward. Repeat this fluid, relaxing motion until the contours are formed. If you encounter any unyielding spots in the clay, gently knead them away in a circular motion until they are compliant and supple.

Continue to apply firm but gentle pressure to sculpt the temples, the cheekbones, the jawline. Feel the skin and muscles in your own face reinvigorated by these fluid strokes. As you continue to sculpt, let any excess clay fall heavily to the floor. In turn, feel the sculpture, and yourself, get lighter.

Continue now to form the neck, chest, shoulders, and upper back. Let your downward strokes shape and then relax the shoulders down to a comfortable resting place. Sweep your palms horizontally across the clay figure in broad, mindful strokes as you form the upper chest and back. Use your thumb to firmly but gently raise the collarbone out of the clay. At the same time, feel the release and relaxation of that bone in your own body.