© Anne Vincent 2001

The Swimming Pool

You are relaxing by a swimming pool, reclining on a sun-lounger, in verdant green garden. Use all of your senses to experience your environment.

Nearby is a parasol which you may open, if you wish, to give you some shade. By your side is a cool, refreshing drink. Picking up the glass and bringing it towards your mouth notice the smell of the liquid. Taking a sip of your drink, savour the flavour. Feel the coolness of the liquid in your mouth and throat as you swallow.

The garden is well tended with hibiscus hedges. Each hibiscus flower has scarlet petals with yellow stamens. The yellow pollen shines in the sunlight. Brilliant fuchsia pink coloured bougainvillaea can be seen tumbling over walls. Nearby is a pergola covered with jasmine. The delicate fragrance of the small, white flowers fills the warm air.

Behind the hedges are some palm trees. Small birds rest among the branches. Listen to their chirping.

There are many flowering shrubs in the garden. Some are familiar to you and some you have never seen before. Observe their different growth habits and the structural shapes that they make. Notice the flowers of every colour – white, pink, red, mauve, purple, orange, yellow, blue…

Brightly coloured butterflies fly among the flowers occasionally landing to feed or rest in the warm sunshine. Bees move from flower to flower collecting pollen and nectar. In the stillness you can hear their humming.

The cool, clear water of the pool is inviting. You walk towards it, sit down on the edge of the pool and lower your feet into the water. Feel the coolness of the water against your skin. Anticipate the coldness that you will experience when you submerge yourself into the pool. Push yourself from the edge and drop into the water. The water is cold after the warmth of the sun and makes you gasp. Your body soon gets used to the temperature and you make a few swimming strokes. It’s good to stretch out in the water. Feel all the movements in your body as you swim.

After a short swim you turn onto your back and float completely relaxed and supported by the water. The sun shines brightly in the blue sky above you and the sunlight dances on the water’s surface. As you lie floating in the pool allow the water to wash away all tension and tiredness from your body.

[Pause]

Making your way to the edge of the pool, climb out and return to your lounger feeling completely revitalised and refreshed. Spend some more time relaxing in this place. You may choose to lie in the sun or the shade. Perhaps you will read a book. Later you may go for a stroll through the garden or return to the pool. The choice is yours.

[Long pause]