James Final Relax

Today we are running across sandy white beaches (run hands side to side while gently twisting back). You feel the sand rubbing in between your toes (shake your feet out in front of you) As you are running you see your little son Jonny, and you say "Come back Jonny" (in a called voice). He calls back "look what I found". Again you run across the sand to him and you reach down in the white sand and feel around (touch your toes if you can). You then realize what he has found, a little pile of dog pooo... "EWWWW"

Dawes Life Relaxation 5

You're a window washer in New York City. It's a clear day, and you are preparing to wash a skyscraper. You clip* your safety belt into the loops above your head and begin to hoist yourself up with both arms.* When you get to the 42nd floor, you bend* from the waist and look down* to wave* to your partner, who looks like a dropped raisin on the dusty sidewalk. You straighten* back up, grab a bucket of water and soap*, and splash* some liquid on the smeared window. You pull* your squeegee from your belt and begin to swipe* back and forth along the pane. After a while, you stretch* and yawn.* The squeegee slips from your hand and plummets to the street. "Oh, no!"* With both hands, you grab* the pulley and begin to lower* yourself down. When you get to street-level, you stoop* all the way down and pick* your squeegee up out of the sewer grate. You quickly shove* the squeegee back in your belt, glance around* to make certain no one is looking, and rapidly hoist* yourself back to the 42nd floor. Seeing the windowpane is clear, you pant* on the last spot of grime, scrub* it with the heel of your right hand, and sigh.* "A job well-done!"*

Life Relaxation #5

You're an artist painting a mural. First, you put on your smock [lift hands over head]. Next, you need to collect your paints. But oh no, you're out of paints! [call "Oh no!"] You take off your smock [lift hands over head], grab your satchel [pretend to lift object from hook], open your studio door [open door], and step outside [lift legs]. You take a deep, slow breath in as you smell the sweet spring air [slow inhalation]. Now you're ready to start collecting your paints. From the sky you gather a calm blue [reach high] and put it in your satchel [place object in bag]. You climb vines of ivy growing on a rock [climb] to get the richest green leaf you have ever seen, and then you pluck it [plucking/grabbing motion] and place it in your satchel [place object in bag]. You climb down [climb] and then slowly bend to the ground [downward stretch], scooping up rich, dark soil, and place it in your satchel [place object in bag]. You have gathered enough colors to paint your mural, so you sigh [voiced sigh] and walk back to your studio [walk in place].

Life Relaxation Exercise: Narnia

It is a Saturday in summer and you are searching for adventure. You decide you wish to go to Narnia, so you open your closet doors (stretch arms in front and out) and take a big step up (bend knees high) into the wardrobe. You shuffle through the plethora of fur coats and fancy scarves (wave arms as if swimming) and finally step into a foot of snow. You raise your arms high in the air and admire the abnormally large snowflakes (turn head from side to side). You bend down and slowly scoop up a pile of sparkly white snow and then come back up and blow it off your hands. Suddenly, an army of dwarfs run toward you with weapons and you excitedly draw your swords from your right and left sides (wave your arms all over in the air), thrilled to be experiencing adventure. After you have won your sword fight, you march into the palace of Cair Paravel, put on your royal robe and your crown, and sit on your throne. You are king of Narnia!

Life Relaxation 5

You are a great tall willow tree (outline trunk) with light green leaves draping gracefully to the ground (bend over, dangle arms).  Your branches sway (swing arms back and forth) as breeze cheerfully dances past.  You feel something tickling your great round trunk (stand up slowly). It is a squirrel climbing up your trunk.  A songbird (use your arms as wings) flies through your leaves.  A three-legged rabbit hops by. You hear (cup ear) the ents call, “Hello, Willow!” You pull your roots out of the ground (pull your legs up slowly, as if very heavy), shake the dirt off of them (shake your legs), stretch out the kinks (stretch your legs), and follow (walk) the ents in search (look around, hand shading eyes) of the entwives.

—with credit to J. R. R. Tolkien for the ents

Life-Relaxation Exercise 5

You are enjoying the solitude of your peaceful living room (inhale through nose and sigh). Across from you sits your antique mahogany floor clock. You watch as the minute hand falls slowly from twelve to six (slowly form semi-circle from top to bottom with right arm) as does the hour hand (slowly form opposite semi-circle from top to bottom with left arm). The pendulum’s swing slows down to a stop (bend down and swings arms, slowing down to a stop). The glass casing begins to crack from bottom to top (slowly stand up). Springs begin to fly out of the clock face (point finger and extend arm in a variety of directions). Suddenly, the bright red bird emerges from the clock and flies out of the window (wave arms in “flying” motion). You never noticed that this was a cuckoo clock (call “Oh!”). You walk across the room, reach up and grab the top of the floor clock and push it over from the side. You knew that hanging a wall clock right behind that old antique was a good idea!

Relaxing on Vacation

It is the perfect temperature outside as you have just arrived in Hawaii for a vacation. Seeing the cottage that you have rented [draw], you grab your luggage [pick up luggage] and bring it inside [walk]. You immediately walk back outside [walk] to enjoy the feeling of the warm sun on your face. Standing up straight [good posture], you close your eyes [close eyes] and slowly relax your entire face [relax forehead, eye muscles, cheeks, jaw, lips], then your neck and the rest of your body [relax neck, shoulders, and limbs]. Feeling relaxed, you walk through the sand [walk] up to the edge of the water [draw waves with whole arm]. You dive in [bend over], rise slowly [rise], and begin to swim [swim]. When you get out of the water, you shake off the droplets [shake limbs] and you see a coconut [draw] so you squat [squat] to pick it up. You follow the path that it rolled [walk] and come upon two palm trees [draw], between which there is a hammock [draw]. “Hooray!” [call] You decide to take a nap, so you sigh “mmm” [sigh mmm].

Valley of Vision Prayer 23--Meeting God

https://banneroftruth.org/us/devotional/meeting-god/

Dawes Life Relaxation 4

You are prepared to recreate the Milky Way Galaxy. First, you must spread your canvas – the thick blanket of space. You reach down,* grab an edge,* and stretch it as high as you can. You smooth it horizontally,* then stretch it from the upper corners.* With your right* hand, you reach into your supply bucket and pull out heat* and light.* With your left hand, you pull out cold* and darkness.* You throw* the supply bucket over your shoulder and begin to mix.* With your right hand, you mix* the heat and light together. With your left hand, you mix* the cold and darkness together. After mixing, you leave the heat and light suspended where it is, and grab* the mixture of cold and darkness. You sculpt* the mixture into smooth, solid spheres. After accruing a small assortment of spheres, you fling* several into the far reaches of space. These will become planets. Next, you snatch* the smallest of the spheres, tie* them together, swing* them over your shoulder, and release* them. These are comets. Finally, you knock* all the remaining spheres down and stomp them into little bits.* You stoop* down, scoop* the chunks up, and toss* them above your head. These become asteroids. You take heavy steps* in a circle. A gaping black hole is left under each footprint. You grab* the mixture of heat and light and climb* to the top of the Milky Way. Here, you inhale the fiery mixture* from your palms, and breathe* out a spread of stars. As you silently survey your work, everything begins to slowly spin* around you.

Relaxing on a Quest

Your name is Faw (short for fairly average warrior) and you are the top video game character. You respond to commands such as walk, jump, look around, climb, read the map, shoot the bow, and pick up an object [do all actions]. Your current quest is to find the Sword of Virtue [draw sword] and the Sword of Honor [draw second sword]. First, you look around [turn torso to both sides] then you pull out your map to read, tracing your path, then putting it away [hold map, trace path, put away]. You look around again [turn torso] and begin to walk [walk]. You discover a treasure chest and bend over to open it [bend over], discovering inside a bow and one arrow [pick up]. Suddenly, the monster guarding the swords comes upon you. You cry out, “Stand aside, foul creature!” [call] and you quickly walk away, jumping over one rock, then another [jump twice]. You put your bow at your back [stash bow] to climb a steep hill [climb]. You draw your bow all the way back and release the arrow at the monster [draw and release bow]. He falls and you relax [relax] before retrieving the swords from his possession [walk to him], the Swords of Virtue [draw sword] and of Honor [draw sword]. Victory!

Life-Relaxation Exercise 4

It is a beautiful day to go for a walk, but you suddenly realize that you can’t move your legs (“Oh no”). You bend down and pat your legs as you try to figure out what is wrong. With no other option, you reach up and grab the bright yellow string that is conveniently located on the nearby shelf. You unravel the string and tie it to your legs. Now, as you lift the strings, you are able to walk like a freakish puppet. However, because the strings are very long, you must lift your arms very high. You walk to the door, but before you go outside, you pull your hood over your head in hopes that no one will recognize you. You open the door and step outside. You smell the freshly cut grass and the cool spring air (deep breath). You continue walking, and then remember that you forgot to close the door. As you turn around, you realize that this is going to be a long day.

Life Relaxation 4

You are enjoying the beautiful Maine Coast.  The sun is shining intensely.  The waves roll gently in on the small sandy cove.  They splash roughly on the rocks nearby. A cormorant flies off a rocky outcrop, dives gracefully into the water, and comes up shaking water droplets off his glistening feathers.  Further out a rowboat rounds the fir-covered point of an island. You kick off your sandals and walk into the cold water.  Brrr (hug yourself)! Ah, but there is a hermit crab scuttling towards you (bend down slowly).  You scoop him up in your hands and stand back up slowly, admiring his little claws.  Right then, the lunch bell rings (happy sigh).  You carefully (bend down and stand back up) let your hermit crab go and walk back home for lunch.

Life Relaxation 4

You're with your friends at camp and you are all about to go on the low ropes course. You stretch high [upward stretch, palms together] and low [downward stretch, touch toes]. You stretch your arms [tricep stretch] and legs [standing quadricep stretch]. Your friends choose the first element: the Giant's Cargo Net. You cautiously step through the large holes in the net [walk in place with slow leg lifts], slowly lifting your legs high so that you don't jiggle the net and wake the giant. Your friend in front of you almost falls. [call] "Oh no!" But he finds his balance. [voiced sigh] The next element is the Spider's Web. You climb onto this new cargo net [climb onto invisible horizontal surface] and carefully climb up it [climb on invisible vertical surface, lots of arm movement]. You reach the top and stand proudly on the landing [stand tall with open body, check posture]. Your friends below cheer for you and you smile as you take a slow bow [bow].

Valley of Vision Prayer 22--"Love Shed Abroad"

https://banneroftruth.org/us/devotional/love-shed-abroad/

A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God

Psalm 90:12-17
Living in Light of God's Eternality and Our Ephemerality"


12So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 13 Return, O Lord! how long? Have pity on your servants! 14Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands! ESV

Valley of Vision Prayer 21--"A Minister's Evils"

https://banneroftruth.org/us/devotional/a-ministers-evils/

Valley of Vision Prayer 20--"Devotion"

https://banneroftruth.org/us/devotional/devotion/

Dawes Life Relaxation 3

You are quietly stepping* between the cold midnight trunks of Northeast Georgia's silent woods. An auric moon* softly illumines your path.* A distant murmur makes you stop and cock your ear* (shhhhhh...). You begin slowly jogging,* shoving* aside stray branches, and arrive only to balance* on the edge of a narrow precipice. Below, waterfalls fill* a cleft in the mountain's gentle swell. Moonlight reveals your brother and sister, gleefully splashing beneath a silvery cataract* ("Hello, Brother! Hello, Sister!"). You kick off your shoes,* scale a mossy outcrop,* and catapult* into the icy pool. You wade* to where your siblings are cavorting under the roaring waterfall. You splish and splash the cool phosphorescent liquid – first with your palms,* next with one arm,* and then with two arms.* Laughing, exhausted, and chilled to the bone, the three of you climb* the slick bank, grab* three colored towels off an overhanging branch – green, blue, and pink – and vigorously dry* each other's shivering shoulders.

Life-Relaxation Exercise 3

It is day 48 on the deserted tropical island. You take a deep breath as you smell the crisp island air. You look around for your fellow-castaway, even looking up in the trees, but he is nowhere to be found. You give up on your search, and practice throwing your hunting spears. All of a sudden, you hear a loud noise. You push the brush aside, and make your way to the shore. You look up and see a bright yellow rescue helicopter. You wave your arms and call out “Hello up there!” You climb up the rope ladder that was let down. You finally make it into the helicopter and let out a sigh. You later realize that you left your friend on the island. “Oh no!” Oh well, maybe another day.