How’s your stress level these days? On second thought, let’s ask a different question: would you like to reduce your stress level–right now?
Find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down – anywhere quiet where you won’t be undisturbed by children, pets, or outside noises. Then, close your eyes and let Healing Arts Practitioner Corliss Chan guide you through a peaceful imaginary landscape and watch your troubles float away like little white clouds. This guided meditation is eight minutes well-spent. You’ll come out of it feeling relaxed and refreshed.
Selected Podcast
Mindfulness Meditation
Featured Speaker:
The mind/body connection is a topic that has long fascinated Corliss. She started her work life as a CPA and turned to meditation as a natural way of relaxing and reducing stress at home and at work. Over time, her interest in healing and body work has guided her towards a different career path, and she began practicing bodywork in 1990. Corliss is a strong believer in the power of the breath, which she likes to weave into her sessions. She is enthusiastic about empowering others to develop their self-healing skills to strengthen the immune system, increase energy, maintain inner harmony, manage nausea, neuropathy, pain and fatigue. Patients usually leave her sessions with take home tools and assignments to help them in their own home practice.
Corliss Chan, CMT
Corliss Chan has been inspiring people to actively participate in their own healing and wellness for over 25 years. An engaged and compassionate listener, she has helped patients cope with life and health issues including cancer, Lyme disease, heart health, diabetes, joint pain, anxiety/depression, and stress-related health conditions. Corliss was part of the Integrative Oncology program at Marin Cancer Care from 2006 to 2013, when the program became part MarinHealth Integrative Wellness Center. Today, she leads our Jin Shin Jyutsu, Acupressure, Meditation, and Guided Relaxation sessions.The mind/body connection is a topic that has long fascinated Corliss. She started her work life as a CPA and turned to meditation as a natural way of relaxing and reducing stress at home and at work. Over time, her interest in healing and body work has guided her towards a different career path, and she began practicing bodywork in 1990. Corliss is a strong believer in the power of the breath, which she likes to weave into her sessions. She is enthusiastic about empowering others to develop their self-healing skills to strengthen the immune system, increase energy, maintain inner harmony, manage nausea, neuropathy, pain and fatigue. Patients usually leave her sessions with take home tools and assignments to help them in their own home practice.
Transcription:
Mindfulness Meditation
Bill Klaproth (Host): This is a special edition of The Healing Podcast as we take you through a guided meditation with Corliss Chan, Certified Massage Therapist of Integrative Health and Wellness at MarinHealth.
Corliss Chan, CMT (Guest): Now begin to take a comfortable deep breath, it’s be several deep breaths. And as you breathe out, you mentally say to yourself, relax. Or even see the word relax. You can loosen or remove anything binding such as jewelry, belts, shoes. When you are ready, let your eyes close and begin to feel safe, comfortable and protected. Let your muscles relax. Allow a wave of relaxation to spread over your body. With every breath, become even more relaxed.
Let your whole body float as though you are in a wonderful state of relaxation. To deepen this relaxation, imagine yourself on a mountain path. The air is clean and fresh. It is late afternoon in the summer. On your right, the trees stand tall and stately. You hear the rustle of aspen. Your eyes catch the shimmering of the leaves in the soft breeze. The path you’re on, slopes downward. It has been cleared, leaves and twigs have been brushed to the side. You are surefooted and secure as you walk the earthen path, leading in the direction of a meadow ahead.
As you reach the edge of the line of trees, you see a hammock between two sturdy tress. You get into the hammock easily and rock gently. One finger trails the ground making an arch of leaves and twigs and miniature pebbles. The hammock has a rough texture, but it is comfortable and very safe. You can see the meadow below you with its carpet of wildflowers spread out as far as your eyes can see. Reds, yellows, corals, and blue, splashes of green. Birds singing to each other. You look up through the canopy of trees and see a blue sky with high white clouds going by. It is serene, beautiful and peaceful here.
You gently rock in the hammock, inhaling the energy and exhaling all tensions, all concerns. The clean air, rustling leaves, the drifting clouds, the rough texture of the hammock all bring a special calm, a sense of peace, a sense of inner nourishment. Just rest here in your hammock. An owl flies by and comes to rest on a branch near you. It doesn’t frighten you. Rather you feel a sense of curiosity. You continue to lie there in your hammock looking at the owl and the owl is looking at you. The owl is often associated with wisdom. And we can reflect on what is wise within us. It ruffles its feathers before settling comfortably on the branch. And we ask what ruffles our human feathers.
Resting here, you have a feeling of inner confidence. Your feeling of relaxation goes deeper. Allow yourself this time to relax and doing nothing. The owl flies away. You watch the clouds drifting in large white puffs, pushing one another more rapidly than before. You feel a mist and the soft touch of moist air is on your cheeks. You stop rocking and touch the dampness on your face. You know it’s beginning to rain. You can already hear the first drops falling on the leaves nearby. You leave your hammock and start walking up the mountain path. You go up the path, turn around, take one more look at this restful place you came to, knowing you can come back at any time.
As we end our meditation for today, gather together any impressions or images you’ve had from your restful place, gradually begin to bring yourself back to this room where you are and back to this day and when you feel ready, take a few deep breaths, wiggle your toes, fingers and you can open your eyes.
Mindfulness Meditation
Bill Klaproth (Host): This is a special edition of The Healing Podcast as we take you through a guided meditation with Corliss Chan, Certified Massage Therapist of Integrative Health and Wellness at MarinHealth.
Corliss Chan, CMT (Guest): Now begin to take a comfortable deep breath, it’s be several deep breaths. And as you breathe out, you mentally say to yourself, relax. Or even see the word relax. You can loosen or remove anything binding such as jewelry, belts, shoes. When you are ready, let your eyes close and begin to feel safe, comfortable and protected. Let your muscles relax. Allow a wave of relaxation to spread over your body. With every breath, become even more relaxed.
Let your whole body float as though you are in a wonderful state of relaxation. To deepen this relaxation, imagine yourself on a mountain path. The air is clean and fresh. It is late afternoon in the summer. On your right, the trees stand tall and stately. You hear the rustle of aspen. Your eyes catch the shimmering of the leaves in the soft breeze. The path you’re on, slopes downward. It has been cleared, leaves and twigs have been brushed to the side. You are surefooted and secure as you walk the earthen path, leading in the direction of a meadow ahead.
As you reach the edge of the line of trees, you see a hammock between two sturdy tress. You get into the hammock easily and rock gently. One finger trails the ground making an arch of leaves and twigs and miniature pebbles. The hammock has a rough texture, but it is comfortable and very safe. You can see the meadow below you with its carpet of wildflowers spread out as far as your eyes can see. Reds, yellows, corals, and blue, splashes of green. Birds singing to each other. You look up through the canopy of trees and see a blue sky with high white clouds going by. It is serene, beautiful and peaceful here.
You gently rock in the hammock, inhaling the energy and exhaling all tensions, all concerns. The clean air, rustling leaves, the drifting clouds, the rough texture of the hammock all bring a special calm, a sense of peace, a sense of inner nourishment. Just rest here in your hammock. An owl flies by and comes to rest on a branch near you. It doesn’t frighten you. Rather you feel a sense of curiosity. You continue to lie there in your hammock looking at the owl and the owl is looking at you. The owl is often associated with wisdom. And we can reflect on what is wise within us. It ruffles its feathers before settling comfortably on the branch. And we ask what ruffles our human feathers.
Resting here, you have a feeling of inner confidence. Your feeling of relaxation goes deeper. Allow yourself this time to relax and doing nothing. The owl flies away. You watch the clouds drifting in large white puffs, pushing one another more rapidly than before. You feel a mist and the soft touch of moist air is on your cheeks. You stop rocking and touch the dampness on your face. You know it’s beginning to rain. You can already hear the first drops falling on the leaves nearby. You leave your hammock and start walking up the mountain path. You go up the path, turn around, take one more look at this restful place you came to, knowing you can come back at any time.
As we end our meditation for today, gather together any impressions or images you’ve had from your restful place, gradually begin to bring yourself back to this room where you are and back to this day and when you feel ready, take a few deep breaths, wiggle your toes, fingers and you can open your eyes.