Seasons of Serenity by Kathleen Swann is a guided imagery CD, with narration and background music. Ms. Swann’s voice is very soothing as she narrates imagery for each season, inviting the listener to participate through all the senses. Each season has its own “sound” courtesy of New York composer Ken Kaufman, who captures each season’s mood with a variety of instruments.
Positive affirmations are married to visualizations that encourage relaxation and stress relief. The meditations frequently focus on breathing, allowing the body to relax and the mind to slow down. What I particularly enjoyed in this CD was that the imagery was simple enough for me to fill in any visual details, and specific enough for me to gain benefits. For example, during the Tranquility of Autumn meditation, Ms. Swann guides us through a forest walk, invites us to build a fire and to stoke that fire with wood that represents the burdens we wish to release. Having walked through a forest (as many of us do) it was easy to see myself doing this, and to actually feel myself stoking this fire with the items I wished to “burn out” of my life. The complimentary music enhanced my experience. Of the four track, Shower of Spring is less enjoyable, perhaps because the narration sounded a bit forced, or the pauses were slightly artificial, in comparison to the other three tracks. Still, this is a very relaxing CD that I found helped me fall asleep at night, and provided enjoyable visualizations and imagery.
~review by Karen Phillippi
Artist: Kathleen Swann, music by Ken Kaufman
Relax with Swann, 200453.16 minutes, 12.98