Start with a simple prayer like this one:

"Great Spirit,
Hear and bless, the animals and singing birds;
And guard with tenderness small things that have no words"

Next perform these steps and enjoy the wonderous journey with your Spirit Animal:

Close your eyes, make yourself comfortable. If you wish uncross your legs, let yourslf relax deeply. Feel your body supported by the chair. Feel how it rests and is taken care of. Now let your breathing slow and become deeper. Feel your abdomen rise as you slowly breathe in and fall as you breathe out. Now let your feet relax, feel the wonderful feelings of relaxation spread upwards to your legs. You may feel heaviness or tingling as you relax, if you do, enjoy those feelings and let them deepen and spread. Now let your legs relax, let the muscles lengthen, get longer, relax deeper. Let your pelvis relax, you belly relax, your chest relax. Let the wonderful feelings of relaxation spread to your arms. Let your hands relax. Now let your neck and face relax, let your jaw drop, let your eyes relax by seeing a horizon and blackness. Let the top of your head relax. Let your whole body relax deeply.

Now imagine you are on a sacred river. This river is very special. It flows from sacred springs. It flows crystal clear, forever. Now let yourself float out of the first spring and drift down the river. You can be on a raft, or small boat, or floating in the water itself. The water is warm, it carries you, you are perfectly safe. See yourself being taken by river. Imagine that you are on the river being taken by its flow. Feel the water caressing your body. If you are on a raft, let you hands touch the water. Feel the water flowing in an easy gentle caressing way, feel the water supporting you. If you wish you can be submerged in the river, diving, rising, playing in the water. Look upwards, see the trees dappled in sunshine, see them glimmer and shimmer in the reflected moving light from the river. In the trees you can see ancient spirits. They stand by the sacred river and hold place. Let yourself relax more deeply as you move down river, let the extraordinary river take you. You are in a deep feeling of comfort, you are embraced by sacred waters of the earth. Feel the water touch you like you are embraced by her love.

Now see Otter on the bank of the river. See her diving and rising near the tree roots. Notice her beautiful black shiny coat, see how she moves. She is so graceful, she is in perfect harmony with the water and her environment. It seems like she is one with the river, like her beautiful black coat is part of the river, her diving like the river moving. She moves with such ease. Now allow yourself to see out of eyes of Otter. Open your inner eyes as Otter. See what Otter sees. See the bottom of the river, the pebbles, the river grasses flowing graceful and gently in the moving water. See the fish, the changing bottom textures. Now see yourself in Otter's body. Be Otter in your imagination. Feel yourself play, twirl, dive and rise. Come up under a log, dive again under the surface. Feel that all your moves are graceful, you as Otter are totally one with the river. You flow and the river flows.

Now come up and let yourself be in your own body. Now you are taken by the river, your life is letting go. Feel the river taking you, you are at ease. The water is so pure. You can see its beautiful turquoise color shining in the sun. You can feel the sun on your face, feel the sun kissing you. Now you are embraced by the love and the beauty of the earth.

Now look up. In a tree on the side of the river you see Owl. Owl stares into your eyes. You can feel yourself being taken by Owl. Allow yourself to be taken. Now you are Owl. You can see out of the eyes of Owl. You can see the sun. Look, open your inner Owl eyes. Your eyes have clarity, every detail is sharp and crisp. You are at ease in this powerful body. You fear nothing. You are silent, not moving. You can be still for hours. Feel your body covered with feathers. They are beautiful soft, colored with stripes of brown and yellow. You are elegant and powerful. Now turn your head around. You can turn it 360 degrees and see on all sides. Now feel yourself gracefully fly. See yourself fly to another branch close by. Your wings are expansive, they are five feet across. Your body is large, you use your power effortlessly. Gracefully and silently you fly. Now look back see the river below you as Owl on a branch.

Now return to your own body floating down river. You feel totally at ease, you feel wonderful in your own body. You now have the gracefulness of Otter, the clarity of seeing like Owl. You are transformed. You will never be the same again. Now the river is your home. The water, the sun, the trees are your home. You are embraced by the earth, you are at ease. Now you realize how beautiful you are. You let the river take you. The river is your life, you flow, it is easy. Now take this feeling of ease with you all day.

When you are ready, come back to the room you are in. Feel the chair or couch you are on. Feel you feet, move your feet, open your eyes. Now see with clarity in beauty. Now move thorough your day as gracefully as Otter. See with the clarity of the Owl. Be well.

You can do the imagery for any animal. What you will see is the story of the animal for you. It is not the story for one culture or people in one time. It is the story of the spirit animal for you in your vision quest now.