Mountain Grounding Practice For When You Feel Scattered

This short grounding practice uses calming imagery from nature (a mountain, the sky, and a lake) to help you return to your center when you feel scattered or overwhelmed. You will be guided through a short settling practice to arrive and find a sense of calm in your body. Together, we will then explore how embodying the way of being of a mountain, the sky, and a lake can help us feel more grounded and connected to the present moment.

Transcript

Coming to find a comfortable seat or standing with the feet about hip distance apart.

Take some nice deep breaths in and out through the nose all the way down into the belly.

Letting the body relax.

Now bringing to mind the image of a mountain.

Turning this image now so that your body becomes the mountain.

Imagine that you start to embody the shape of a mountain,

Solid and grounded on the base,

Centered,

Unmoving,

Completely steady,

Calmly holding your space no matter what weather might come your way.

Now beginning to imagine a mountain lake that rests on this mountain right where the heart center is and allowing your heart to become like this mountain lake,

Still,

Clear,

Fresh.

Taking your awareness now up to the top of the mountain,

The crown of your head,

Imagining that there's clear blue sky above the mountain and letting this clear blue sky now be mirrored in your own mind.

Your own mind becomes clear,

Vibrant,

Perhaps there are some clouds that pass through,

Clouds of thought,

But they simply arise and fall away again.

This clear essence of the mind stays the same behind it.

Standing here for a few breaths,

Noticing how it feels to have the body as a mountain,

The heart as a lake and the mind as the sky.

Allowing yourself to completely relax into this image,

The strength of the mountain,

Calmness of the lake,

The clarity of the sky.

Noticing how that feels and knowing that you can bring yourself back here at any time.

Taking a few nice deep breaths now,

Slowly beginning to wiggle the fingers and the toes,

Allowing this image to gently dissolve,

But knowing that you can take these qualities of the mountain,

The lake and the sky with you into the rest of your day.

Reviews

Centering and grounding. I like the bell to close at the end.