This is a Mantem meditation.
The Mantem meditation is one of those practices in mindfulness that help us to cultivate a sense of equanimity,
That inner knowledge that in the peaks and troughs of life,
In the many storms of life,
Among the waves,
We can remain stable,
Still,
Grounded and strong.
So if you're ready to become a Mantem,
Just take a comfortable seat,
With your spine nice and straight and your muscles soft.
You can let your shoulders drop and your jaw drop as well and your forehead soften up.
And you can tuck in your chin a little bit,
So if you decide to have your eyes open,
You're looking down to the floor with a nice soft gaze,
A relaxed gaze.
You can put your hands wherever they're comfortable,
I put them in my lap,
And of course if it's okay to do so,
You can close your eyes.
And we're just going to go in for a few moments and put our attention on the breath,
Just the natural rhythm of the breath as it is,
Without needing to change it.
Just observing it and observing the sensations that go with it.
The sense of the in-breath going in through the nostrils and down the back of our throat.
The ribcage gently expanding and relaxing and the belly rising and falling.
And just for a few moments stay with your breath,
Welcoming you home.
And I'd like you to use your imagination now to create a mundane in front of you.
What does it look like?
Is it a tall mountain?
Is there snow at the top?
What can you see on the slopes?
Are there forests?
Meadows?
Lakes and rivers?
Or is it more of a rugged mountain?
And what does your mountain sound like?
For example,
Can you hear a bird song?
Or maybe hear wildlife?
Animal calls?
Or the sound of the wind?
Or the sound of the rain?
Or maybe water flowing?
And what does your mountain smell like?
Does it smell like pine needles?
Does it smell like grass?
Does it smell like wet soil?
Or maybe wildflowers?
And what does it feel like?
Are the paths soft to walk on?
Are they mossy or grassy?
Or is there gravel underfoot?
Or rock?
And as you are walking on its slopes,
What can you feel on your skin?
Can you feel the breeze?
Can you feel the warmth of the sun?
Or maybe the rain?
Or that fresh dampness of fog?
Or maybe the sound of the wind?
Or maybe the sound of the rain?
And what does your mountain sound like?
Can you get your mountain just right,
Just the way you want it,
And enjoy it?
And now that your mountain is just right,
I'd like you to imagine that you feel so in harmony with it,
That you become the mountain.
You and the mountain are merging and becoming one.
And as you merge with the mountain,
I'd like you to feel yourself as the mountain.
Feel how solid you are.
Feel how imposing and immutable you are.
Feel how ancient you are.
You have been there for millennia.
You are there now.
And you will be there for many millennia to come.
Feel your wide bays resting on the ground.
Feel your mountains.
You are the mountain.
Nothing and no one is going to move you.
You are strong.
You are solid.
You are a force of nature.
You are permanent.
And you are stable.
Feel all of this.
And have a look around you now,
Look at the weather,
Look at the sky.
What does it look like?
Whether it is sunny or rainy or stormy,
You know that the weather around you is always going to change.
You are going to have clear skies above you.
You are going to have stormy skies.
You are going to have strong gales.
You are going to have snow storms.
You are going to have hot summer days.
And you are going to have days turning into nights.
With the moon coming out,
Stars,
Bats taking the place of birds,
And then more clouds,
More rain,
And a new dawn,
And then daytime again.
Wildlife will go to sleep and it will awake again.
All these changes,
All of the time,
Around you and on your surface,
Never the same,
Never stopping.
And what about you?
What about your core,
Your essence?
Your inner core stays the same.
Your essence,
Your inner mountain-ness is immutable.
You have been there for generations of humankind,
Generations of wildlife,
Sustaining it,
Supporting it in all weathers,
Daytime,
Nighttime,
Season after season.
See what you look like in winter,
When your ponds freeze over,
When life is dormant,
When all is silence and peace around you,
And your trees are bare.
And then in spring,
When everything comes back to life and your waters run free,
The rain gets warmer.
The days start to get longer.
And what about you?
What about your core?
It's still the same.
What about your strong base?
It's still the same,
Resting solidly on the ground.
And then summer comes,
Your meadows are full of flowers,
The trees are in blossom,
Bees are buzzing around,
There's life everywhere,
The sky is clear,
The sun is warm.
And what about your core?
What about your inner essence?
That's still the same.
You're still firmly anchored on the ground,
Permanent,
Immutable,
Strong.
And then autumn comes,
And trees change again.
You are alive with colours.
It's raining more often,
And the animals are busy finding food for winter.
It gets cooler.
The nights draw in.
And what about you?
What about your inner core?
You're still the same.
You're still there.
You've been there for so long.
You will be there for much longer still.
All of these changes around you and on you,
And you are still the same.
You are the mountain.
Feel your stillness.
Feel how permanent you are.
You're still there.
And now gently bring your attention back onto your breath.
And your body gently moving with the breath.
And become aware again of the contact with the chair.
The contact of your feet with the floor.
The sounds around you.
And the space that you're in.
When you can start gently moving your hands and feet.
Having a little wiggle and a little stretch.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Welcome back.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
