Impermanence

Stay grounded with visualization & breathing practices as you move through a journey exploring your own impermanence and death. The benefits of meditating on death include a better understanding of personal priorities, reduced fear, and the capacity to be more alive within the present. It's best to take in this track when you have some time and space to fully relax and surrender to the meditation.

Trigger Warning: This practice may include references to death, dying, and the departed.

Transcript

Meditation on death,

Lie comfortably on your back,

Spread your arms out in the shape of a T.

Take a deep,

Cleansing breath in,

And a deep,

Cleansing breath out.

Repeat this pattern for several more breaths.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

As you continue this pattern,

Visualize yourself lying on a rock at the peak of a mountain,

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

Surrounding you,

There are dusty,

Blue-gray crags topped with yellow tamarack pines,

And breathing out.

Allow yourself to feel the full force of your exhale.

Breathing out everything that is not you.

Breathing out everything that is not love.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

Let yourself feel the crisp mountain air.

Up on this mountain,

You are away from all that troubles you.

You are away from all that troubles you.

You are away from all that troubles you.

Far,

Far,

Far away.

Up here on this mountain,

With no one else around,

The sun on your bare skin,

The temperate air on your body,

The crispness of the breeze,

You are able to feel your exact essence,

Untainted by the cares of the world,

Untainted by the concerns and the tasks of everyday existence.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

And for this time,

For this moment,

You allow yourself to acknowledge all that you have carried in this life.

All that you have carried in this life.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

And without trying to change it,

Without trying to change the way things are,

You allow yourself to feel the magnitude of all that you have experienced in this body.

You allow yourself to feel the magnitude and the depth of all that you have experienced in this body,

On this earth,

At this time.

And as you feel this,

You acknowledge what your body has done for you,

What your mind has done for you,

The way that your body and your mind and your spirit and your essence have carried others,

Have carried yourself.

You allow yourself to feel all of this without running away from it,

Without shying away from it,

Without tackling a to-do list.

You simply allow yourself to feel the immense magnitude of all that you have experienced on this earth,

As you lie on this rock,

Under the sun,

In the clean mountain air.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

You feel the way your muscles and your sinew and your bones have held you up and supported your body and supported your being,

Even when it seemed impossible,

Even when it seemed impossible.

You acknowledge that and you feel gratitude for the way your body has done the seemingly impossible,

For the way in which your body has supported you all of this time,

Through lows,

Through highs,

Through pain,

Through pleasure.

You feel every memory that you have experienced in the cells of your body.

You allow yourself to feel every ounce,

Every drop of all that you have experienced without shying away,

Taking a deep breath in,

And a big,

Long breath out.

And for a moment,

For a moment,

You let yourself feel all of the hurts,

All of the disappointments,

All of the ways in which you have felt misunderstood,

In which your intentions were misconstrued,

In which your heart felt alone.

You allow yourself to feel all of it,

Not for the purpose of self-pity,

But for the purpose of self-compassion.

You allow yourself to feel all that you have gone through,

All that you have carried while navigating this world that we live in,

In this body that you inhabit.

You allow yourself to feel all of it.

And if you need to cry,

You allow yourself to weep fully and unabashedly on this mountain,

Because this mountain is a safe place.

This mountain is a sacred place.

This mountain sees all of you and understands all of you.

And as you allow yourself to feel the full passion and magnitude and strength and pain and joy and trust and love and heartbreak and creativity and deep,

Deep,

Deep passion that you have experienced in this body,

In this life,

You look towards death and you allow yourself to feel your death,

Without fear,

Without longing,

Without grasping,

Just allowing yourself to feel your own impending death.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Breathing in and breathing out.

And as you allow yourself to feel what it will feel like when one day you lay down your body for the final time,

You open your eyes for a moment and you see a solid black eagle circling the mountain crest,

And as you look at this eagle with all of its black plumes and feathers,

With its outstretched wings,

You feel seen,

You feel seen,

In all of your that you have been,

In all that you will be,

You feel that this beautiful creature sees you and does not try to change you,

This eagle is grateful that you have come here to this place where few come.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Breathing in and breathing out.

After allowing yourself to feel all that you need to feel,

After allowing yourself to feel all that you must feel,

After you have allowed yourself to feel all that you have carried on your sweet,

Sweet,

Loving,

Gentle heart,

You realize a deep truth in your bones,

In your heart,

In the essence of your being,

You understand in every fiber of your body that when one day you are unwilling to go on,

When you are through with this plane,

When you are ready,

When you are ready and not a moment sooner,

You understand that you will be able to simply lay down your body and rest,

And rest,

And rest,

As you sink into that rest,

Slowly you will separate from your body and you will not feel fear,

You will feel only peace,

Knowing that you followed your heart,

Knowing that you lived this life in alignment with your truth,

In alignment with a truth that acknowledges and respects all living beings,

All forms of life,

All regeneration of life and deep,

Deep reverence and honor for death,

You glance up again at the blue sky and the black eagle circling you and you feel that this eagle is proud of you for having the courage to come to this place where the strong come,

Where the courageous come,

Where the tenderhearted come,

You let yourself feel that pride and that strength and that gentleness and that peacefulness that this majestic bird feels,

Taking strength in it,

And just take a few minutes here of deep breathing,

And reflecting on the images and the memories and the dreams that this practice has brought up within you,

And slowly,

Slowly,

Slowly,

Slowly,

With mindfulness and attention,

You gently rise to a seated position on this rock,

On this mountain,

In this warm mountain air,

You look below and behind you,

And you notice that the rough terrain has sprouted into a field of soft pink and soft orange wildflowers while you have been away,

And you feel cleansing tears fall from your gentle eyes,

And with utter clarity and gratitude and resolve,

You understand what you must do,

The way in which you must live,

What needs to go that is no longer you,

That was never you,

What needs to come that is you,

That is what has always been you,

And in order for you to live this life fully,

In order to live this life awake and aware and present and with sincerity and humility,

You understand with the clarity of crystal,

The way in which you must live,

So that one day,

You can simply lie down and say,

And as you think about walking back down the path in which you came,

As you think about walking down this mountain path and coming back to cars and roads and buildings and bank accounts and jobs and relationships,

As you do that,

You are coming back to this plane with all of its distractions,

With all of its narratives overlaid on top,

With all of its complexity and emotionality and joys and sorrows,

You take comfort in this place,

Knowing that you carry it within your bones and your cells and your heart and your mind's eye,

Knowing that you can always return to this place to find clarity and comfort,

You gaze at the circling eagle one final time,

And bringing your hands together at your heart,

You bow your head in deep reverence and gratitude and respect,

And bowing to take the lessons that he has brought with you.