Yay,
Hello,
Dear friend,
I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome.
Thank you for joining me in this very profound practice of taking a seat,
An intentional seat right at the center of our lives amid it all.
This meditation we'll be doing together today is often referred to as a mountain meditation.
This invitation to discover that sense of embodying the qualities of a mountain.
A mountain represents a state of mind and a state of being known as equanimity.
Equanimity is this very powerful state of mind that remains unburdened,
Unaffected,
Non-reactive to the worldly winds we encounter.
My husband and I have coined a pretty endearing nickname for the word equanimity,
Which is equal limbs.
And I find that there's something about the word equal limbs that evokes that sense of inner balance as if there's a central access where everything just falls and rests into place around it.
So noticing maybe that expression of equal limbs right now as you're taking your seat and with the intention and invitation to take your seat as if you're sitting like a mountain.
It's like you're mirroring a mountain.
If you live in an area in the world where mountains are a part of the landscape,
You can even bring an image of a mountain to mind and visualize yourself embodying that image.
Maybe you can notice how you too and your body also has a stable base like a mountain.
There's a wider base that helps to bring stability.
It's a foundation.
And this wider base can be that of our legs,
Whatever's touching the ground.
And then from there,
There's this natural energy or emergence of an upliftedness arising up from that stable base and can perhaps sense that from noticing the contact of the tailbone,
The root,
All the way up to the top of the head to the tip.
From this stable base and this upliftedness,
You can maybe sense how everything that surrounds it,
Just like the sides of a mountain,
Can just exist,
Kind of fall into place naturally,
Equally in balance.
And it doesn't mean that there isn't imbalances.
And of course,
You may discover this within the landscape of your own body that there are distinct differences and things that seem maybe misaligned.
And yet,
With a quality of mind that is non-reactive,
It allows this misalignment to become balanced,
There's a sense of balancing within it.
And using this reference of a mountain,
How would a mountain breathe,
Maybe,
Can embody that breath,
Mountain breath.
That breath may be quite soft and subtle,
Almost unrecognizable or undetectable.
Or maybe that mountain breath is long and deep and wide,
Breathing alongside a mountain.
And just like a mountain,
There's many creatures,
Many beings that live in a mountain.
Lots of activity happening,
Much like our own body,
Mind,
Heart,
Beingness.
And yet,
The mountain remains steadfast.
It's like a loving grandparent that just stands back and carefully watches over the grandchild.
There's a sense of spacious observing.
So a mountain can sit back and observe all the activity,
Allowing all the beings within it to exist as they are.
And we can do the same in this moment,
Welcoming the range of experiences through our sense doors.
What if we're making contact with our sense organs of seeing,
Hearing,
Smelling,
Even tasting,
Touching?
And of course,
That of the mind,
The thinking,
The fabricating,
The emoting.
I can sit back and observe the dynamic,
Rich range of experience.
And a mountain doesn't get caught in any particular experience.
It doesn't become anything else other than what it is.
So noticing if you find yourself getting caught and entangled in the web of experience.
More often than not,
Where we get caught is within the activity of the mind,
In our thinking.
In our construction of a self.
And then we can remind ourselves that we're just being here.
We're simply being.
There's no need to create,
Manufacture,
Construct,
Or produce anything in this moment.
Like a mountain,
We're just a source of nature that things can move through,
A central hub.
Life is allowed to be happening.
No matter what life form the experience takes,
Whether it's one intertwined with pain or discomfort or pleasure,
Delight,
Doesn't matter.
A mountain doesn't care.
It knows no preference or has no preference.
It doesn't distinguish between pleasure or pain,
Just is.
Things can shift in a mountain,
Within the landscape of a mountain,
So too things shift in our body,
Especially after a period of time of sitting,
Still in this balanced and at ease posture,
Upright.
It may be of value just to take a moment to notice if there's been any shifting.
And to reconnect to that quality of equilibriums,
Of equanimity.
Feeling into the wider base of the body and that vertical access from the root to the tip.
And noticing how all things fall into place around it.
And what's left is the movement of the breath,
Breathing like a mountain,
Or breathing with a mountain.
Remembering a mountain doesn't get caught,
So don't get caught.
Doesn't get swept away by the activity.
Sits back and observes,
Just is.
At any given moment,
You can reestablish an invitation to take your seat like a mountain,
Or this commitment.
It doesn't matter how long you've been something else.
Right here,
Right now,
Sitting like a mountain,
Breathing like a mountain,
Being like a mountain.
I'd like to close this practice maybe with a moment of gratitude.
Gratitude for the mountains that make up our landscape and support our life.
And both our inner and outer life,
Of course.
So maybe taking a moment just to feel that welling up of gratitude.
And how we can glean from the strength of these forces of nature to really support our own well-being.
That it's possible,
That they're really here as a representation of what's possible and a way to be in our life.
Reduces unnecessary struggle,
Suffering,
And supports a great deal of strength and resilience.
And allows us to feel the presence of equal limbs.
So thank you for your practice and your presence.
Thank you.
