Hey there,
Welcome to this meditation.
My name is Chris McDonald.
So go ahead and get yourself comfortable.
See if you can sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor,
Spine straight,
Shoulders relaxed.
Let's do a little grounding before we get going with the visualization today.
Just notice your feet on the floor.
You can wiggle your toes,
Remembering that they're there,
Just feeling the sensations that come up.
Imagine you have roots coming from the bottom of your feet into the earth,
Connecting you,
Feeling that grounded energy.
Just noticing the chair beneath you.
You can put your hand on it,
Just feel the sensations,
Being present.
Just noticing your shoulders.
Go ahead and just give them a gentle roll back if that feels comfortable for you.
Just allowing those shoulder blades down the back body,
Coming into presence right here,
Right now.
Letting go of what happened before this meditation,
Releasing any thoughts of the rest of the activities for the day,
Getting yourself connected to breath.
Just tune in,
Notice your breathing today.
Do you have more shallow breaths in your chest,
Or deeper breaths from your belly?
Just noticing what is there.
How have you arrived today?
Coming in to the present moment.
And if you're comfortable,
Closing your eyes,
Or look at the floor gently in front of you.
Imagine for a moment that you are a mountain.
Think about what kind of mountain you want to be.
You could be one that's more snowy,
One that's very rocky,
One that has a lot of lush green.
Just imagine that for a moment,
A mountain that you want to be.
As you imagine yourself as this mountain,
Imagine that your feet connect you to the earth as you are this mountain.
Feeling your arms as the slope of the mountain,
Your head as the top of the mountain,
And your body as the middle part of the mountain.
Just connecting to that in your mind,
Visualizing,
Just reminding yourself that mountains are sturdy,
They're grounded,
Connected to the earth.
Being present as that mountain.
Majestic,
Rooted,
And strong.
And just remembering that mountains face many different seasons.
Much chaos can come up throughout the year,
Yet the mountain stays strong.
Imagine the mountain in the springtime,
With new growth,
New flowers and plants.
The mountain comes alive with a sunshine,
Some gentle rains.
Then it shifts to summer with some heat,
Scorching sun,
Turning into storms,
Violent thunderstorms,
Lightning and thunder.
Yet the mountain still stands,
Moving into fall as the leaves change colors,
Picturing beautiful oranges,
Reds,
Yellows,
Gold,
Watching the leaves falling from you,
From all those trees as you're a mountain.
Swift changes moving from summer to fall.
And some more rain,
Temperatures drop,
Feeling a bit colder,
And another shift to transition into winter,
Feeling the crisp temperatures on the mountain,
Knowing that snowstorms may come,
Blinding snow,
Covering the mountain that you are.
Just feeling strong winds and breezes.
Storms come,
And then storms go,
But the mountain stays strong.
You stay strong.
And remembering that you are like that mountain,
You can embrace all of those traits of the mountain,
Standing strong,
And knowing that inside of you,
Just like the mountain,
There's a core center of peace,
A core center of calm and stillness.
It is tapping into that,
That you can find some peace in your day.
So no matter the storms that you are facing in your life on the outside externally from you,
Whether that's difficulties with family members,
Problems in your career,
Difficult coworkers,
Illnesses,
So many things that we can face in our everyday life,
Yet no matter the storms you face,
You always have that center of you,
That calm center,
Just like with a hurricane,
There's always the eye out of the storm,
The calm center.
So how can you connect to that calm center more often?
That place of refuge,
That silent place where you feel safe,
Centered in that present moment awareness.
There's no worries,
No stresses.
No one can disturb the center part.
Bringing yourself back to the center place,
When you feel the storms are getting too strong,
The winds of change may be coming your way,
But come back right to that centered place,
That you are strong like that mountain,
You can be centered and grounded,
Sitting in stillness,
Taking that time for yourself,
Those moments of peace,
No matter what is going on,
Being present with that.
Take a moment just feeling that grounded energy as a mountain,
And try to take a snapshot in your mind to remind yourself of what it feels like to be a mountain,
And having that center part of you,
That calming place,
That stillness,
Knowing that you can always come back to this image,
Grounding yourself,
Being in that place of refuge,
Taking care of you.
So coming back to yourself,
Putting that image of the mountain away for now,
But knowing you can always come back to it,
Gently feeling that chair beneath you,
Supporting you,
Feeling the earth holding you up,
Noticing your fingers,
Palms of your hands,
Just checking in,
Noticing if they're clenched or more relaxed now,
Checking with your emotion,
How are you feeling after this meditation,
Being present,
And again noticing your feet,
Those roots connecting you to the earth.
And when you're ready,
Gently blinking your eyes open,
Take a look around your space,
Bring yourself back,
Connected to the present moment,
And just thank yourself for taking this time,
Giving yourself this space for self-care,
Which is so important in our busy and difficult world.
And I wish you the best throughout your day today,
And remember coming back to this space as you need it.
Have a wonderful day.
