Mountain Meditation

This is a short guided meditation. It is a practice of shifting perspective on the things that seem troubling in our lives. We start with relaxation and then use imagery to create a scene in the mind. The guided portion of the meditation lasts about 11 minutes but you can stay focused in the final resting space for as long as you need. No equipment is needed, just some place to feel safe and comfortable.

Transcript

So today we're going to practice a little guided meditation.

We're going to take a journey together.

And as always,

I'm going to invite you into some kind of comfy,

Comfortable,

Relaxing posture.

That might mean lowering yourself onto your back or your belly.

It might be coming to seated in a chair or on the floor.

Come into some kind of space,

Some position that feels like you could stay there for a little while,

Just making sure that it's not something that requires your attentiveness.

So driving or operating something.

Instead,

Be in a safe environment that allows you to be still for a bit.

And when you get into that position,

Go ahead and soften through your body.

So allow the eyes to soften,

The jaw to soften.

Allow the hands,

The fingers,

The toes,

The feet,

The back and the belly.

In whatever position you're in,

Let there be some softness to that posture.

And I invite you to close your eyes,

Although if that creates more anxiousness in the body,

You can always find a soft place to gaze.

And let's take a deep breath in together.

So big inhale and big exhale.

And then I just want you to imagine that you've shown up somewhere in your mind's eye outdoors.

So it might be the most familiar place that you know outdoors.

It might be that you find yourself in the desert or in the jungle.

Envision yourself outside.

Look around at the colors,

The textures,

The sounds,

The smells.

And then I want you to imagine that in this place,

In this space that you've placed yourself,

A mountain grows from the ground up.

And it's a really,

Really tall mountain.

And it too has texture and color.

So notice that.

Notice the mountain rising,

What comes with it,

Trees or bushes or rocks or snow.

And I want you to walk a little closer to that mountain.

So close that it looks like a skyscraper as you get a little closer,

You can look up and barely see the tippy top.

And then as you're standing in front of this mountain,

I want you to imagine that you picked up a box.

It doesn't matter where the box came from.

It just matters that you now have a box in your hands.

It may be teeny tiny,

It might be big,

So big that it's barely,

Barely able to be held onto.

And I want you to start putting in this box anything that's been troubling you lately.

Any problems,

Any tension,

Tightness or sickness in the body.

People,

You can put people in the box,

Experiences,

Your job,

Habits.

Anything that might push your buttons or rub you the wrong way.

Start compiling all these things into the box.

You might find symbolism for the thing.

Maybe it's the actual thing that you place in the box.

Keep filling and it might require you to expand that box in your mind.

And then once it's full,

Once you've placed a lot of those worries,

A lot of the cares,

A lot of the problems or aches and pains into the box,

I want you to set the box down onto the ground.

And then stand back up tall and use your foot to press the box away from the body out to the side.

Press it out to your right side so you can kind of just see this box sliding over to the right side of your body.

And then just take a gaze down at the box.

Notice what's inside.

Notice the texture and the color of the things.

And I want you to bring your attention back to the mountain.

I want you to imagine that a door has appeared on the side of this mountain and you are going to enter.

So start walking closer and closer to this mountain,

Closer and closer to the door.

Notice where the handle is.

Notice if it's push or pull.

And I want you to enter into this door,

Through the doorway.

And as you enter into this doorway,

Just notice the landscape inside.

And you might notice as soon as you walk in through the door,

If you turn right,

There's an elevator.

The elevator doors are closed,

So press the button on the side.

Allow the doors to open and then walk yourself inside of this elevator.

And then as you turn around,

Notice all of the buttons that you can push.

And notice that there's a button that says,

Top.

Push that.

Go all the way to the top of your mountain.

Allow the elevator doors to close and feel that sensation of rising,

Rising,

Rising,

Lifting,

Rising.

Feel yourself lifting all the way to the top of this mountain.

And then as the doors open,

At the tippy top of this mountain,

I want you to take a walk outside of these elevator doors.

And notice that as soon as you walk out of these doors,

You're at the top of the mountain outside.

And there's this little precipice,

There's this little mesa that you can walk out onto.

And if there's a little fear in your chest from being so high,

Build up a wall,

A half wall.

Build up a fence.

Put some boundaries,

Some borders around this mesa on your mountain.

But then I want you to walk out and go ahead and look over the edge on the left side.

Just turn to the left a bit and look over the edge and look way,

Way,

Way,

Way down at the ground beneath you.

Way down there.

I want you to notice that box.

The box where you compiled a lot of your problems and cares,

The pains and aches,

The worries,

The people,

The experiences that have been bothering you.

I want you to notice how tiny,

How small it is way down there.

I want you to notice that you've gained a new perspective on those things.

That not only do we know that they are not us entirely,

But that we can look at them and they can be really small,

That they don't have to take up so much space in our heads,

In our hearts,

In our minds and in our bodies.

And as you're up here at the top of the mountain,

You might just note to yourself that we can't get rid of our problems in this way just by placing them at the bottom of the mountain.

But instead it gives us a way to deal with one at a time,

One thing and then the next and then the next.

And maybe up here on the mountain,

Even if it's just for a moment or a minute or a few,

Allow yourself to feel a little bit lighter.

Allow yourself to disconnect from those things that we often think that we are.

You might turn your face up toward the sky and if the sun happens to be shining on the top of the mountain,

Bask in that sunlight.

Feel your heart open,

Feel connected to the earth,

Breathe the fresh air,

Feel some rejuvenation in your bones and your muscles.

And on the top of this mountain on your sweet little mesa,

I just want you to take a seat,

Crisscross your ankles and bend the knees and sit tall.

And on the top of this mountain,

You might stay,

You might just breathe,

You might just meditate for a bit.

You might find that you only want to be here for a moment and then you allow yourself to go down,

Back down the elevator,

Down outside and collect what you need to collect from that box.

But when you're ready to leave this mountain,

This mesa,

And you're ready to head down and pick up the things from the box,

Notice if there's anything that you're just ready and willing to leave behind.

Maybe there's a habit or a person,

A particular pain that you've had in your body that you're just willing to let go of.

And if so,

You'll keep it in that box.

But if you need some more time here at the top of the mountain on this mesa,

This is where I'll leave you.

Breathing deep,

Maybe basking in the sunlight.

Take as much time as you need here and we'll meet up again soon.

From my heart to yours,

Namaste.

Reviews

This wasn’t what I was expecting when I read the title. I have done mountain meditations that highlight the changeable nature of life. I really liked this one. It had enough details that I didn’t get hung up trying to create a visualization. I appreciated the way of getting some space away from my anxieties and aches and pains. Many thanks for offering this.

Such a great visualization for me to look and have a better perspective of my own life and how I see it now. 🩵Thank you 🙏🏻💫