Welcome to this mindfulness experience.
My name is Dorsey Standish.
So grateful that you're making this time to practice with me.
I'm a neuroscientist and a mindfulness teacher.
And I'll be your guide for today's exploration of how we can find strengths and receptivity by actually tapping into the qualities of nature that are all around us.
But so often,
Especially during the workday,
We don't always tap into nature or remember that as human beings,
We actually are parts of nature.
So in today's class,
We're going to use normal techniques of breath and body awareness.
And we're also going to invite in some nature imagery,
Some nature visualization techniques that will help us in calming some of the lower regions of the brain,
Such as the limbic system and the brain stem,
And help to bring us to the lower regions of the brain.
And help to bring ease overall to our entire autonomic nervous system.
In the same vein,
Nature imagery has been shown to be really healing for the mind and body.
It can help to restore your ability to pay attention and also support your overall wellness mentally and physically.
So in today's practice,
In addition to the elements of body and breath,
We invite in this nature imagery,
We'll be working with the image of a lake.
So nature images like the lake have direct connections to meditation practice,
And they help us gain insight into the nature of our meditation practice,
And also into daily life.
And I want to bring your attention to the fact that water has this enchanting quality of both receptivity and of receiving anything that penetrates its surface,
And also the surprising strength,
Right?
Water can actually wear away rock over time.
So in today's practice,
We'll explore how our mind and our heart can be like a lake,
Vast unwavering reservoirs of awareness and presence,
Balancing these qualities of equanimity,
Receptivity,
And strength.
As we get into today's practice,
I'll bring in a little bit of background music to support us,
And we'd also invite you at this time to take any movements that would support you in easing in to this time for yourself today.
So as the background music comes in,
You might allow your body to flow like water,
Maybe already getting into these qualities of ease,
Equanimity,
Presence.
As you adjust the body,
Maybe taking a twist,
Maybe flowing the arms up and moving them from side to side over the head.
Focus less on what the movements look like and more what they feel like.
Putting the music,
Maybe the svelte sense of water already wash over the mind and the body.
As we move towards a place of stillness,
Maybe bringing in that ease and fluidity of the movement,
Even as you bring the physical form into stillness.
So finding a comfortable posture for practice,
You can do this meditation in a lying down position,
A sitting position,
Or maybe a reclined position.
As you settle in,
Starting in the usual way by allowing the gaze to soften,
Maybe the eyes to close all the way.
Perhaps finding a few deeper rounds of breath.
You might breathe in through the nose,
Hold at the top,
And then exhale fully out of the mouth.
As you continue to ease your way into a few more of these deeper rounds of breath,
You can consciously set an intention to be here now.
Just like a lake,
Vast,
Expansive.
Can you let your mind be that reservoir of awareness?
Letting go of what came before,
What might come later.
And again and again,
Opening to this present moment here and now.
Just as you can check in with the rhythm of breath,
Perhaps you also notice sensations in the body.
Maybe paying particular attention to where the body makes contact with the chair,
The floor,
The couch.
See if you can actually sense into those places of contact.
Notice how your weight is distributed.
And leaning into that felt sense of support already being held here.
We'll take a few more moments here to rest with awareness of the breath and the body.
If the mind gets carried away by thought or strong emotions,
See if you can notice that and wake up again and again to this moment,
What's happening here and now within the breath,
Within the body.
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As you rest with the breath and the body,
Perhaps feeling your own innate wholeness in this moment.
Feeling your breath,
Your body,
Knowing there is more right with you than wrong with you.
There's nothing to do,
To fix,
To accomplish.
Can you get a sense of already being complete and whole in this very moment?
Whether it's a mountain is a mountain or a lake is a lake,
Can you let yourself be you just as you are?
See how you let the image form in your mind's eye of a lake,
A body of water,
Large or small.
Seeing,
Feeling this lake held in a receptive basin by the earth itself.
Maybe this lake is even nestled between trees or mountains.
Perhaps the lake is reflecting sunlight or a cloudy sky.
Maybe the lake is teeming with life or is home to rocks of different shapes and sizes,
Plants and animal life.
You might even imagine the temperature of this lake.
Perhaps the smell of fresh water.
And its color,
Is the water blue or green?
Can you see through it?
Or is it completely deep and dark towards the center?
Taking in,
Absorbing the entirety of this lake.
Whether you're using your visual sense or even that felt sense of the lake and its presence.
The way that the lake is held in the earth itself.
Feeling in your heart,
Seeing in your mind's eye the way that the water of the lake likes to pool in low places.
Water seeking its own level.
Asking to be held contained.
Inviting the image,
The felt sense of the lake to come into greater focus.
Continuing to explore the felt sense of the lake,
The image in your mind's eye.
Paying special attention perhaps to the surface of the lake.
Maybe there's no wind at all and the surface of the lake is flat and mirror like.
Reflecting the trees,
The rocks,
The sky,
The clouds.
Almost as if the lake could hold everything around it within itself.
Or maybe your lake has moments of windiness around it.
When they come up and stir up some waves,
Some ripples.
Causing the reflections to distort,
Even disappear.
But even then if the lake surface is choppier,
Perhaps the sunlight is sparkling and ripples and dancing on the waves.
In addition to changing with the wind and the weather.
The lake surface and the lake itself also shifts and changes at the cycles of each day.
At night,
Maybe the moon dances on the lake.
Or is reflected by its surface.
And more broadly the lake shifts and changes with the seasons,
Perhaps in winter this lake is frozen over on its surface yet teeming with movements and life below.
Noticing how this practice feels,
Establishing this image,
This felt sense of the lake in your mind's eye,
In your heart.
Perhaps allowing yourself if or when you feel ready to invite this lake inside yourself completely.
So that your own being merges with the lake.
Your mind and heart and body become one with the lake.
So that all your energies in this moment can be held in awareness.
With openness and compassion.
In the same way that the lake's waters are held in the receptive and accepting basin of the earth itself.
Can you feel yourself as the lake,
Breathing as the lake,
Feeling the body of the lake in your own body.
And allowing your own mind and heart to be open and receptive,
Moments by moments.
Perhaps like a lake your own mind and heart reflect whatever comes near.
Or maybe they're clear all the way to the bottom.
Just like the lake,
Your mind,
Your heart may experience these moments of complete stillness when both reflection and water are clear.
And then maybe other moments where the surface is disturbed,
Choppy,
Stirred up.
And that sense of reflection and depth may be lost for the moment.
And through all of this shifting and changing,
Can you lie here observing the play of these various energies of your own mind and heart.
The shifting thoughts and feelings coming and going as ripples and waves.
Can you note their effects?
And you can even be courageously in contact with these moving thoughts and emotions,
Just as you are in contact with the various changing energies on the lake.
The waves,
The light,
The shadows,
The reflections,
The colors,
The smells.
And checking in in this moment with your own mind and heart.
Noticing the effect of any thoughts and feelings that are present for you.
Are they disturbing the surface and clarity of the lake of the mind?
Maybe the thoughts and feelings are muddying the waters,
Or making the surface,
The lake,
Wavy.
And notice what that's like.
Is that okay with you?
What's coming up for you as you contact all that's here for you in this moment?
Maybe as you rest here as the lake,
Making contact with all your energies,
All that's present for you here and now.
Perhaps you could identify,
Not just with the surface of the lake,
But with the entire body of water.
Feeling yourself not just as the surface,
But also as the stillness below the surface.
You feel the lower,
Deeper part of the lake,
Which maybe at most feels these gentle undulations.
Even if the surface is choppy and ragged,
Or it's raining or storming up above.
You too,
Just like the lake,
Have those depths of stillness,
Equanimity,
And strength within you.
Taking a few final moments here perhaps,
Allowing yourself to continue to dwell in the stillness of this moment.
Letting yourself continue to be the lake,
Possessing the ability to hold an awareness,
All of our qualities of mind and body.
Just as the lake sits held and cradled,
Reflecting its surroundings,
Caressed by the wind,
And feeling its shifting,
Changing vitality and potential moment by moment.
As you continue to practice in silence,
Know that you can always come back to this imagery of a lake,
Bringing that lake into your body,
And feeling the anchoring presence of your breath.
As you continue to open to the receptivity,
The stillness,
The strength of this present moment.
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Noticing,
Bringing attention to all that's here for you right now.
Even if it's not necessarily pleasant,
There might be a discomfort with silence,
Pain in the body,
And eagerness to move on.
What would it be like to let all of it be here?
The good,
The bad,
The neutral?
And just like a lake is endlessly receptive,
Can you allow your own mind and heart to be receptive,
And yet strong and still beneath the surface?
Through it all,
There's this felt sense of this larger basin that's holding you,
Your mind,
Your heart,
Your whole experience within it.
In the final few moments of practice here,
Perhaps reflecting on this imagery,
This felt sense of the lake.
Can you be in touch with the changing currents,
Contents,
Intensity of your thoughts and feelings?
But also with this vast,
Unwavering reservoir of awareness itself residing below the surface of the mind.
The lake has this and so much more to teach us,
Reminding us that we have a lake within ourselves.
As you're ready,
Begin to deepen the breath into the body.
And perhaps like the wind rippling the surface of the lake,
These deeper breaths inspire some movement in your body,
Inviting you to wiggle the fingers,
The toes.
Take any movements or stretches that would feel good.
Perhaps keeping some of that fluidity,
Receptivity,
And also inner strength and stillness of the lake.
As you slowly bring the visual attention back into the space around you,
Opening your eyes and rejoining this virtual space.
Thank you so much for your practice of the lake meditation today for strength and receptivity.
Looking forward to practicing with you all again very soon.
Take care.
