The Lake Meditation

During these challenging and uncertain times, it is understandable that you might feel fear and frustration. This practice is designed to cultivate stillness and calm and to connect with our inner strength and stability in the face of internal and external challenges we face.

Transcript

The lake meditation.

This meditation is best done in a lying or reclining position.

Finding a time and a place where you won't be disturbed.

And taking some time now to make sure you're as comfortable as your circumstances allow.

Shifting in your position if needed.

Perhaps supporting the head with a pillow or a cushion.

Allowing the arms to be outstretched by your side.

Palms facing up towards the ceiling.

And the feet allowing them to fall away from each other.

Beginning now by paying attention to the actual sensations of contact and support as you lie here.

Noticing where your body is making contact with the floor,

The bed or the chair if you're reclining.

How your weight is distributed.

Actually sensing into your body.

Feeling your feet,

Your legs,

Hips.

Lower and upper body.

Arms.

Your shoulders and your head.

As you lie or recline here.

Letting go of any need or judgement.

And simply just noting whatever you find.

And when you're ready,

Bringing awareness to the breath,

The actual physical sensations.

Feeling each breath as it comes into the body and as it leaves the body.

Letting the breath be just as it is as you find it.

Without trying to change or regulate it in any way.

Allowing the breath to flow easily and naturally with its own rhythm and pace.

Knowing that you are breathing perfectly well right now.

Nothing for you to do.

And so allowing a sense of being complete,

Whole in this very moment to arise.

Letting go of any need to judge or control the breath.

Allowing your breath to be as you find it.

Appreciating that there's nowhere else to be.

Nothing else to do right now.

Simply resting in this position.

And simply breathing.

And as you rest here,

As best you can,

Letting an image form in your mind's eye of a lake.

A body of water,

Large or small,

Held in a receptive basin by the earth itself.

Acknowledging that water likes to pool in low places.

It seeks its own level,

Asks to be held and contained.

The image of the lake you invoke may be real or imagined.

Perhaps a lake that you have visited or not.

It really doesn't matter.

Letting this image gradually come into greater focus.

Even if it doesn't come as a visual image.

Feeling the scents of this lake and feeling its presence.

The lake may be deep or shallow,

Blue or green,

Muddy or clear.

With no wind,

The surface will be flat,

Mirror-like.

Reflecting trees,

Rocks,

Sky and clouds.

Between everything in itself momentarily.

At times,

Wind may come and stir up the waves causing the reflections to distort and disappear.

But then sunlight may sparkle in the ripples and dance on the waves in a play of shimmering diamonds.

When night comes,

It's the moon's turn to dance on the lake.

And the surface is still to be reflected in it along with the outline of trees and shadows.

In winter,

The lake may freeze over yet be teeming with movement and life below.

As you rest here breathing,

As you establish this image of a lake in your mind's eye.

Allowing yourself when you feel ready to bring it inside yourself completely.

So that your being merges with the lake,

Becomes one with it.

So that all of your energies in this moment are held in awareness with openness and compassion for yourself.

In the same way as the lake's waters are held by the receptive and accepting basin of the earth herself.

And so now,

Breathing as the lake,

Feeling its body as your body.

Allowing your mind and your heart to be open and receptive moment by moment.

To reflect whatever comes near or to be clear all the way to the bottom.

Experiencing moments of complete stillness when both reflection and water are completely clear.

And other moments perhaps when the surface is disturbed,

Choppy,

Stirred up.

Reflections and depth last for the moment.

Perhaps the rhythm of the lake,

The gentle undulations begin to merge with the sensations of breath in the body.

And through it all,

As you lie here,

Simply observing the shifting experience of your own mind and heart.

The fleeting thoughts and feelings,

Impulses,

Urges and reactions,

Which come and go as ripples and waves.

Making note of their effects.

As best you can,

Being in contact with them,

Just as you're in contact with and feel the various constantly changing weather patterns that play on the lake.

The wind,

The rain,

The waves.

The light,

The shadows and the reflections.

Noticing the effect of your thoughts and feelings.

Do they disturb the surface and clarity of the mind's lake?

Do they muddy the waters?

Is that OK with you?

Isn't having a rippling or a choppy surface part of being a lake?

And might it be possible to identify not only with the surface of your lake,

But with the entire body of water so that you become the stillness below the surface as well.

Which at most experiences only gentle undulations,

Even when the surface is choppy and stirred up.

And in the same way,

In your meditation practice and in your daily life,

As best you can,

Being in touch not only with the changing content and intensity of your thoughts and feelings.

But also with the vast unwavering reservoir of awareness itself residing below the surface of your mind.

The lake can teach us this,

Remind us of the lake within ourselves.

If you find this image to be of value,

You may want to use it from time to time to deepen and enrich your own meditation practice.

You might also invite this lake image to empower and inspire you and guide your actions in the world as you move through the unfolding of each day.

Carrying this vast reservoir of mindfulness within your heart.

And this is particularly apt in this present moment as we're faced with unprecedented challenges.

Appreciating that our experience is constantly in flux and that there is a part of us deep within that can observe all of this with curiosity,

With compassion and kindness.

Dwelling here in the stillness of this moment until the sound of the bell.

We can be the lake in silence now,

Affirming your ability to hold in awareness and in acceptance right now all of our qualities of mind and body.

Just as the lake sits held,

Cradled,

Contained by the earth,

Reflecting sun,

Moon,

Stars,

Trees,

Clouds.

Birds in light caressed by the air and the wind,

Which bring out the beauty,

The vitality and the potential moment by moment.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation,

Continuing to sustain the lake meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

So in the time that remains before the bell,

Which will mark the end of the meditation on your own in silence,

Moment by moment,

Being the lake with its own storms and moments of peace.

Thank you.

Reviews

Namaste 🙏

That hit the spot! Thank you

Beautiful. Gave me chills and released some soft tears in the end. 💙

Beautifully scripted description. Enchanting.

Very peaceful and centering. Thank you! 🙏

Really relaxing meditation that allows you to become part of the lake. Plenty of time for contemplation. I loved it.

The peaceful feeling of the lake !

Namaste 🙏

Wow you have the most soothing voice. A very relevant and effective meditation. Thank you. 🙏

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing! ❤️🙏❤️