Mountain Meditation

The mountain meditation is an equanimity practice, and is particularly helpful when anyone has to deal with difficulties in life.

Transcript

Mountain Meditation.

The mountain meditation is an equanimity practice that is one of the four immeasurables which complement each other,

Including also the cultivation of loving-kindness,

Compassion,

And empathetic joy.

By identifying our minds and bodies with the imagery of a mountain,

We can open to the vast spaciousness of the mind and our capacity to be fully present with all experience,

Whether positive or negative.

Settling the body into a comfortable position,

Either upright or if that is not comfortable,

Lying down.

Settling the body into a natural state of as much relaxation as is possible.

More and more with each out-breath,

Letting go as much as possible of any tensions that are in the body.

Relaxing more and more as much as is possible.

Stilling the voluntary motion of the body and remaining vividly aware of bodily sensations.

Allowing the mind to settle into a natural state of as much relaxation as is possible.

Noticing the spaciousness of the mind,

And even though the mind may be full of thoughts and feelings,

Images,

Memories,

Plans,

And various sensory sensations.

Allowing all of these things going on in the mind to settle.

Noticing the vast space of the mind,

The silence between thoughts and feelings.

And more and more allowing everything to settle in the mind,

And yet remaining vividly aware of whatever is present.

And bringing your awareness to the natural flow of energy in your body.

Even though you are stilling the voluntary motion of your body,

Once you've made any wise adjustments to support comfort,

There will still be many flows of energy and movement that are natural in the living body.

You may or may not feel the beating of your heart,

The pulse at various points throughout your body.

There may be movements in the digestive tract.

There may be all sorts of sensations of tingling or itching or releasing throughout the body.

And the flow of the breath also involves the movement of energy,

Movement and still points.

For a few moments bringing your attention on purpose to the flow of the breath in your body,

Perhaps in your belly or chest or any place you choose.

Noticing especially the natural easing and letting go of the out-breath.

No need to manipulate the breath,

Simply noticing the flow of the natural uncontrived breath.

Noticing the natural expanding movement of the in-breath.

The easing and letting go movement of this out-breath right here.

Noticing the little still point at the end of this out-breath.

And the natural turnaround at the top of this in-breath.

Fully opening to the sensations of the breath in your body,

The natural movement and the natural pauses and still points.

Allowing your awareness of these natural moments of movement and still points to soothe the mind and the body.

Of course even though you're choosing to pay attention to the breath,

The mind will naturally have all sorts of thoughts and feelings that will distract you from time to time or you will become sleepy.

And in those moments when you wake up and notice that you're not on the breath or anything we're focusing on in this meditation,

Then the instructions are simply to first relax.

Celebrate that you've noticed the mind has wandered or gotten sleepy.

That is awareness and mindfulness.

So first relax,

Release as best you can where the mind has gone and return to the focus in this present moment which is now the movement and still points of the breath.

Going at your own pace.

Fully feeling the easing of this out-breath and the natural letting go.

Feeling the still point,

The end of this out-breath.

Feeling the expanding quality of this in-breath.

And now if you care to bring into mind the image of a mountain,

A beautiful mountain,

Either one you've actually seen or perhaps even climbed on,

Or a picture of a mountain that speaks to you or simply an imaginary mountain that appears in your mind's eye.

Bringing to mind this mountain,

And mountains often are in a range of mountains.

Bringing to mind one peak,

One mountain,

Even if it's surrounded by others.

Noticing how the mountain sits rooted in the earth.

Noticing how steady,

Still,

And strong the mountain is.

Various kinds of weather may come and go,

Just like moods in our minds and lives come and go.

There may be stormy days and moments that surround the mountain.

Clouds.

There may be snow on the top of the mountain,

Covering the entire mountain in the winter.

There may be new life and flowers growing on the mountain in the spring.

New leaves and the trees.

New baby animals that walk the surface of the mountain.

The weather may be full of fluffy clouds in the sky.

Or maybe a bright,

Sunny,

Clear blue sky day with not a cloud in the sky.

At night,

There may be twinkling stars in the sky and a full moon or a crescent moon.

Or there may be dark clouds at night,

So there's an inky darkness around the mountain.

Just as our moods and feelings and thoughts are constantly changing,

The weather around the mountain and the things that come and go at the surface of the mountain are always changing.

But through it all,

The mountain sits and somehow is always the same deep inside.

No matter what happens at the surface,

No matter what the weather,

The mountain sits steady,

Still,

Strong,

Present.

And when you feel ready,

Inviting this image of the mountain to come closer.

Merging the image of the mountain with your own body and mind so that your head becomes the peak of the mountain.

Your shoulders become the ridges of the mountain sides.

And your body becomes the entire mountain rooted in the earth.

And feeling yourself sitting here or lying down as if you were the mountain.

Steady,

Still,

Strong.

And as you feel yourself becoming the mountain that just sits and somehow is always the same.

Noticing how there may be much weather around the mountain.

There may be torrential rain or a blizzard that covers the surface of the mountain.

Trees may fall down.

But no matter what happens at the surface of the mountain,

Somehow the mountain simply sits and is somehow always the same and present.

There may be beautiful sunny days with fluffy clouds and clear blue skies.

Lovely birds that fly to the sky.

People who come and go on the mountain and enjoy it and laugh.

All sorts of animals and creatures may enjoy being on the mountain.

There may be waterfalls.

There may be landslides.

Stormy moments.

Calm moments.

And through it all the mountain simply sits.

Feeling yourself sitting here as a whole as the mountain.

Sitting steady,

Strong,

Still,

Stable,

Rooted to the earth.

Remembering the instructions anytime you find that your mind wanders and gets distracted,

Which is perfectly normal.

Or any time the mind becomes sleepy,

First relax,

Then release as best you can where the mind has gone.

Return to feeling yourself here as the mountain,

With your head as the peak of the mountain,

Your shoulders as the ridges of the mountain,

Your body as the mountain,

Rooted deep in the earth,

Steady,

Still,

Strong,

Stable,

Able to be with anything that is happening.

Able to hold everything and be present.

Noticing also that a single mountain is often part of a mountain range.

It's rooted in the earth and is deeply connected with other mountains around it.

And the beings that live on it and come and go on it.

Feeling these connections also within your own being in life.

And then when you are ready,

Letting go of this imagery of the mountain.

Letting it slowly fade,

But retaining the possibility of identifying with this imagery.

Of feeling your being and your body and your mind as steady,

Stable,

And strong,

And still.

And that no matter what happens in your life and in your mind,

Whatever storms of thought or experience or whatever blue sunny days of joy come your way.

Identifying with this ability to be fully present with whatever is.

Things are as they are.

You solve what problems you can.

Once you have and there's nothing more to do,

Focusing on simply being present for this very moment of your life.

Identifying with the equanimity of the mountain.

Present,

Steady,

Stable,

Strong.

And in a moment when I ring the chime,

Knowing that at any point during the flow of your life,

Whether sitting in your car at a red light,

Waiting for an appointment,

Or standing in line somewhere,

It's possible to feel one breath and remember and identify with this imagery of the mountain.

And our natural ability to be fully present with whatever is happening.

Reviews

I played this for my wife who has never meditated. The introduction was superb, perhaps the best primer for a guided meditation or meditation in general I’ve heard.
I’ve done the Mountain Meditation perhaps a hundred times and this is as good as it gets.
Nice work. This is my new go to Mountain Meditation.

Very beginner friendly practice. Lots of guidance, kind, lovely voice and imagery.
Grounding practice.

Wonderful relaxing meditation. Soothing voice. Thank u

I like this meditation for when you are needing to find your inner strength and calm. Very grounding and rooted meditation. Thanks.

so good. working with equanimity directly through the imagery of the mountain; and then that too falls away to surrender.

Very nice reflective way to remind ourself of staying grounded. Thank you

Not that it matters, but my sister also had a lisp. I told her to simply move her tongue back when pronouncing the "s" and it worked.

Perfect for the start of the busy holiday period. A great reminder to be in each moment.

I needed that. In Phoenix overlooking camelback mountain - the practice was perfect!

Wonderful imagery.

Very relaxing. Love the imagery