Please find a comfortable meditation seat in a place where you won't be disturbed for the next 15 to 20 minutes.
And I invite you to settle yourself down into this place and close your eyes and we're going to take three releasing breaths.
So inhale with me now and sigh on the exhale.
And again,
Inhale.
And once again,
Settling yourself down,
Let the spine be tall,
But relaxed.
And feel the breath coming and going.
And now we're ready to take a journey,
Allowing your body to sway a little side to side as if you're walking,
Swaying.
And imagining that we're on a tall alpine peak,
Somewhere high in the mountains.
In front of us stretches a saddle or a ridge and another little peak,
Maybe a little higher than the one we're on.
And as we do our sway walk,
We're going to walk an ancient path between these two mountain peaks.
Swaying as you walk,
Feeling your feet making contact with the ground,
Feeling yourself surrounded by the mountain air,
Step by step along this ridge,
Step by step along an ancient mountain path.
And as you look to your right,
Only sky,
And as you look to the left,
More sky,
Above you sky.
You are surrounded by beautiful sky.
And I invite you to notice the quality of the sky.
Is it day?
Is it night?
Is it clear or cloudy?
Envisioning and feeling the sky all around you,
Continuing to sway and now walking through this beautiful skyland along this mountain ridge,
And we're beginning to approach the second mountain peak.
This is our destination.
I'd like you to take a moment to scan the peak in front of you and see if there's a place that might be calling you to sit down again in this new meditation seat.
Maybe it's an eagle's perch or a little crystalline cave.
It could be anything.
Imagine walking and finding your spot,
Moving to that spot.
And once again,
Imagine taking your meditation seat.
The spine is tall but relaxed,
Shoulders relaxing,
The breath calming and going.
You're becoming part of this mountain,
Sensing and feeling your environment.
And from some place far below you,
There's a sound wafting up faintly like music,
Maybe the sound of people singing.
As you tune in with more attention,
The sound becomes more distinct.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
It's a chant designed to help open the energy centers at the top of our body,
Near the crown of the head.
These are the energy centers that connect us to sky,
That connect us to the cosmos,
To spirit,
To the divine.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
As the chant reaches you,
Imagine that the chant is moving in through one ear,
Massaging your brain and gently leading through the other ear.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Let the chant gently sweep through your mind like the wind on a mountain.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
The meaning of this ancient Sanskrit chant is the jewel in the heart of the lotus.
The jewel in the heart of the lotus.
The jewel in the heart of the lotus.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
In ancient yoga drawings of the energy centers of the body,
The crown,
The top of the head,
The chakra there,
The energy center there,
Is depicted as a thousand-petaled lotus flower.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
I invite you to imagine as we let this chant drift through the mind that petal by petal that lotus flower is opening.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
As this beautiful lotus flower that connects us with the sky above opens its petals,
Underneath is revealed a jewel.
Take a moment to sense and envision and feel this jewel with the crown of your head,
On the sky end of your spine,
The jewel in the heart of the lotus.
Taking a moment to notice any qualities that you felt in this time when we've been together on this journey,
Opening the thousand-petaled lotus flower,
Making space for any inspirations that want to come or aha moments,
And appreciating the time that you made for yourself to sit in this meditation journey and to experiment with these images,
These ancient yoga practices.
Just noticing if there's something that you want to remember from this journey,
Maybe something to take along with you in the rest of your day or in the weeks to come.
And now we're going to close this sacred space by bringing our hands together at the heart.
And you have a choice.
This is a choice of imagination.
Will you leave this lotus flower open,
Letting that jewel shine?
Or will you close the petals,
Tucking it safely away?
And just let your intuition guide you on that.
And now we end.
Namaste.
