We begin this meditation by lying flat on our backs either on your mats on the floor or on your bed completely reclined flat.
And noticing each point of contact you have with this surface starting from your feet,
Your legs,
Your thighs,
Your hips,
Your butt,
Your back,
Shoulders,
Your back of the neck and your head as it rests either on the floor or on your bed.
And when you're ready,
Bring your awareness to your breath,
Noticing each breath as it comes in and goes out.
Breathing just as it is without trying to change or regulate it in any way.
Allowing it to flow easily and naturally as you breathe in and out.
Taking a few breaths here.
And as you rest here,
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.
Noting in the mind's eye and your own heart that water likes to pool in low places.
It seeks its own level,
Asks to be held,
Contained.
And letting this image gradually come into greater focus,
Even if it doesn't come as a visual image.
Allowing the sense of this lake and feeling its presence.
The lake you're invoking may be deep or shallow,
Blue or green,
Muddy or clear.
With no wind,
The surface may be flat,
Mirror-like,
Reflecting trees,
Rocks,
Sky and clouds,
Holding everything in itself momentarily.
Wind may come and stir up 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,
Or when 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.
And 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 emerges with the lake,
Becomes one with it,
So that all 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 earth herself.
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,
The reflections and depth lost for the moment.
And through it all as you lie here,
Simply observing the play of the various energies of your own mind and heart,
The fleeting thoughts and feelings,
Impulses and reactions,
Which come and go as ripples and waves,
Noting their effects.
In contact with them,
Just as you are in contact and feel the various changing energies that play on the lake,
The wind,
The waves,
Light,
The shadows and the reflections,
The colors and smells.
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 okay with you?
Isn't having a rippling or a wavy surface a part of being a lake?
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 ragged.
And in the same way,
In your meditation practice,
In your yoga practice and in your daily life,
Can you be in touch not only with the changing content and intensity of your thoughts and feelings,
But also with the vast unwavering reservoir of awareness of itself residing below the surface of your mind,
Becoming the stillness.
The lake can teach this,
Remind us of the lake within ourselves.
And dwelling here in the stillness of this moment,
Become this lake,
Affirming the ability to hold yourself in awareness and in acceptance right now with all your qualities of mind and body.
Just as the lake sits held,
Cradled,
Contained by the earth,
Reflecting the sun,
Moon,
Stars,
Trees,
Clouds and sky,
Birds and light,
Caressed by the air and the wind,
Which bring out and highlight its sparkle,
Its vitality,
Its potential,
Moment by moment.
Become the lake with its own storms and moments of peace,
Remember there's still stillness to be found.
.
.
Gently bringing your awareness back to your body on the mat or on the bed and bringing some movement,
Rewiggling the fingers,
Wiggling the toes and whenever you're ready,
Fluttering the eyes open.
I wish you a beautiful week ahead and a reminder that you can always find stillness within.
And if you ever need,
Come back to this image of this lake and remember that despite the storms,
Despite the ripples and waves,
There is that underlying calm within.
You can always find that within yourself.
Thank you.
