Thank you for listening.
A friend of mine shared this story with me yesterday.
I'm not sure who wrote it,
But I am paraphrasing what I can remember.
The meditation portion,
The practice portion is mine and I hope that you enjoy.
There are places in the world where people come from all over to climb a mountain.
And at the base of one of those mountains,
A man who has run one of the chalets for years spoke something to this effect.
He said that as the folks arrive at the chalet,
They are tired and weary from traveling.
They come in,
Put their things in their rooms,
Have dinner,
And go to bed pretty early to prepare for their long climb to the top of the mountain the next morning.
The mountain,
They are told,
Will stretch you,
Grow you.
There is one path up and one path down.
And he would go on to say that what happens every year is that after breakfast the next morning,
Some of the group,
And it's always about the same percentage,
Decides to stay back in the chalet.
They tell the others that the chalet is beautiful.
It has coffee,
Tea,
A warm fire,
And big windows in which they could see the mountain.
And they tell the others to go on without them.
Go ahead,
They say,
They will be fine.
And they are almost carnival-like with how happy they are to stay back,
Cheering the others onward.
So as the group who sets out to climb the mountain leaves,
The others come inside and they enjoy the fire and look out the windows and have their warm tea or coffee.
And they read a little bit,
Go back to their rooms.
And then just like every year in the past,
At about 10 a.
M.
,
It is as if a funeral has happened.
The group that has stayed back sits with regret.
And as we ponder this for a few moments,
Begin to stand up in the middle of your mat.
Stand up and look at your mountain.
Maybe you close your eyes and imagine a mountain in front of you.
Maybe you are standing in a mountain pose on your mat.
However you get there,
Imagine that you are at the base of the mountain,
Assessing the climb.
Take a few breaths here.
And as you continue to breathe,
Reach your arms up toward the sky,
Toward the mountain in a protective stance.
Imagine your dreams,
Desires,
Loved ones behind you as you protect it all.
Step one foot forward and allow your back foot to slightly turn outward to the side of the mat.
And imagine that you are taking that first step towards the path to go up the mountain.
Begin to bend into the front leg and reach the hand that's on the same side of that front bent leg forward so it is level with your shoulder.
And take the opposite arm reaching behind you,
Level with that opposite shoulder.
In yoga,
Warrior two has been described to me as follows.
The forward facing hand represents our future.
The backward facing hand represents the past.
And the body that is in the middle is standing in the present moment.
We can look behind us to see where we have been,
But we do not stay in the past.
We look forward,
But not too far forward.
Our gaze stops at the fingertips of the front hand,
Representing our next few steps.
If you drop the back hand to the thigh and reach the front arm upward,
We are now in a form of reverse warrior.
A place of open heartedness,
A place where blessing and abundance can flow into the heart.
A place to fill up before our long ascension.
Breathe here and receive.
Slowly bring your body back to a neutral position.
Take another breath and slowly start to balance your weight toward one side as you bend your torso halfway forward and lift the opposite leg,
Reaching back toward the back wall,
Hands reaching forward.
You can grab a chair or reach toward a wall or your desk if you need more stability.
Warrior three is the warrior of action,
Jumping forward into uncharted territory,
To experience,
To shift,
To change into something new.
Slowly come back to a standing neutral position,
Feet about hip distance apart,
Hands down by the side,
Palms facing forward,
Palms facing forward,
Back into your mountain.
Breathe here,
Soften the forehead,
Soften the eyes,
Feel your mountain.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
Namaste.
