This practice is called the Mountain Meditation.
The Mountain Meditation is traditionally taught in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses and is sometimes included as a practice during our day of mindfulness.
Taking time to take your seat,
Allowing the head to be erect on the neck,
The shoulders relaxed,
Allowing the bottom part of the body to provide a stable base.
The body is erect yet comfortable,
Not stiff,
Gently allowing the spine to rise from the seat.
You may wish to rest your hands comfortably on the knees or in the lap.
Allowing the eyes to gently close or holding the gaze on the floor.
Gently allowing the body to settle into stillness,
To settle on the breath.
Aware of the in-breath and the out-breath.
Perhaps the gaps in between the in and out-breath.
As much as is possible the body is still,
Sitting here with dignity and resolve.
Complete in this moment.
Reflecting a sense of wholeness.
And I'd like to invite you now to picture in your mind's eye the most beautiful mountain.
Noting its texture,
Mass and bulk.
Aware of its size,
Noting its appearance.
Gently allowing the mountain to come into greater focus in your mind's eye.
And you may find that the mind struggles to settle on a particular image of a mountain.
This is okay,
Taking time to allow the mind to settle on an image or picture or thought of a mountain.
Aware of the lofty peak,
Noticing the sides of the mountain.
How massive,
Solid,
Unmoving.
Beautiful both from afar and up close.
Allowing yourself to sit and to breathe with this image of the mountain.
Taking time to observe the mountain.
To notice the image of the mountain in the mind's eye.
And now I'd like to invite you to bring the image of the mountain.
And now I'd like to invite you to bring the image of the mountain into your body.
To share the massiveness and stillness.
To bring the essence of the mountain rooted into your posture.
So the head becomes the lofty peak.
Your arms and shoulders,
The sides of the mountain.
Legs becoming the base of the mountain.
See if it's possible to experience a sense of uplift as the mountain.
Practicing with a sense of kindness and care.
Sitting here as the mountain.
And as we sit as the mountain,
Day becomes night.
Time passing.
Seen or unseen,
The mountain remains the same.
The seasons come,
Spring with its greenery and colour.
The baking heat of summer.
Then in the autumn,
The trees have coats of fine golden colours.
And in the winter,
The mountain may be covered in a blanket of ice or snow.
Still the mountain sits in its calmness,
Abiding all changes.
And some days fog or mist may obscure the view of the mountain.
It might be pelted by freezing rain and gales.
The mountain abides,
Changes around,
Accepting,
Not resisting the external forces of nature.
On some days visitors may come to see the mountain.
They may judge the mountain as being a good day or a bad day to see the mountain.
However the mountain remains its essential self.
It's magnificent beauty.
Seen or unseen.
It just sits being itself.
There are times when the mountain is visited by violent storms,
Perhaps buffeted by rain.
Throughout it,
The mountain sits.
And in time,
The sun returns.
Spring comes again.
Flowers may bloom.
The mountain continues to sit,
Unmoved by the weather.
Unmoved by what happens on the surface,
By the world of appearance.
The mountain practice may allow us to connect with lasting aspects of life and observe those things that change.
We can use the energy of the mountain meditation to support our own.
We may see thoughts,
Feelings,
Preoccupations and crises,
Like the weather on the mountain.
We can choose to embody the same unwavering stillness and rootedness in the face of everything that may challenge us in our lives.
The mountain meditation may encourage us to listen and notice the weather of our lives and the changing seasons.
To become aware of the shifts from periods of lightness to darkness and storms.
Learning through moment to moment awareness and mindfulness practice.
That we can learn to endure periods of darkness and pain as well as notice periods or moments of uplift and joy.
In the time remaining,
The invitation is to sustain the mountain meditation until the bells sound.
The bell is invited.
The bell is invited.
