The mountain meditation.
This is a visualisation and you can do it sitting or standing.
If you're sitting,
Ensure that your feet are flat on the floor,
Your back is straight but not rigid.
And if you're standing with your feet hip width apart and just having your arms down by your sides and softening your knees,
Tilting your chin down on your chest.
We call this the mountain pose.
And we start by bringing our attention to our breathing.
The movement of the breath in the body.
Notice where you're feeling the breath most vividly.
Maybe in the chest or down in the belly.
Not changing it in any way.
Just accepting the breath as it is in this moment.
Noticing how you're breathing.
Taking your next breath down through the body all the way down to your feet.
And focusing on your feet.
Grinding yourself.
Earthing yourself.
This allows us to have some physical alignment.
And bringing now to your mind the image of a mountain.
Picture this mountain,
One that you may know or one that you'd like to visit.
Or maybe it's a mountain that you have visited,
A favourite mountain.
Just allow yourself to really connect with the essence of the mountain and explore it.
Maybe notice how it feels in your body when you think about the mountain.
What sensations are present.
Just become aware of the size of the mountain and the shape.
Sloping sides.
The lofty peak.
Maybe there is snow on your mountain.
Notice if you are close to this mountain or whether it's far away.
But maybe becoming aware of how strong and resilient and steady this mountain is.
Notice the solidity of the mountain.
Be curious about the nature of the world of this mountain.
Maybe imagining the sun coming across the sky,
Casting shadows across the mountain.
And as it remains there steady,
Solid,
The day turns to night and the night today.
And the mountain remains unmoved.
And if your mind has wandered off that's okay,
Just bring your attention back onto the mountain.
Maybe becoming aware of the seasons that the mountain sits in.
Thinking of the spring,
Turning to summer,
Summer to autumn and autumn to winter.
And as you sit solid or stand solid,
Notice how calm and abiding the mountain is.
Imagining the mountain seeing those seasons of green shoots and flowers arriving on the mountain in the spring.
And in the summer,
Sun bakes the side of the mountain.
In the autumn the leaves drop,
Maybe the rivers become swollen in the autumn rain.
And in winter,
The icy cold and the snow.
Through all these seasons,
Wind and rain,
Warmth and sunshine,
The mountain retains its dignity.
Maybe you can step towards this mountain in your mind's eye and become the mountain.
Your feet will seat the solid base,
Your shoulders and arms the sloping sides and your head the lofty peak.
We can become the mountain,
Steady,
Solid,
Unwavering and resilient.
As we see through these seasons ourselves,
Day to day,
Noticing the weather patterns and enduring.
We too can become like the mountain,
Allowing ourselves to experience what it would be like to feel solid,
Steady,
Resilient,
Just like the mountain.
And then expanding our awareness back into our body,
Taking this sense of solidity with us.
As we expand our awareness now,
Back out into the room,
As this mountain meditation comes to a close.
