Welcome.
Thank you for joining me today for a Lake Meditation.
This is a type of meditation that could be done in a reclining position or a relaxed sitting position or even lying down on carpet or your bed.
It begins by paying attention to the actual sensations and points of contact,
Noticing where your body is making contact and how your weight is distributed,
Actually sensing the body as a whole.
And when you're ready to begin,
Bringing awareness to the breath,
Allowing the breath to go low into the belly so the belly expands on the in-breath and deflates on the out-breath,
Feeling each breath as it comes in and as it goes out,
Letting the breath be just as it is without trying to force or regulate it,
Allowing it to flow easily and naturally,
Just letting the breath be.
And as you rest in whatever your chosen position may be,
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,
Knowing that the water likes to pool in low places and will seek its own level,
Asking only to be held and contained.
So letting this image gradually come into focus,
Even if it doesn't come as a visual image,
Allowing the sense of this lake,
This body of water,
Feel its presence within you.
The lake that you're invoking may be deep or it may be shallow.
It could be blue or green,
Muddy or clear.
With no wind,
The surface will be flat and mirror-like,
Perhaps reflecting trees or rocks,
The sky or clouds,
Holding everything in itself momentarily.
Then the wind may come up and stir up waves,
Causing the reflections to distort or disappear.
Perhaps sunlight may sparkle on the ripples and dance,
In a way,
On the waves shimmering.
When night comes,
It's the moon's turn to sparkle and shimmer on the lake,
When the surface is still to be reflected along with the outline of trees and shadows.
In the winter,
The lake may freeze over,
Yet be teeming with movement and life below.
As you rest here in the image of the lake,
Allow yourself,
When you feel ready,
To bring it inside yourself completely,
So that your being merges with the image of the lake.
All of your energies in this moment being held,
Receptive,
Accepting in this basin that we call the lake.
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 are lost for a moment.
For the next few minutes,
Simply observing the play of the various energies of your own mind and body,
Fleeting thoughts,
Impulses,
Reactions,
Which come and go,
Just like the ripples and waves on the lake surface.
Noticing the effects on your thoughts and feelings,
Do they disturb the surface and the clarity of your mind's lake?
Do they muddy the waters?
Do they stir it up?
Isn't having a few ripples and waves 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 as the waves and ripples on the surface.
Even when the surface is ragged or choppy,
Stillness remains beneath the surface.
Taking a moment and just noticing the body.
Noticing if there is a stillness that you can center upon with each breath in and each breath out.
Allowing yourself to simply float on the water.
Noticing the body and the breath.
Noticing when it might feel right to slip beneath the surface into a place of stillness,
Away from the busyness of our everyday.
So notice again those points of contact that the body is making with whatever position you have chosen.
Simply be with the breath and the body in this stillness.
Dwelling here in the stillness of this moment,
Until signaled by the sound of the singing bowl,
We can be the lake in silence now.
Holding awareness and acceptance,
Perhaps those ill winds or choppy waters.
All of our qualities of mind and body and spirit,
Just as the lake that's held,
Cradled,
Contained.
Reflecting the sun and the moon,
Stars,
Trees,
Clouds and sky,
Light and darkness.
Caressed by the air,
The wind,
Which bring out and highlight the sparkle,
The vitality,
The potential of moment to moment.
So continuing in silence for a few more minutes,
Moment by moment,
Using the lake with its own storms and moments of peace to drop into your breath and your body.
And as we come to the end of this meditation,
Take a moment to congratulate yourself for simply showing up.
Thanks for joining me today.
Thank you.
