Hello,
This is Paula Jenkins for Insight Timer.
Welcome to this Centering Prayer meditation where we will be visualizing both mountain and sky imagery to help you find an inner calm as you go about your day.
In preparation for this meditation,
I invite you to find a quiet,
Calm space where you can sit and close your eyes for the next 10 minutes.
We will do a short breathing exercise which will be followed by a visualization that will allow you to calm your thoughts and clear your mind.
Once you have found that place in your home or office where you have a comfortable seat,
Perhaps on the floor or on a couch or even on your bed,
I invite you to close your eyes and let's take a deep inhale together and exhale.
Before this next breath,
I invite you to notice where your shoulders are and allow them to drop into a comfortable position.
Inhale and exhale.
And one last time here,
Let's inhale and exhale.
Now in your mind's eye with your eyes closed,
I invite you to visualize that you are walking confidently with purpose and very sure-footedly along a mountain trail.
You may notice the rocks below your feet.
You may hear the crunching noise as you take each step on your path that leads you to the mountaintop.
As you walk this trail,
You notice a light breeze on your face.
You can feel the sun warming you from above.
Off to your right,
You notice a beautiful valley that is full of trees shading beautiful spaces for animals to rest in.
And you can hear birds singing as you continue to walk.
Your hike takes you a little bit higher and as you reach what appears to be the top of this mountain,
You can also see the clouds below.
Along with the valleys,
You can feel the sun on your face and you notice a bench welcoming you as you reach the top of this mountain.
You decide to take a seat on this bench,
Which is sturdy and safe,
And you are amazed at all of the many things that you can see below and around you.
You decide to use this time to center yourself.
And as you sit on this bench,
You will clear your mind and think of the peace that you feel here on this bench and in this warm sunshine.
You may notice from time to time that a new thought pops into your head as you sit here,
And it is like a cloud.
These thoughts,
Which are like clouds,
Pop up.
You notice their existence.
You allow them to be,
And you welcome them along in front of you and then out of you.
As you sit here peacefully,
You will notice that other thoughts arise.
They may pop up again like a cloud,
And you can visualize them moving across your field of vision until they are out of view.
And this is centering prayer,
This act of noticing a thought,
Acknowledging its existence,
And welcoming it to float past,
To sit for a few moments again in quiet until you notice another thought.
And as you sit here on this mountaintop,
On your sure and steady bench in the sun,
I invite you to sit in stillness,
Notice your thoughts as clouds,
And make this your practice for the next three minutes.
As that last cloud and thought pass,
You notice on this bench that you have found a stillness and a peace that was unexpected as you started your journey up the mountain.
Put your hand on your heart and let a wave of gratitude wash over you as you ready yourself to get up from this bench and return to the rest of your day,
Vowing to keep some of this peace and stillness with you,
And understanding that you are able to take this technique of thoughts popping up and letting them be during the rest of your day,
A skill that you do not need a mountaintop to use,
But that is portable and that you can take with you wherever you go.
Now in your mind's eye,
You rise and you return to the path that brought you to this mountaintop and you take it down,
Down the mountain,
Away from the thoughts.
And you find a beautiful spot here in the shade where you will return to your current life.
I invite you to open your eyes to your present surroundings.
Allow a gentle gaze as you return to the room you are sitting in.
And I invite you to take a few moments before getting up and going about the rest of your day to reflect on this and to allow yourself to reintegrate the peace that you have just felt with the going abouts of your day today.
Thank you so much.
