You will now begin the exercise Strong as a Mountain.
First,
Take your quiet practice position,
Sitting with a straight back,
Relaxed and awake.
If you feel comfortable,
You can close your eyes.
Feel your feet on the floor and your legs and buttocks on the seat.
Arrive at this spot and follow the breath in and out very quietly a few times.
Now imagine a very beautiful mountain in your mind,
A mountain you already know or a mountain in your imagination.
A mountain that is special to you.
When you look at that mountain in your mind,
Notice how high the top is,
How the slopes run,
Steep or more rolling,
And how strong and sturdy the bottom of the mountain is.
Maybe your mountain has snow on the peaks or trees on the lower slopes.
Whatever your mountain looks like,
Sit down with this image of your mountain and look closely at what your mountain looks like.
And when you get to that point,
See if you can bring the mountain into your body,
For your feeling your body and this mountain to become one whole.
Your feet and buttocks as a firm base,
Your shoulders and arms as the sides of the mountain,
And your head as the top,
High in the clouds.
High in the clouds,
You may notice in your body that you stretch a little,
That you get a little higher and longer in your spine.
In this way,
You become a breathing mountain,
Very firm and quiet,
Totally who you are.
You sit still and strong as a mountain,
Sitting like a mountain,
Firm and quiet.
The day becomes night,
The sun and moon shine over the mountain,
And sometimes there's a storm on the mountain.
Then thunderclouds rage over the mountain,
The wind howls along the top.
Whatever the weather around the mountain is,
The mountain sits there firm and silent.
Spring,
Summer,
Fall and winter,
All weather conditions,
They are just on the outside of the mountain.
Inside,
The mountain remains firm and strong.
Sometimes in our normal lives,
All kinds of things happen that are similar to the storms around the mountain.
When things around you change a lot,
Or when you don't feel solid.
Then you can think about your mountain.
Inside,
You are just as solid,
Strong and unmoved as that mountain.
You always take this mountain in you.
Sit in silence for a while,
With this feeling of your solid mountain,
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes and close the exercise in your own way.
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes and close the exercise in your own way.
