Begin by sensing the support you have from the chair beneath you,
Paying attention to the actual sensations of contact.
Maybe feeling your feet grounded on the floor,
Your sit bones in the cushion beneath you,
Or your back aligned with the back of the chair.
Finding a position of stability with your upper body balanced over your hips and shoulders in a comfortable but upright posture.
Maybe having your hands resting on your lap or your knees.
And as you breathe,
Begin to sense into your body,
Feeling your feet,
Your legs,
Your hips,
Your abdomen,
Your chest,
Your back,
Your shoulders,
Your arms,
Your neck,
And your head.
And when you're ready,
Bringing your awareness to your breath,
The actual physical sensations,
Feeling each breath as it comes in and goes out.
Allowing the breath to be just as it is without trying to force,
Change,
Or regulate it in any way.
Realizing the stillness of your body as you sit with a sense of dignity,
A sense of resolve,
A sense of being complete,
With your posture reflecting a sense of wholeness.
As you sit,
Allow an image to form in your mind the most magnificent mountain you've ever seen.
Noticing how its large base is rooted in the bedrock of the Earth's crust,
Maybe noticing its steep or gently sloping sides.
Noticing how massive,
How solid,
How unmoving,
How beautiful,
Whether from afar or up close.
And as you observe the mountain,
Notice its qualities.
Is it snow-capped,
Tree-lined,
Are there waterfalls?
And when you feel ready,
Seeing if you can get a sense of being the mountain,
Share in the massiveness and the stillness of the mountain.
With each breath becoming a little more of a breathing mountain,
Alive and vital,
Yet unwavering in your inner stillness,
Completely what you are beyond words and thought,
A centered,
Grounded,
Unmoving presence.
As the mountain sits,
Watching how night follows day and day follows night,
You are now in the light,
A bright,
Warming sun followed by a cool night sky.
Watching the seasons flow,
Summer into fall,
Fall into winter,
Winter into spring,
Spring into summer.
Through it all,
The mountain just sits and experiences change in each moment,
Constantly changing yet always being itself.
The mountain remains as seasons flow,
As the weather changes,
Moment by moment,
Day by day,
Calmness abiding through change.
While sitting in meditation,
We can learn to experience the mountain.
We can embody the same central,
Unwavering stillness and groundedness in the face of everything that changes in our lives over seconds,
Over hours,
Over years.
As we live life,
We experience storms of varying intensity and violence in the outer world and in our own minds and bodies.
We endure periods of darkness and pain,
As well as moments of joy.
Our lives experience a weathering of their own.
The weather in our lives is not to be ignored or denied.
It is to be encountered,
Honored,
Felt,
Known for what it is,
And held in awareness.
And in holding it this way,
We come to know a deeper silence,
Stillness,
And wisdom.
In the time that remains,
Continue to sustain the mountain meditation on your own and allow yourself to revel in the silence,
The stillness,
The groundedness,
And the majesty of the mountain.
Brian you you you If you find that your mind has begun to wander Just slowly and gently Bring your attention back to the mountain you you You can slowly and gently Start to bring your attention back to the room Maybe wiggling your fingers and your toes and stretching if necessary you
