We found our way to the mountains two times this summer to breath fresh air, wonder at the beauty and gaze at the “wild wonder” that is nature. We hiked mountains and valleys, explored mines and caves, rode a steam train, fished, kayaked, went horseback riding, roasted marshmallows and ate smores, philosophized under the stars, and found our center close to the heavens. Spring and Summer 2020 has been momentous for our family and for the entire world. My response to major stress and chaos in our society, loss of a sense of community and safety has been to retreat into the mountains and into nature. There I have been able to meditate daily, journal daily, connect with my heart and the power of love and what I refer to as “the Sage” or higher power. I have been able to care for myself in a way that has allowed my practice to thrive and I am fulfilling my life’s work. I have blocked out social media and main stream media from my awareness.
I know it is there only because I see it on people’s faces and I hear it from my clients and my friends and family. I am removed from its influence, quite intentionally. I must practice stress resilience in order to model it for my practice and my friends and family. It is what I can control. I feel empowered and take great pride in my ability to filter out negative and toxic forces that permeate our society.
In my world, when I experience trauma either personally or vicariously, I go inside and do the work to keep myself present and comforted. I notice the runaway thoughts of catastrophe and mind reading, the all or nothing tendency, the brutal self criticism and I pause. I sit with it. I offer myself compassion and breath through the pain. It takes some time, but I find my way through. I connect with nature and through nature I am connected to”the sage”, which connects me with everyone and everything there is. I remind myself that I am not the Sage. I am merely human. I can only do my best to live up to the higher calling that I feel when I am in the mountains.
Take yourself to the mountains with this meditation:
Find a standing position with your feet about hip distance apart. Feel the earth beneath your feet, supporting you. Allow your hands to rest alongside your body.
Begin by noticing your breath. Without trying to change it, just notice.
Become relaxed, balanced and feel gravity support you standing.
Let go of any to do’s, allow this time for a mountain meditation.
Let go of right or wrong, good or bad, should and should not
Simply breath.
Notice the inhale and exhale and the expansion and contraction of your lungs.
Bring your hands into a prayer position at your heart and say thank you to yourself.
Now rest your hands back at your sides.
Allow your breath to deepen and slow as you inhale on a count to 4, hold it for a count to 7, and release it for a long count to 8.
I invite you to take 4 deep fulfilling breaths at your own pace, 4-7-8 breath just like that.
Notice the strength in your legs holding you up, and the support beneath you.
Envision a mountain before you. Evoke the sensations of being on a mountain
Feel, smell and breath the mountain air
Notice the power and glory of the mountain, and let it fill you heart and lungs
See the cliffs and caverns, the trees of pine and aspen blowing in the breeze
Envision the glorious peak of the mountain, covered with snow, dripping with sunshine
Let it fill your entire body with it’s brilliance
Now, when you are ready, become the mountain.
You are one with the mountain. Embody it’s brilliance.
Feel it’s power and glory in the strength of your body.
Scan your body and allow movement where it is needed.
Release your fear, release your stress, release your pain into the mountain
Shake your body or envision that which you no longer need releasing into the earth.
Bend down and bang on the earth, release it! Allow your primal instinct to guide you.
Release a deep sigh, howl or scream..
The mountain is serene. It is resilient and it regenerates. The mountain doesn’t question why the weather patterns change, or what they mean. The mountain stands in all of it’s glory and power, it sheds what it no longer needs and it stands. Be the mountain.
Namaste.