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"Your Mountainness" Mindfulness Meditation

How much of a giant are you?  I mean; if you counted all the different parts that make you a one-of-a-kind person, how many parts would there be?  If you could stack your hopes and dreams skyward, how high would they reach?  If you could measure your inner-strength in acres-of-land, how much space would it cover?  One way to help overcome adversity in our lives is to recognize how often we are so much bigger than our problems.  That said, this mindfulness meditation asks you to use your imagination to see yourself as a colossal mountain!  The kind of a mountain that is so tall and wide that almost nothing can disturb it. 

Are you ready? Find a place where you will not be disturbed for a few minutes.  Get into a comfortable sitting position, close your eyes, and take a couple of deeper-than-normal breaths: In, and out, in, and out.  When you are ready, begin to imagine the most incredible mountain you've seen or can imagine; the kind of mountain you would chose to look at were it outside your window.  Notice how massive it is, how unmoving and still it appears against the big blue sky.  Now...zoom-in as if your mind were a camera and inspect the different parts of your mountain.  Does your mountain have an especially large peak, a series of peaks, or a peak that's so high it's covered by clouds?  What about the sides of your mountain?  How do they look?  Are they steep and jagged, or smooth and gently sloping?  What else can you see?  Are there trees on the lower slopes of your mountain and snow at the top?  What colors can you see?  However your mountain appears, just sit for a few moments and hold a clear image of it in your mind's eye.

Now, have some fun with your imagination!  Rise-up and become this mighty mountain! Bring the image of this mighty mountain into your body using your breath.  Take an extra slow and deep inhale and imagine your head becoming the giant peak of the mountain, towering far above the base of the ground, sitting-up taller as you do.  And, with an extra long exhale see your shoulders and arms reaching-out and becoming the long, sweeping sides of the mountain.  Now breathe again and see your buttocks, legs, and feet transform into the solid base of the mountain; deeply rooted into the depths of the earth.  Finally, allow your skin to become the very surface of the mountain; so sensitive, it is able to pick-up even the slightest changes in weather.  Experience the feeling of becoming this mighty mountain:  Feel a sense of uplift from the bottoms-of-your-feet to the top-of-your-head.  Centered and powerful in your stance; you cannot be moved!

In this moment, begin to sense a storm happening on one of the peaks far-off to your left.  Zoom-in and notice more closely that, here, the weather is pelting you with heavy wind, rain, and ice!  It feels like winter!  Can you feel it?  Stay with these images for just a moment or two.

This time, zoom-out and see a panoramic view of yourself as the mountain.  Scan yourself from end-to-end.  Notice any parts of you that are "not stormy."  When you find one, zoom-in and sense closely what's happening there?  Perhaps you feel the sun shining on your skin, warming you as you breathe with this pleasant sensation.  Perhaps you see the leaves on the trees gently swaying in the breeze.  Perhaps you hear birds chirping and smell flowers growing in a meadow.  However you imagine this part of yourself, use your breath to absorb these calming images; take refuge in them! 

And, while sitting here, recognize that, although a part of you feels like winter, the whole of you is far bigger than this one cold region.  Recognize that the storm happening now is not the only thing happening.  Recognize that the majority of what's happening to your mountain-self in this moment is actually calm and sunny.  Feel free to breathe-out a sigh of relief if you'd like.

Now as this time for sitting slowly comes to an end, begin to reacquaint yourself with your surroundings.  Sense how it is you are sitting and how you're breathing. Notice any noises inside the room, and outside the room.  And, taking one, last deeper-than-normal breath...slowly open your eyes.