Images from the natural world can sometimes offer another way into mindfulness practice.
We might work with the image of a mountain,
A tree,
The sky,
Clouds,
A river.
Or perhaps,
As we will today,
A lake.
Before we start,
Knowing there's nothing particularly special that you need to create in your imagination.
The image is simply an invitation.
Something that might help us explore qualities such as stillness,
Receptivity,
Spaciousness and steadiness.
And if visual imagery doesn't tend to come easily to you,
That's absolutely fine.
You might simply have a sense of a lake.
Or just a simple recognition of some of the qualities that we'll be exploring.
You can undertake this practice sitting in a chair or lying down.
Or maybe even standing.
Just taking a few moments to arrive now.
Perhaps allowing the eyes to close if that feels comfortable,
Or simply softening the gaze.
Is becoming aware of the body here.
The points of contact beneath you.
Maybe the weight of the body being supported.
Perhaps starting by just noticing the movements of the breath.
Knowing there's no particular way the breath needs to be.
Just simply feeling the body breathing.
You'll be noticing the effect of gravity.
And just tuning in to any sense of settling.
And now inviting you to bring to mind.
The image or any sense of a light.
It might be a lake,
You know.
Maybe one you've visited.
Or perhaps unimaginedly.
There's no need for it to look a particular way.
It might be large or small.
D.
O'Fally Shallow.
It might be clear or cloudy.
It might be surrounded by trees,
Hills or mountains.
And if an image doesn't emerge,
Perhaps simply sensing a body of water resting in the idea of a landscape.
Held by the earth beneath it.
Contained and supported.
Maybe just noticing something of the receptive nature of water.
The way that it parts to allow anything in and then resumes itself.
Water doesn't need to resist everything that comes into contact with it.
It adapts and adjusts without question.
A leaf may fall on the surface.
Rain may arrive.
A bird might land on it.
The wind might blow across it.
And the water responds.
It moves,
It changes.
And then in its own time it settles again.
Inviting you now to imagine the lake on a completely still day.
The surface calm.
The water like a mirror.
Full of sky and light.
Maybe there are clouds.
Perhaps trees and other features of the landscape are reflected in the lake too.
The lake doesn't need to hold on to any of these reflections,
They simply appear,
Remain for a while.
And pass.
Perhaps sensing something similar in your own experience now.
Sounds appearing and disappearing.
Sensations in the body changing.
Thoughts coming and going.
Feelings arriving.
Staying for a while.
And then moving on.
Knowing there's nothing that needs to be pushed away,
Nothing that needs to be held on to.
Just allowing experience to be reflected in awareness moment by moment.
Very much like the surface of the lake.
And of course the lake isn't always still.
Perhaps imagining now a breeze beginning to move across the surface of the lake,
Small ripples appearing.
Or perhaps a stronger wind.
The surface becoming choppy.
The reflection is becoming a little less clear.
And noticing that this too is part of being a late bloomer.
The lake is no lesser lake because there are waves.
The waves are simply what's happening at this moment.
And perhaps recognising that our own minds can be something like this,
Sometimes relatively quiet,
Sometimes busy,
Sometimes unsettled.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Impulses or reactions moving through us like ripples or like waves.
And just seeing if it's possible to allow all of our experience to be here.
Not needing the mind to become completely calm before we can practice.
Perhaps simply noticing that thinking is here.
Restlessness is here.
Sadness might be here.
Perhaps planning is here.
Maybe calm his ear.
Welcoming whatever happens to be present in this lake moment.
And perhaps widening the image a little.
Remembering that the surface is only one part of the lake.
Below the waves there is depth.
And even when the wind is strong at the surface,
Deeper water may remain relatively undisturbed.
Perhaps exploring whether there is something useful in recognizing this within ourselves.
So thoughts and feelings may be moving strongly across the surface of our experience.
But awareness itself can be larger than any one thought or feeling.
Perhaps sensing awareness as the whole lake rather than only its surface.
The waves are still part of the lake.
But they aren't the whole eight.
And in the same way a difficult thought or feeling can be part of our experience without becoming the whole of our experience.
The lake receiving sunlight,
Rain,
Wind,
Shadows,
Leaves.
The changing seasons.
Responding to each of them without needing to choose what should or shouldn't arrive.
And seeing if,
For these few moments,
You might offer something of that same openness to your own experience.
So allowing the body to be as it is.
Allowing the breath to be as it is.
And allowing the mind to be just as it is.
Perhaps meeting whatever is here with a curiosity and a kindness and an acceptance.
And for a short while now perhaps just letting go of some of the words and simply resting here.
Breathing.
Sitting,
Lying or standing as the light.
Held and supported.
Open to the changing conditions.
Sometimes still,
Sometimes rippled,
But underneath it all,
The capacity to be aware.
Moment by moment.
In the Lake Meditation we sit with the intention to hold in awareness and acceptance all the qualities of mind and body.
Just as the lake sits held,
Cradled,
Contained by the earth,
Reflecting the sun,
The moon,
The stars,
Trees and clouds.
And as we begin to bring this practice to a close,
Perhaps noticing what,
If anything,
You might want to take from this lake image.
Maybe the lake's receptivity.
Its capacity to reflect without holding on.
Or perhaps the reminder that waves at the surface don't necessarily disturb the whole depth of the water.
Perhaps noticing the breath again,
Sounds around you.
And when you're ready allowing the eyes to open or lifting the gaze.
Maybe taking a couple of deep breaths.
And if it's helpful to you,
Maybe taking this idea of a lake and what it might be able to teach us into the next moments of your day.
