Settling in,
Arriving at stillness by bringing comfort to your feet,
Your hands,
Placing them where you'd like to,
And choosing a posture of comfort and rest.
And either closing your eyes or resting your gaze by lowering it.
And beginning by choosing one of the two,
Either your breath felt at your abdomen,
Your diaphragm,
Or your feet.
Choosing one of these objects,
Whichever feels more accessible to you right now.
And if you need to,
Pendulating between,
First focusing your attention on this object and wherever your attention might be traveling around among thoughts,
Sensations,
Or a certain way you feel.
Observing that briefly and then pendulating,
Coming back to your feet or your diaphragm.
And allowing an easeful pace of breath,
Checking in if the breath is held up,
Letting yourself breathe with an easy pace.
And then letting your chosen object,
Touch of your feet or your diaphragm rising and falling,
Letting that go into the background while in your mind's eyes bringing an image,
A memory of nature,
A lake that you may have visited or may wish to visit.
Invoking this memory or picture.
And reflecting on how the water is gently held by the earth.
And how the land is wrapping around the water and the water is wrapping around or settling in on the land,
On the earth,
Gently cradled by it.
Appreciating the stillness of this water.
Where it has nowhere to go,
But just to be where it is in the lake.
It may be larger,
Smaller,
Could be shallow,
Could be deep.
Appreciating it whether it appears blue or green with some undergrowth in it in the water could be muddy or perhaps clear.
Bringing your openness,
Bringing your imagination to this practice.
Reflecting on the stillness where there is no wind,
The calmness of the water noticed at the surface of the lake.
Flat,
Reflective.
And remembering the surroundings in it,
The trees,
The sky,
And the occasional birds arriving and departing in its vicinity.
Appreciating the sense of silence that is felt around this lake.
And the peace that it may bring.
Even if your attention follows anything else,
Coming back to this visual,
To this memory of this lake.
Noticing the soft breeze blowing,
The gentle ripples and waves it creates in the water.
And how the clear reflection of the surroundings tends to dissolve,
Disappear,
Or change.
And might lead to the sparkling of the sunlight falling on these waves.
In a way dancing like shimmering diamonds with the reflecting rays of the sunlight.
Observing the rhythm of these waves.
And perhaps this movement too stops when the wind goes still.
And again,
The reflection of the surroundings becomes clear again.
And as the day passes around this lake,
And as the sun sets at nightfall,
The water still reflects its outline,
The shadows of the trees.
Reflection of the stars and the moon in the calmness and stillness of this water.
And when the wind blows at night,
Appreciating the soft dance of the moon reflecting on the waves of this lake.
As the seasons begin to change around the lake and the leaves fall away,
As winter approaches,
Noticing the freezing over of the water in the lake,
There may be no reflection at all.
However,
The water is still as alive as it was before winter.
There is still water underneath that is not frozen.
There's still life thriving.
There's fish swimming about,
Creatures moving around the water beneath this frozen surface of the lake.
Appreciating the stillness of the frozen surface and the movement beneath it,
Underneath it,
Existing at the same time in harmony.
As you sit here breathing,
Feeling the oneness with this lake,
And also the changing seasons of our direct experience,
Between pleasant,
Unpleasant,
And experiences ranging in between these two,
And how they are not there to stay.
It's ever changing.
Just like the lake,
Frozen on the top and moving underneath.
When there is joy,
There's difficulties and challenges.
And when there are unpleasant situations,
It's still possible to have joy coexisting.
While appreciating the stillness,
The calm and the peace at and around this lake,
Bringing some kindness,
Some compassion towards you.
And reminding yourself it's possible to invoke that from within you.
Seeing the parallels between the lake and you.
The similarities between the body of water and you and your body.
Allowing your mind and heart to be open and receptive.
And to reflect whatever comes and goes,
Just like the lake.
Experiencing the moments of stillness.
Just like the stillness on the surface of the lake.
And movement and waves with the wind.
It's similar to any difficulties and challenges coming to our life,
Knowing that they will pass,
Just like the waves will come to stillness again.
Recognizing that the thoughts and feelings and sensations are not no different than the ripples in the lake.
That may disrupt our reflection,
That may obscure the clarity of our mind.
But that will change.
And the clarity will come back again.
Even after a stormy day at the lake when the water tends to be muddy,
And we may not be able to see the life thriving underneath.
Once the storm passes,
And the mud settles down,
The clarity returns back.
And the life within it becomes apparent again.
We too have this liveliness within us that may get obscured and muddy with the storms of emotions,
Situations,
Circumstances in our life.
But the liveliness is still within us.
And we may recognize that upon gaining some clarity through our practice.
Reminding ourselves,
It's possible to tap into our inner resources.
To bring clarity,
To bring peace,
Sense of calm and rest to us.
And remembering to accept the storm and the calm at the same time.
And for the next few moments,
Giving yourself freedom and agency to continue reflecting on this memory,
This image or picture of the lake.
Focusing on its waves,
Still water,
Its surroundings,
The trees,
The rocks,
The mountains.
And noticing the sky reflecting.
And experiencing your oneness with it.
We're ready.
When you feel ready for it,
Transitioning and shifting your attention to your feet,
Noticing the sense of pressure felt at the soles,
Sense of support felt at your feet,
Whether they are in a sock or in a shoe or barefoot,
Observing a type of sensation felt at the bottom of your feet,
Appreciating any sense of groundedness and support felt here.
When the scale of your foot becomes more complex,
Reaching and shifting your attention to your feet.
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