Module 3 - Remembering Resilience
- Category: Foundations of Meditation
About this Video
This meditation is a combination of mindfulness and visualization. This practice cultivates mindfulness through awareness of direct experience (thoughts, emotions, body sensations, impulses/behaviors). At the same time it uses the metaphor of the strengths of a mountain in the midst of changing conditions to view the circumstances of life from a distance to invite insight or inspiration. The Mountain Seasons Meditation specifically is meant to remind you of resilience and the enduring nature of your resources in the midst of challenge or change.
Tips:
In a way, this practice is mindful mind wandering. Just as with a pure mindfulness meditation, you’re not trying to fix or problem solve during this meditation. The invitation of insight or inspiration is not something that can be forced; it emerges in its own time. Encouraging imagery is done in a receptive way that allows the mind to wander and discover creative insights. The addition of mindfulness allows you to monitor and stay aware of your experience, to later reflect on and integrate any insights into your life. Continue to notice your present experience of thoughts, emotions, body sensations, impulses/behaviors as any imagery appears in the mind.
If visual imagery does not come naturally to you, remember that, while some of us experience imagery as mental pictures, others experience imagery through other senses. There is kinesthetic imagery, olfactory imagery, auditory imagery, gustatory imagery, textual imagery, and emotional imagery (see Module 1). Instead you might experience the mountain and its qualities as a felt sense or have an experience of sound, scents, etc.
You might continue to practice beyond this guided recording and throughout your day by stopping to remind yourself of the qualities of a mountain when you really need it. Like the mountain, these qualities of strength, adaptability, openness and resilience live in you too.
Journal Reflection Questions:
Pair meditation with reflection. Following each guided meditation, record your responses to the following questions or anything else that comes to mind.
What thoughts, emotions, body sensations, impulses/behaviors were you aware of throughout this meditation?
What do you want to remember about yourself and your resources?
What strengths endure with you throughout change?
