Finding Post-Election Peace

Hi, it's Eve here. Welcome to this guided practice that's all about cultivating a balanced mind that feels at ease when life is stressful. So no matter where you sit in the political landscape, change often feels quite uncomfortable with so many unknowns ahead. And as humans, we tend not to like it when things feel outside our control. And for good reason, we want to know that we will be okay, we want to know that our family will be okay and safe. And as challenging as it is, we can't always control what happens around us, and that can feel very stressful. But we can control how we relate to our inner world, which in turn impacts how we relate to our outer world. And when things feel in flux and unknown, it can be helpful to visualize the strength and presence of a mountain. No matter the seasons, it remains strong and grounded. This meditation is best done sitting up. So either in a chair, on the sofa, or perhaps the side of your bed. So inviting you to get comfortable, bringing a little length to the spine, relaxing the shoulders, softening the jaw, resting your hands in the lap or down by your sides. And inviting you to gently close your eyes, and begin to gently focus your attention on the breath, feeling each breath as it comes in and goes out, feeling your body supported by the seat beneath you. (water babbling) So as you sit here, I invite you to picture or to imagine the most beautiful, magnificent mountain you know or have seen, letting it come into focus. It's okay if it isn't immediately obvious. Seeing if you can allow the sense of this mountain and feeling its overall shape, its lofty peaks, the large base rooted in the bedrock of the Earth's crust. Its steep or sloping sides, noticing how massive it is, how grounded, how solid, how beautiful, whether from afar or up close. (water babbling) So really observing it, noting its qualities. And when you feel ready, seeing if you can bring the mountain into your own body so that as you sit here, you share in the wholeness and the stillness of the mountain. Your head becomes the lofty peak, your shoulders and arms, the sides of the mountain, your buttocks and legs are the solid base rooted to your seat. (water babbling) With each breath, as you continue sitting, becoming a little more a breathing mountain, alive and vital. (water babbling) So as you sit here and practice, aware of the fact that as the sun travels across the sky, the light and shadows and colors are changing moment by moment in the mountain stillness. Seeing how night follows day, and day follows night, the bright, warming sun, followed by the cool night ski studded with stars, and the gradual dawning of a new day. Through it all, the mountain sits, experiencing change in each moment, yet always being itself....