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I Am the
Mountain
from Bharat (Joseph) Cornell's Sharing
Nature Workshop
"It is wonderful how nature is a part of us. The sun shines
not on us, but in us. The rivers flow not past but through us."
—John Muir |
The purpose
of yoga is to withdraw the consciousness from the body and center
it in the spine. The following exercise, I Am the Mountain,
will help you become more aware of your spine. It is an excellent
practice for internalizing your awareness and learning to relate
to life intuitively.
The I Am
the Mountain meditation can be practiced alone or with another
person. To begin, look for a place outdoors where it is beautiful;
if this isn't possible revisit such a place in your mind and use
your imagination. Then meditate a few minutes to become calm and
interiorized.
Dave
Warner and Bharat Cornell doing the I Am the Mountain meditation |
How the exercise
works when done alone:
Quietly repeat
the words I Am. After each time you say I Am, look
for something in nature that captivates you—perhaps a cloud
sailing across the sky or the wind playing music in the forest.
Whatever it is, feel its living reality inside of you, in
your spine. Enjoy it there for a few moments, and then quietly whisper
a simple word or phrase that describes your experience of what you
were observing. For example, it may go like this:
I Am……..the
drifting cloud……..I Am……..the waving
branches……I Am……..the exhilaration of
the wind racing across the lake
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You
can also substitute I Love or I Receive for
I Am, as in:
I Love……the serenity I feel....
I Love……the blue flowers....
I Receive….a wonderful joy in my heart
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I Am......the
waving branches |
Feel a sense
of communion with everything you see. Be also aware of the energy
in your spine. Sensitively feel, for example, how sensing a tall
tree in your spine, stimulates your energy.
Repeat I
Am, I Love and/or I Receive for five minutes,
then relax and enjoy the serenity of nature within and all around
you.
I Am......the
drifting cloud |
How to share
I Am the Mountain with a friend: Choose
one of you to be the prompter, who says "I Am,"
and the other one to be the responder. The prompter sits behind
to allow the responder an unobstructed view. Having one partner
repeat I Am (or I Love, I Receive) keeps the other
one focused and in the present moment. Doing I Am the Mountain
with a friend creates a shared sense of communion with nature and
with each other.
Switch roles
when desired.
I am......the
joy in the flowers |
Read also the following
article:
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