Standing meditation is best learned from trees
- stand close to one
- or peer out in the direction of a stand of trees
- feel your feet develop roots into the ground
- feel your body gently sway (as trees do in a breeze)
- open the palms of your hands, hold your arms out in various positions like the branches of the trees around you – open, accessible, receptive and patient.
Stand there:
- be in touch with your breathing
- drink in what is in front of you
- keep your eyes closed
- sense what is in front of you
- sense the tree closest to you
- listen to it
- feel its presence
- touch it with your mind and body
Use your breath to help you stay in the moment
- feel your own body standing
- breathing
- being
- moment by moment
When your body signals that its time to move on:
- stay with the standing a little longer
- remember that trees stand still for years
- take on the teaching here from the trees about being still, patient, calm and being in touch
Everything about trees speak about being in touch:
- touching the ground with roots and trunk
- touching the air with trunk and branches
- touching sunlight and wind with their leaves
Experiment and work with being in touch yourself :
- with the air on your skin
- feel your feet in touch with the ground
- the sounds of the world around you
- the dance of light, colour and shadows
- the dance of the mind
TIP: Try standing like this whenever you find your self alone in a wood, in the mountains, by a river, in your living room or waiting for a bus.
” My religion is kindness”
The Dalai Lama
