A guided meditation: the participant pictures themselves as a mountain — mighty, rooted, still — while around them seasons, weather, day and night change. A metaphor of stability: "you are not the storm. You are the mountain on which the storm rages". A formal MBSR meditation (~20 min), part of Kabat-Zinn's audio recordings.
Step-by-step guide
- Take a comfortable sitting position; a few breaths
- Bring up the image of a mountain — the most majestic you can imagine; feel its shape, summit, slopes, base
- Allow yourself to become this mountain — feel the stability, rootedness, verticality
- Watch as the "seasons pass": wind, snow, mist, heat, the silence of night — the mountain remains
- Return to your body, feeling the same stability in yourself
When to use
- Middle and end of the MBSR course (weeks 4–8)
- When working with anxiety, instability, the sense of losing one's footing
- Retreat; restoring a resourceful state
Key phrases
You are not your thoughts and not your emotions. You are the one who observes them.
Follow-up questions
Seasons come and go. The mountain remains. What in you remains always?
Alternative phrasings
You are not the storm. You are the mountain on which the storm rages.
Warnings
- ⚠️ Some clients do not work with imagery — offer an alternative (just sit stably, without creating an image)
Source: Kabat-Zinn, J. — audio Series 3, Guided Mindfulness Practices
Materials are informational and educational and summarize publicly available scientific sources. They are not medical or psychological advice, are not intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, and do not replace consultation with a qualified professional.