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Mountain Meditations – Sacred Spaces

A mountain is nature’s fortress, strong and stationary, withstanding the pounding of fierce storms, the burning of the sun’s rays; a mountain can also be a place of rest, a place containing the caress of a gentle breeze and the kiss of soft rain.

Once experienced Machu Pichu is a sacred place that never leaves you. It is a mountain, at an elevation thousands of feet above sea level, remotely located in the Peruvian jungle; a place securely situated high up in the sky, where it seems earth ends and the heavens begin. It is where the air thins dramatically and unaccustomed to the height, one’s lungs stretch for a little more breath; where a short hike becomes a major expedition as the heart pounds after only a few steps. This is a silent, still place entered by foot via the Gate of the Sun at the end of the ancient footpath known as the Inca trail. If one listens carefully the light, lithe footsteps of the runners who once used this as a supply pathway can still be heard. This site, semi-encircled by the magnificent snow covered, towering range of awe inspiring Andes, consists of a valley, at whose side stand two related mountains. These paternal protectors, father, Machu and son, Huayna, reverently gaze toward each other, embracing this basin creating a space of safety. This place of timeworn stone relics and remnants of buildings, when seen from above, forms the shape of a magnificent condor, with wings open, preparing to soar.

This is where I go to find myself, it is the place I choose to meditate. When I can’t go to the mountains I use my imagination to take me to this sacred space; whether in my mind or in nature, here is where I begin, I picture this place, close my eyes and slowly I breathe the mountain into me and in that moment we are one and the same.

–Stacey

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