Welcome.
This is Allison with Mindful Pause Center,
And today I'd like to share an elemental practice with you related to Earth.
We can know the element of Earth quite simply and directly through its partner,
Gravity.
This natural force connects us to our planet,
Our neighborhoods,
Our homes.
And because gravity applies itself equally to all beings,
We can know ourselves to be connected by extension to the entirety of our world.
Even on days when we feel alone and bereft,
Or lost and disconnected,
We remain deeply enmeshed and related to a vast web of life.
This awareness can sustain and support us.
So begin by choosing a posture that can support you in this practice for the next 10 to 15 minutes.
You might try seated,
And really begin to feel the weight of the body in a chair or on a cushion,
Or perhaps you'd like to try standing,
Feeling the firmness of the feet against the floor or the ground,
The body rising up from that support.
Or maybe you'd like to be lying down,
Back fully in contact with floor or mattress,
Legs perhaps cropped at the knees,
Leaning against each other.
Whatever posture you've chosen,
Beginning to notice the weight of gravity,
A gentle tug that brings a sense of heaviness,
Firmness.
You can explore gravity at any point of connection between you and whatever is supporting you.
Taking a moment to really feel the presence of what is on the other side of your body,
Whether that be a chair,
A cushion,
A floor,
A mattress.
Notice the presence of the world.
And as you're able,
Giving yourself over to this support.
We spend a lot of our days holding ourselves up.
And now in this moment is a chance to let the world hold you up.
You might notice where your hands have landed and experiment with palms down,
Palms up,
And fingers interlaced.
Slowly testing out each of these three postures for the hand to see what will support you in this moment.
What helps you feel more grounded,
More alert.
And then opening the awareness to include the entire body,
Feeling this posture as a foundation for your practice.
And noticing what here feels solid.
And whatever that might be for you in this moment,
Recognizing that as earth element in the same way that mountain is solid.
It has integrity.
It always remains itself,
Regardless of the weather.
And from this foundation,
If it feels good opening to include in your awareness,
The felt sense of the body breathing.
In this moment,
Not changing the breath in any particular way,
Just including the movement of breath in awareness.
You might feel the belly filling and emptying.
You might feel the lungs expanding and contracting.
You might notice the subtle breath coming in over the lip,
Into the nose,
And then released,
Warm,
Soft,
Outward.
You may even feel the whole body breathing,
Allowing your awareness to settle on the breath at any of these locations that offer you in this moment a sense of stability,
A sense of connectedness.
And as the mind gets pulled away by thoughts or strong emotions,
Knowing that as soon as you recognize this has happened,
That you are aware and mindful.
And in that moment,
You can choose to stay with the thought or the feeling,
Maybe gently labeling it,
Observing it,
Seeing how it changes.
And then when you're ready,
Coming back to this foundation of the body and the body breathing.
And then if it feels available,
You might begin to sense with your awareness,
The skin,
This boundary between self and world,
Where you sense that you end and the space around you begins to open.
From here,
Can you sense yourself in relationship to the space you're in?
Even with eyes closed,
Feeling yourself rooted in space.
Sensing yourself a part of a larger whole,
Beginning with a sense of the room you're in.
And then as you're ready,
Expanding to include how the room is a part of the house or the apartment or the condo,
Or how this car is included in a parking lot.
And perhaps again,
Sensing how your location is a part of a neighborhood,
Part of a city,
Part of a habitat.
Again,
Sensing how you are a part of a whole.
Around us always,
The solidity of the physical world,
The texture of stone and root and bark,
The texture of the built environment.
The weight of the earth,
A touchstone that we can turn to with assurance.
And letting all effort go,
Resting now in the quality of presence that's here.
And in a moment,
You'll hear the bell.
And as the sound of the bell fades,
Beginning to move the body in a way that feels good.
Perhaps starting with smaller movements of wiggling the fingers or lifting the heels of the feet.
And then moving into anything that feels good,
A stretch,
Rolling the shoulders,
Twisting.
And as your eyes open,
Taking time to reorient to the space that you're in.
Using the senses to let your nervous system know that the practice is complete.
Thank you for your practice.
