Elephants And Wisdom

This guided meditation is designed to help you relax, and refind your sense of connection with our beautiful earth, and its wildlife. Beginning with a body scan, it uses the imagery of our beautiful elephants to help ground and return you to your own innate wisdom and strength.

Transcript

Elephants and Wisdom.

These planet meditations are designed for you to sit with the beautiful elements and life in all its glorious creation on our earth as you quiet yourself to be here right now.

They can be used as a metaphor as in the classic lake or mountain meditation in the mindfulness series.

They can be used to return you to your sense of oneness with the whole planet or you could simply enjoy them and relax.

I hope you can use them in a way that resonates for you.

If you have a suggestion for something in the natural world that you would like me to create a meditative moment around,

Please feel free to contact me via email,

Instagram or Facebook.

Blessings mighty.

So making yourself comfortable,

I invite you to softly close your eyes and begin to feel your breath softly flowing in and out of your lungs.

Taking a few moments here,

Becoming aware of the softness of your breath.

Feeling it entering and leaving your whole body as you simply sit or lie.

I'm beginning now to notice any sensations you can feel in your body.

What sensations might you notice in your body right here,

Right now?

Gently scanning slowly down as you breathe from your head,

Neck,

Shoulders,

Chest,

Back,

Tummy,

Hips,

Buttocks,

Thighs,

Calves.

And finally feeling into your feet,

Noticing the sensations in your feet,

In your toes.

Perhaps your toes are touching or maybe they're apart.

Whatever you notice now,

Just breathing and resting,

Becoming aware of these sensations with a sense of gentle curiosity,

Nothing to do about them.

Just becoming aware of the sensations in your body,

Bringing your focus into your body and into the sensations you may feel.

Perhaps you can feel some tingling or some numbness.

Maybe there's a sense of tightness somewhere in your body.

Maybe you can't feel much at all in this moment and that's okay too.

Just breathing in and out,

Sensing where your body makes contact with the surface supporting you and noticing whatever is here for you right now.

Maybe you can feel your heels or your calves or your shoulder blades pressing into the mat or floor.

Maybe you're sitting and you can feel the chair or cushions supporting you and your feet grounded.

The feel of your soles pressing into the floor.

Whatever you sense now,

Just noticing and letting be.

Now bringing your awareness up,

Back up through your body and into your lungs,

Noticing the feeling of the air entering and leaving your lungs.

Breathing in and out in your own natural rhythm.

Maybe noticing the movement of your body as it fills with air and the movement as the air leaves again.

Perhaps you can even notice the pause,

The pause on the in-breath before you let the air go and the pause on the out-breath just before you draw new air back in.

Simply bringing awareness to your breath and your own natural ebb and flow.

Maybe noticing that your body knows what to do in every moment and with each breath.

And now bringing your awareness to the sensation of your breath on your face.

Maybe noticing the sensations on your cheeks or just below your nose or over your chin as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

What's the temperature of the air like on your face?

Is it cool?

Warm?

Is it different when you breathe in and you breathe out?

However it is for you right now just noticing with this sense of kind,

Compassion and curiosity.

Nothing to do or change,

Nothing to decide about what you find,

No rights or wrongs.

Just lying here or sitting here supported by the ground on which you lie,

Breathing naturally and noticing what's happening for you in this moment.

And now bringing your awareness to any thoughts which may be arising.

Not striving to stop them or push them away,

They will come so let them arrive and leave again.

As you sit or lie gently returning your attention and your breath to breathing into the body.

And now bringing into your mind the image of a herd of elephants grazing on a dusty plain.

Perhaps there are many of them or just a few.

Breathing in and out here now and seeing in your mind's eye this herd of beautiful creatures.

Maybe there are young elephants in the herd or maybe not.

Bringing your focus into a herd of elephants and seeing their habitat now.

Where are they standing or gathered?

And now focusing on just one of the herd,

Seeing your elephant and taking this moment to begin to notice how your elephant stands.

Noticing how on a hot day she'll be constantly moving her ears and tail to give away the flies and moving her head,

Her ears and tail constantly scanning and enquiring the world around her.

Or maybe your elephant's drowsy,

Off duty,

Letting the herd keep her safe and her movements gentle and measured,

Swaying gently her huge yet graceful body from side to side as she dreams her elephant dreams.

And all the while planted so firmly on the ground with her broad solid feet.

So as you lie,

Sit or stand even safely supported by the surface which holds you.

Noticing the constant movements in your elephant and seeing how not only her movements will keep changing but her surroundings may become turbulent.

Sometimes there are storms on her savannah weather fonts travelling across miles of dusty plains and thrashing the thin trees as the lightning strikes and then she rests and gathers together with her herd.

And all the while her strong broad feet supporting her steady.

Seeing her now swaying gently under a tree and the skies above may fill with blackness.

And she stands,

Focusing on her colour and her contours and down again to her large feet planted on the earth,

On the dusty dry earth.

And she is standing,

Grounded,

Supporting her,

Telling her to be still.

And when the storms have passed her feet will lead her to tread with wisdom and inner knowledge.

So seeing your tall elephant and noticing she always has this sense of wisdom and stability within her,

Whatever may pass outside.

Maybe poachers will come,

Maybe she'll be lucky.

Sensing the fear of the herd fizzing through her,

Alerting her to what next,

To fight,

Freedom.

Maybe those who care,

Who work tirelessly will arrive and the herd will know them and relax,

Letting the healing take place.

And some days no one comes,

No storm,

No poachers,

No other herds,

No healing humans.

So sitting here now and breathing in and out and seeing your elephant resting with her herd,

Grazing and chewing and playing and rolling,

Splashing and dusting,

She'll tread a thousand,

Thousand,

Thousand steps within her lifetime,

Always guided by her steady,

Solid feet.

And now seeing yourself,

If you can,

As your elephant.

As she breathes out,

The same air will one day be taken in by you.

You and your elephant share this planet together.

Share the air that you both breathe and share the same life.

And now as you breathe gently in and out,

Supported and held safely as you sit or lie here,

Seeing how on some days you're calm and your skies are blue.

And on other days you find yourself fizzing and buzzing,

Threatened by the turbulence and dangers of your world.

And yet breathing now deeply in and out and feeling the air you share with the mighty beasts of the world,

Knowing quietly within you that life is change.

And yet moment to moment we all have our own steady,

Solid feet,

Our own steady,

Solid wisdom,

Our own limbs that know just what to do and where to tread day after day,

Breath by breath.

And as you place your own steps upon this earth,

Seeing and remembering that in each new moment,

In each new intake of fresh air,

Being alive with life with the elephants right now sharing your air with this whole beautiful planet with the fine and the not so fine,

With the calm and with the frenzy.

And yet in each moment and each breath,

You can return to the steady,

Solid feet of you upon this earth.

So noticing your breath now,

Following it as it travels softly in and out in your own natural rhythm.

And becoming aware once more of your feet,

Your hands,

Perhaps of your head,

Pressing the ground on which you lie.

And when you hear the bell,

Gently moving your fingers and toes,

Opening your eyes,

Taking a stretch and smiling.

May the wisdom and joy of our elephants be with you in your coming week.