Taking a seat,
Having a sense of the lower body,
The feet,
Legs,
Pelvis,
Being steady,
Your weight distributed evenly,
Grounded.
Like the base of a mountain,
Deeply connected with the earth,
Unmoving.
And a sense of the upper body,
The spine rising up from the pelvis,
Up and out through the crown of the head,
Rising up towards the sky.
Like the peak of a mountain.
Tucking the chin slightly so the back of the neck is long,
And opening through the chest by drawing the shoulder blades together behind you.
This posture embodies our intention to be awake and to keep waking up to each living moment,
This precious life.
We can't live in the past,
We can't live in the future,
Only now.
And becoming aware of the bony structure of your body and the weight of those bones,
Heaviest part of the body,
Or heaviest component,
And how gravity is drawing the body down towards the ground,
Keeping it grounded in contact with the earth.
Just feeling the solidness,
Heaviness of your own being,
Helped by gravity.
You might tune into that like you would a mountain,
How heavy and solid it is.
And let your body be like that,
Grounded,
Connected with the earth,
Unmoving.
And perhaps if it appeals to you,
Tuning into other elements of the earth that are also in you,
All of the minerals,
Everything that makes up the earth,
We are part of.
We belong to it,
We come from the earth,
We will return to it.
This is our home.
So you might tune into mostly the more solid,
Tangible aspects of your being,
The bone,
Muscle,
All the fibers.
Sitting and breathing,
Part of the earth,
Just like a mountain.
Unmoving,
Steadfast,
Just noticing this quality of equanimity,
Balance,
Steadiness.
Not reacting to push or pull,
Steady no matter what arises,
Regardless of the weather here.
Maybe you can feel into that sense of strength and resolve the commitment in your own body,
Like having your own back.
This is worth it.
Sitting and practicing.
And inviting you,
If you'd like to,
To start to shift your attention to water.
This other element that we are part of,
That is in us.
Just tuning into it all the way as water shows up in our lives,
In the rivers,
The oceans,
The clouds,
The rain,
Through every living plant and animal and every human being.
Water flows,
Gives life,
Enters and leaves,
Constantly moving in and through and around us.
Our bodies are made up of so much liquid,
So much water.
Can feel it in our eyes and noses and mouths,
Can feel it on our skin.
So just noticing as you practice this flowing water in you,
Connecting with this quality of flow.
So much like the quality of steadfastness and equanimity can help us stay strong in the face of whatever arises,
Just to stay.
This quality of water flow can help us to allow experience to flow through us.
When big emotions arise,
Rather than blocking them or trying to dam them,
We let them flow like a natural river.
Feel them,
Experience them,
Let them go,
Let them live their life.
So just sitting and breathing,
Tuning into this awareness of water,
Of flow.
Water can be such a powerful force,
Shaping and changing things over time.
It can be so gentle and soothing.
Sometimes the flow of life may feel gentle,
Other times it may feel very strong.
Sitting and breathing,
And experiencing this flow,
This connection with water in and through us.
You might like to shift your attention to the element of fire,
Heat,
Light,
Energy.
Knowing that all of this comes from the sun,
So perhaps connecting with that light and heat.
It gives life to everything we know.
It's so powerful we have to be careful about our exposure to it.
And noticing how this also shows up in you,
This heat and light,
This fire.
The warmth of your own body,
Your own breath.
The light that your eyes respond to,
In a whole circadian rhythm.
Evolves around us.
Sleeping and waking,
Light and dark.
See if you can allow yourself just to rest in this energy,
This warmth.
All the ways it shows up in us and around us.
And then when you're ready,
If you'd like to,
Connecting with air or wind.
The sound it makes,
The movement.
And then how powerful it is.
Shaping and changing things.
And how gentle and soothing it can be.
How it moves in through the body as we breathe in,
Transforms miraculously through the lungs,
Moves into the bloodstream,
Nourishing every single cell.
And as we breathe out,
We give back to the space around us,
This breath we no longer need.
And it moves into the space around us,
Into the trees and animals and plants and other beings.
Over the mountains,
Through the valleys,
Across the seas.
Always moving.
This simple breath that keeps us alive,
Connecting us with wind.
Inviting you for the next little while just to practice with whichever one of these elements really resonates for you.
Letting it be a resource to you.
Connecting with it and just feeling it in you,
Through you,
Around you.
Let yourself belong to it.
Einstein says that our sense of separateness is an optical delusion of consciousness.
And that our task must be to free ourselves from it.
So connecting with this element,
Just feeling it,
Experiencing it,
Knowing it deep in your bones,
In your blood,
In your breath,
In your warmth.
Allowing yourself to be pulled into something much bigger.
