Hello,
And welcome to this meditation to allow you to return to yourself and find your home again in the present moment.
Let's get started by simply settling in,
Beginning to tune into your body,
And making any adjustments so you feel comfortable.
Dropping the shoulders,
Relaxing the jaw and the forehead,
Sighing out any tension.
And when you're ready,
You can gently close your eyes or keep a soft gaze in front of you.
We're going to now take two inhales through the nose and one long exhale out of the mouth,
Releasing anything that came before this and anything to come after to arrive more fully into the present.
Ready now,
Do this two more times on your own.
And now you may return to a normal breath pattern.
Today,
We're going to be focusing on the four elements,
Earth,
Air,
Fire,
And water.
Sometimes when life gets overwhelming or confusing,
It's easy to start spiraling,
But returning back to these elements,
Which are so foundational to who we are,
Can help us return to ourselves.
So let's begin.
Starting with the element of earth,
Solid form,
Without thinking too hard about it,
Begin to examine where you feel solidity in your body,
Where you find a grounded force.
This might be the weight of your muscles as they relax,
The feeling of contact with your seat,
An anchoring in your belly.
When you find this earth center in your body,
Breathe into it,
Feeling grounded and at home.
And now try to connect and expand that feeling of groundedness in your body to the earth itself,
Dissolving the two together in harmony with this element.
Now moving gently to air or wind.
Again,
Without thinking too much about it,
Begin to feel the power of air in your body,
Where you feel the nourishing movement of wind.
This might be your conscious breath,
A clearing of your mind,
Or the gentle feeling of air just beyond your skin.
And when you find that air,
That wind in your body,
Try to connect and expand the dancing air in your own body to the air around you,
The technicolor shower of falling fall leaves,
A gentle mountain breeze,
Air within you,
Dissolving the two together in harmony with this element.
Now shifting from air to fire,
Examining where you feel fire igniting in your own body.
This could be through passion,
The excitement of new ideas,
Or the warm and fuzzy feeling of love.
When you find it,
Connect and expand it to the warming embrace of the earth,
The sun rises,
The blooming of nature,
The sparkling glint in vast oceans,
Dissolving you and this warmth together in harmony with this element.
Now we welcome in water,
Examining where in your body you feel flow.
This might be in alignment with your purpose,
In connection with this present moment,
In the joy of shared experiences with others.
When you find where water lives in your body,
Connect and expand it to the water that creates earth's flow,
The ocean tides,
A rainstorm,
The moisture that courses through roots to help growth,
Dissolving you and the flow of water together in harmony with this element.
Now bringing all four elements into your awareness,
In your body and in the earth around you,
Deeply breathing in the polarities of energy and calm that both exist in this space where all of these elements intersect in your own body,
Just existing in this space for a few moments.
And as we prepare to close today's session,
There's a quote from the 1500s that still has so much resonance today.
Look for the place where the four elements dwell in abundance,
And when you discover it,
Settle there.
May your week be filled with moments where you discover this place,
And I hope you have a wonderful week.
The four elements in me recognizes the four elements in you.
Namaste.
