In times of stress,
Or times of change,
Or times where we're seeing a lot of crisis and disaster in the natural world,
It can be helpful to remember that we are actually a part of nature,
Even though we tend to feel separate from it.
So in this meditation,
I invite you to cultivate your own connection to Mother Nature,
To all of the elements,
The plants,
The feelings,
The energies,
The forces around you,
And to become part of this living,
Breathing ecosystem,
Working in symbiosis rather than working from a place of separation.
And in order to dive into this more deeply,
We're going to tap into the energy of the five elements.
This meditation provides a different perspective through which you can have your own bodily human experience.
And we do this by giving ourselves space to drop in and investigate how we experience these elements of nature in our own bodies.
I invite you to bring an open mind to this practice to see what you can learn about yourself and how you can experience your own humanity in a different way.
Remember that mindfulness is about seeing clearly and looking at things from a new perspective oftentimes does bring that clarity.
So if you're not already,
Please just find a relaxed,
Comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down.
If you feel safe to close your eyes,
Please do so.
And first bring your awareness to all the places in your body where you experience contact with something solid,
Such as your feet resting on the floor,
Your hands resting anywhere on your body,
Or your whole body sitting on a chair.
We begin with the element of earth or solid form.
Without thinking too hard about what this means,
Be open to feel any places where you find solidity or a sense of earth.
This might be by feeling the structure of your bones,
Your skeleton,
The solidity of the chair you're sitting on,
Or any places that feel tense or hard within your body,
Your muscles.
You might also just feel the weight of your entire body,
Its substance,
Its solidness,
As it relaxes and rests here.
No need to rush through these sensations.
Wherever you feel the earth element in your body,
Just stay with that place for a few deep breaths and then move on to the next.
And next I invite you to switch and start to find places where you can feel the element of air Find places where you can feel the element of air or wind.
The breath is an obvious place to start.
Feeling the rise and fall of your body breathing,
Inhaling air coming in,
And exhaling air releasing back out into nature to feed the trees,
The plants.
And the air you inhale has already been purified by the trees and plants around us.
Where else in your body can you identify the feeling of air or breath?
You may look for places in the body where you feel empty space.
For example,
Inside the nostrils,
Inside the mouth,
Inside the ear canals.
These empty spaces are not actually empty,
Offering insight into the air element.
It fills space,
It moves,
It breathes us.
And now shift your awareness once again to the water element.
Tune into any sense of liquid you can feel within your body.
You might feel moisture in the mouth,
The eyes,
Saliva,
Tears,
Sweat,
Any other liquid quality coming from your body.
You can also tap into the fluid,
Liquid quality of your muscles,
Their flexibility,
Their ability to move and create wave-like motion.
Also the fluid quality of your breath moving in and out,
The pulsing of your blood and plasma.
I invite you to see if you can also find awareness for other fluids,
Fluids around your joints that keep you mobile and flexible.
The fluid within your brain keeping all of your synapses connected,
Firing,
Working.
Take the next couple of breaths to discover anywhere else you can tap into the water element inside yourself.
Next shift your attention once again to searching for places of heat or fire within your body.
This element is open to interpretation as always,
So just begin to look inside and see what you notice,
Where you notice any sense of fire,
Transformation,
Or heat.
It could be the temperature of the air on your skin,
Certain areas of the body that feel warm in comparison to everywhere else.
And heat,
Fire,
Transformation also is represented by our digestion,
Transforming our food into calories,
And also our mental processing,
Transforming external stimuli into information we can understand.
So with that awareness notice if there is any sense of fire or heat within your belly,
Your gut,
Your brain.
Take the next few breaths to notice anywhere else you can tune into this sense of warmth,
Of fire,
Keeping you alive.
From here letting go of your search for fire,
Open your awareness to all of these elements,
Air,
Space,
Water,
Fire,
Earth,
All working together,
All a part of you,
And all a part of the natural world surrounding you.
Remember you are not separate from nature,
You play a part as does every other little tiny being,
Life form,
Pebble,
Blade of grass around you.
Perhaps start to notice once again the sensation of earth,
Heaviness,
Your connection to the earth beneath you.
Take all the time you need moving slowly to start reawakening,
Coming back to some physical movement.
Take some nice deep breaths as you prepare to return to your day.
And I invite you throughout the rest of the day whenever you remember to just pause and check in with your internal sense of these elements,
These parts of nature.
And then continue on with your day feeling a little bit more connected to the natural world.
Thank you so much.
Namaste.
