Welcome to this walking meditation and reflection on the element of air.
So beginning by standing and if possible standing close to or in sight of a tree.
And letting the body be like that tree,
Rooted upright but flexible.
And seeing if the feet can soften and melt into the contact with the ground.
Blending with the ground like roots.
And imagining that the breath is coming up from the ground,
Up from the earth,
Through the feet,
Up to the crown of the head.
And with each out breath the body letting go into the ground.
Feet melting,
The body melting downwards,
Releasing.
And with each in breath maybe it can feel as if the body is growing upwards towards the sky,
The breath expanding it upwards.
And feeling how the whole body is moved gently by the breath,
Subtle movements.
Just like a tree moving in a gentle breeze.
And beginning to walk,
Aware of that contact between the feet and the ground.
The weight shifting from the heel to the ball of the foot.
Feeling the rhythm of walking.
Weight shifting from one leg to the other.
And feeling also the rhythm of the breathing.
The expanding with the in breath,
The subsiding and resting back with the out breath.
Feeling the whole body energized by the in breath.
And feeling the whole body letting go,
Releasing with the out breath.
So really noticing the energizing effect of the in breath throughout the body.
Oxygen reaching each and every cell.
And aware that this oxygen that we're breathing in,
Keeping this body alive,
Energizing each cell of the body,
It comes from the trees and the plants.
Oxygen breathed out by this grass,
This shrub,
These trees,
These weeds.
Oxygen giving us life.
And tuning now to the out breath,
Feeling the letting go,
The natural release it brings throughout the body.
And aware that every cell of our body lets go with the out breath.
Let's go of its waste carbon dioxide,
Gives it up into the air to be breathed in by the plant life around us.
So our out breath giving life to the grass,
The weeds,
The flowers,
The trees.
As we breathe in and out,
Feeling this flow of life between us and the plants around us.
The element of air nourishing all of life.
And maybe as we breathe in and out,
Imagining all of life breathing with us,
Humans,
Animals,
Plants,
Breathing in their many different ways.
Through lungs,
Gills,
Skin,
Pores,
Tubes in the abdomen.
All of life breathing.
And as you bring the practice to a close,
Perhaps resolving to keep coming back through the rest of the day to awareness of the breathing.
And through the breathing,
Feeling,
Remembering this intimate connection with the plant life around us.
How we're dependent on it,
Not separate from it.
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