Welcome to your elemental meditation,
Where you'll discover your true nature by reconnecting to the elements.
I'm your guide,
Heather Schenck.
This elemental meditation is best done when outdoors,
So if you are not already outside and can go outside,
Pause this recording and move now.
Once you find a comfortable place to meditate outside,
Take a moment to find a comfortable position.
It can be seated on a cushion or bench on the ground,
Or on a chair.
The closer you can get to the earth and the most direct connection you can have to the earth,
The better.
If you're new to meditating outdoors,
You might discover that there are more distractions than there are when you are meditating indoors,
But allow yourself to continue to use your breath as an anchor or whatever anchor suits you best.
Begin by taking a moment to notice your surroundings.
And when you are comfortable,
Let your eyes gently close or rest half open in a slight downward gaze.
And begin to rest in the present moment.
Consider taking a few deep cleansing breaths,
Then allow your breath to be natural.
Today we are going to meditate on the four elements that we share in common with the earth.
These are the earth element,
The air element,
The water element,
And the fire element.
Beginning with the earth element,
Let's tune in to the way this element manifests in our bodies.
Find a posture that is upright,
Spine erect,
Grounded,
Connected to the earth.
Sense into the density,
The heaviness,
The solidity of your body.
Feel yourself rooted to the ground.
If it's your seat or your feet or whatever is making contact with the ground,
Allow yourself to feel deeply rooted and connected to the earth.
The density and solidity of your bones,
Made stronger by calcium,
The same element that is abundant in the earth.
Sense your connection to the earth element.
The earth element nourishes our bodies through the plants that we eat.
And one day when we die,
Our bodies return to the earth.
We are not separate from the earth.
Sense the earth element inside your body and out,
And the flow of energy between the two.
Now we'll tune in to the air element.
Begin by sensing the air element inside your body.
Notice the air as it fills your lungs,
Entering through your nostrils.
Maybe noticing a cool sensation in the back of your throat as you inhale.
And the expansion of your lungs down into your belly as the air fills your lungs.
And the movement of air as you exhale back out of your body.
Air moves in and out.
In and out.
Now sense into the air element in the earth.
In the breeze,
The wind,
The still air,
The trees,
The plants,
The algae,
All capturing the carbon dioxide that we exhale.
And then releasing oxygen that we inhale.
The flow of air between you and the earth.
Now tuning in to the water element.
Begin by sensing the water element present in your body.
Your body is made of 60% water flowing through your veins,
Providing fluid in your joints,
Sweat and saliva.
Now sensing into the water element in the earth.
Present in the clouds,
The rain,
The rivers,
The lakes,
The oceans,
The humidity.
Your body is mostly made up of the water that you drink daily,
Which comes from the land that you live in.
You are not separate from the land.
Now sensing into the fire element.
Beginning with how it manifests in your body.
Sense into the heat of your breath as you exhale on your upper lip.
The heat in your belly.
Now sensing into the fire element of the earth.
The fire of the sun.
Sense the heat on your skin from the sun.
The fire element,
The sun and the light that give life to the plants that grow so that we may nourish our bodies.
The fire element present in ourselves and in the earth.
Now allow yourself to be aware of the flow of these four elements inside and outside of your body.
The solidity and density of the earth element.
The breath.
The water in our bodies.
And the heat.
As American Tibetan Buddhist Bhima Chodron said,
Our true nature is like a precious jewel.
Although it may be temporarily buried in mud,
It remains completely brilliant and unaffected.
We simply have to uncover it.
We spend so much of our time trying to prove to ourselves and others that we are who we say we are and constructing stories and defending stories and denying stories about ourselves and believing them all to be true.
But the freedom is in knowing that we can let all of that go.
This is what's real.
We are not separate from the earth.
Our true nature lies here,
In the elements.
