Welcome,
Friends.
Welcome to this meditation series as we delve into the power of the elements,
The very building blocks of the earth and universe.
Each meditation in this little series will start the same way,
With a chance to relax and unwind before we visit our element.
So take this opportunity to make yourself comfortable.
Allow yourself to be supported by the earth or surface beneath you.
When you feel relaxed in the body,
We can gently close the eyes,
Allowing the attention to settle on the rise and fall of the breath.
Giving yourself the time and space with each breath to fill the lungs on the inhale and empty them on the exhale,
Connecting to that unhurried rhythm.
Drawing our attention inwards towards the breath,
We begin to let go of everything outside of this space with which we live.
We'll let go of the thoughts of work,
Of schedules,
Of deadlines.
We'll let go of the busyness of the day.
For this short time,
We can press pause on the world and spend some time within.
Allow the body,
The muscles,
The joints,
The bones to surrender into the earth.
Allow them to settle and soften.
Invisaging perhaps that with each exhale,
As well as releasing the breath,
You are releasing any areas of tension or tightness,
Anything you're holding onto within the body or mind.
Just taking our time to come to calm,
To let go,
To settle and relax.
Now,
From this place of calm,
We can let go of the thoughts of work,
Of schedules,
Of hours,
Of hours of restfulness.
We'll bring to the mind's eye the element of fire.
Allow yourself to visualize fire in front of you.
It may be a crackling open fire,
Providing warmth and light,
Flames dancing over logs.
It might be the gentle burning embers,
White with warmth.
It might be a candle flame flickering before you.
Allow yourself to bring the flames and fire to mind.
Fire is the element of light,
Of energy,
But most importantly the element of transformation,
That which we cast into the fire,
Can be changed,
Transformed.
So as we visualize these flames,
These embers,
These flickering flames before us,
Think about what may serve you to throw into the fire,
Into the flames,
To let go of.
You may envisage within the flickering flames images of that which you wish to let go of.
You may cast away old grudges,
Old hurts.
You may envisage yourself writing events or stories or images on pieces of paper and then casting them into the flames.
Allow yourself this time to cast into the flames anything you wish to let go of that no longer serves you.
And these things we cast into the flames,
If we envisage them on pieces of paper we may see them crumble and dissolve in the flames.
The images may curl into smoke and drift away into the breeze.
Allow the fire to transform,
To take away these things that may weigh us down or hold us back.
And when you feel ready to do so,
When you feel that you have cast all you wish into the flames,
Now in our minds eye,
Once we have let go of the things that hold us back,
It is time for us to transform ourselves.
We may imagine that we step into the fire,
Into the embers,
Or that the flickering flames of the candles rise tall and surround us in spirals and curls.
We are all at once surrounded by warmth and light,
But we feel safe.
The flames that whirl around us are simply warm upon our skin.
We are protected here.
And as we feel this light and warmth whirl around us,
We are transforming.
We are letting go.
We are finding strength.
We are changing.
Allow yourself time to bath in the transformative power of these flames.
As the time comes to step out of the fire and out of the flames,
We feel refreshed and reborn.
As we continue our journey,
Each and every day finding new strength,
New ways to transform as we grow and change.
And any time we gather things we wish to let go of that may hold us back,
There is always a chance to cast it into the fire and bring ourselves back to our own inner power,
Our own inner fire and our own inner strength.
As the time comes to leave the meditation,
Take your time as you gently move,
You might want to wiggle fingers and toes,
To stretch and twist as we bring our awareness back to the body.
And just when you feel ready to do so,
We can gently open our eyes and enjoy the rest of our day.
