Connecting with the Earth and the elements.
What is my connection with Mother Earth today?
Is it something that I haven't been really noticing?
Is it something that's been very close to my heart and my experience today?
It's such a blessing to give ourselves some period of time to let go of what's going on in the world,
Not to ignore it,
But just to let it move to the side a little,
And then come into being nourished by these practices.
Begin this connection with Earth Mother with an intention of connection.
And maybe you visualize yourself or maybe you are already outside and on the land.
Or maybe close to it,
Or you can see wherever you are in terms of your physical body.
But also in terms of our energy and our heart.
Come into connection with Earth Mother right now.
You might imagine that you're standing on the earth and the soles of your feet The soles of our feet are connected with the energy of Mother Earth.
And depending on the temperature and where you are,
There's a bit of dew in the grass and I don't really have grass,
But in my plants in my yard.
So it was a little cool on my feet when I was just outside.
Bring your awareness in either as a visualization.
Or as a memory,
Or perhaps right now in your body.
Let the soles of your feet connect with the earth.
With the surface of Mother Earth.
And we could bring our awareness down into the earth.
What is below your feet?
So if you're in a building,
There might be some construction materials,
But then what's below that?
We're all on the earth.
So imagining the soles of your feet,
The energy of your body as it is through the soles of your feet,
And coming down into the.
The vastness of the earth.
Sometimes when we meditate,
We bring our awareness to the vastness of consciousness or the deep stillness in our mind.
What we're often noticing in our mind is compulsion,
Thoughts.
Worry What am I going to do?
I'm looking forward to this.
I'm dreading this.
You have all of this experience.
And then,
That's not all of the mind.
So if we're bringing our awareness into the soles of our feet on Mother Earth.
It's such a tiny part of Mother Earth to see.
Two feet.
And energy of the soles of our feet going into the earth.
Imagine that you're going down.
You might be standing on sand or soil or with your feet in the water.
However it is that you're connecting with this energetically.
There's so much aliveness.
Especially in that.
For several feet.
There's roots and tree roots and plant roots.
Air pockets and pebbles and little animals and all of what's just under the surface layer of Mother Earth.
Let's take a moment to attune to that.
Just aware just below the surface of my feet.
And then let yourself go.
Read horizontally.
50 feet in front of your feet and behind and to the sides.
And then go down into the earth.
Stay aware of that connection,
My earth.
My feet,
They're connected energetically.
I'm on the earth.
The earth is supporting me,
Supporting my body.
Somehow.
Even though we know that earth is rotating and we're rotating around the sun and the moon is rotating around the earth.
All of that geology,
All of that.
Physics of that and the power of gravity to keep us on the earth.
If we go down into the earth,
What's down below our feet?
We go down a few miles.
And took that down into the core.
Let's see,
Energy of the Earth is very fiery.
Very hot.
Morton And above us in the sky,
The sun is very fiery,
Even though it's so far away,
We can feel its warmth.
And in our whole body,
We have the element of fire in our digestion.
Sometimes we're hot and bothered.
From above and in our body and down below.
Comes up for you around the element of fire.
The vastness.
Of earth and space.
Of consciousness,
Of our mind.
Noticing.
This small body in comparison.
Such a tiny body in comparison to the earth and the sky and the sun,
Stars.
And yet here I am,
There's nothing insignificant even though it's tiny.
I'm part of this vastness.
I too have fire.
I have heat.
Some of it is in my navel center.
I digest my food.
Some of it is more subtle energy.
I digest my experiences.
I feel warm hearted.
I feel cold hearted.
And then how do the elements of fire.
And water.
And air,
How do they interact?
And earth,
If we put a lot of soil onto a fire,
It'll go out.
It needs air,
It needs oxygen.
If we put water on fire,
It'll go out or maybe it'll make steam.
Notice that one element is not alone.
Just as we're not alone.
Notice that you are part of.
Mother Earth.
Space,
The stars,
The universe.
You're part of the earth going down into the core.
Notice connection.
And if we focus for a moment on the element of air.
What comes to mind.
Might be a cooling breeze.
So welcome when our body is hot.
Or a cold shiver when our body is too cold.
If we were to open ourselves to the element of air,
Let go of gravity for a moment.
Let go of the solidness of Earth and let yourself rise into the air.
Let your body float or fly.
What might it be like?
What would your experience be if you could fly through the air?
My drift.
You might soar,
You might dip and dive.
Release your body from gravity for a moment.
Let yourself be just in the air.
What do you see from up here?
Eagles and osprey and other birds that fly high have very good sight.
We might stay in the Earth's atmosphere.
We might let our consciousness,
Our awareness,
Flow out into space.
As we're soaring or as we're.
.
.
Maybe just still.
Our body is still,
Our consciousness is still.
Wherever you are in the element of space,
Of air.
A little bit different.
And then maybe we come back into soaring.
Letting our body be free from gravity.
Letting our awareness fly.
What do you see?
Earth.
Trees and mountains and lakes and prairies.
Flowers and People,
What do you see when you're lying?
When you're soaring through the air,
Your body completely soft and relaxed and light.
Of course,
We have air in our body.
In our cells,
In our blood,
All over the place.
We have the element of air and certainly we breathe it in through our nose,
Into our lungs.
We breathe in oxygen.
Nourishes our body.
As we're soaring,
We're still breathing in the oxygen and maybe if you were settling,
Coming a little bit closer to earth in a huge old growth forest.
And let yourself land.
Maybe right at the canopy of the forest.
Maybe you're coming down and standing on the earth,
Feeling your soles of your feet connect with the earth again.
And the beautiful smell and the oxygen in the air.
The symbiosis of we breathe out and the trees benefit from that.
The trees breathe out the oxygen.
We are nourished by that.
But then how much?
How deeper does that go?
In an old growth forest.
There's so much aliveness.
Abundance.
We're nourished by that as well as the oxygen.
Let's pause here for a while.
In the forest.
You know,
With the standing ones,
The trees.
And could we slow our mind,
Our awareness down enough to connect in with the pulse of the forest?
The trees,
The earth,
The water,
The air.
Let yourself come to rest.
In the forest.
All of the elements together.
And there's a vast awareness here as well,
A consciousness.
It's not as big as the whole of Mother Earth and the whole of space.
It's a little more local.
And yet there's a vastness here that we are part of.
We also have Earth.
Water,
Air,
Fire,
Space.
In our body,
In our mind,
In our consciousness.
And breathe that in.
Take our rest here.
Settle into awareness of consciousness of unity.
I am the forest,
The forest is me.
We could let our mind come to a slower pace.
Come into connection.
We notice our breath.
We notice our energy and the energy of the forest,
Of the trees.
Maybe there are birds singing in this forest.
Little squirrels running around.
Their energy is a lot faster.
We're all part of this energy field of the forest.
And we could notice our body if there's anything that we're holding or that we could release.
Let it release into the space that we're in.
Let go of worry and the fastness of life.
Instead of the fastness,
Tune into the vastness,
This huge,
Beautiful energy of an old growth forest.
All the elements are here.
Just like they're here in our body.
Our mind slows down.
Noticing the humidity in the air as it comes in through our nose,
Into our lungs.
Maybe there's a gentle rain and we open our mouth.
Feel the rain on our face,
On our body.
Feel the flow of water in our bodies.
This constant flow in and out of the cells through our blood.
Feeling the presence of water.
In the forest and in our body.
Let it wash off the dust.
Maybe as we walk along the forest path,
We come to a lake.
Maybe we walk into that lake and let ourselves immerse our whole entire body into that lake.
Feel the silkiness of the water on your skin.
Ease.
Let the water hold your body.
Maybe you're lying on your back floating and you can look up into the sky,
Into the sun,
The space,
The blue.
Your body completely safe and held in the water.
Moisture.
The feeling of the water on our skin.
And when we're swimming in the water,
There's that beautiful smell of fresh water.
Bringing that into your nose,
Into your awareness.
Maybe there are deer or other animals coming to the side.
From sides of the leg.
Drinking,
Nourishing,
Healing.
We are not the only two-legged or four-legged in this area.
Could allow that sharing of awareness of consciousness.
And of the nurturing and nourishing of water.
Holding our body as we float in the lake.
Let your mind expand,
Let your awareness expand.
Somewhere below the water,
The ground,
The earth is holding the water.
Water that's holding us.
We have the elements.
Of earth in our body,
Of air,
Of water.
And fire.
Space Let yourself rest here.
Sense into the energy.
The energy of an old tree.
Very stable and slow.
The roots of a redwood tree go as far horizontally as they do into the air.
So we're solid,
We're planted.
Water moves a little more.
And yet it's also held.
Let your awareness expand from your physical body.
And your personal energy body out into the energy.
With the water,
The air.
Into the sky.
Sideways into the forest.
Down into the earth.
Aware that we are part of Earth Mother.
We're part of the elements,
We're not separate.
Let yourself feel that integration,
That unity.
I am this.
And what is the sound?
Of the universe.
The energy vibration.
Tuning into the sound,
The energy.
It might be a mantra,
Vibration of sound.
Without thinking about it.
Tuning in to the sound vibration of Earth.
Water,
Sky.
Let yourself rest in ease.
Maybe you're still floating on the water.
Maybe you're flying through the sky.
Maybe you're standing on the earth.
Aware of our consciousness,
Of the unity.
We are mother earth.
Aligned on a sound level.
With Earth Mother.
With space.
The vastness of our mind.
Let yourself be aware of your own body.
The energy field of your body.
Of Earth Mother.
The energy field.
That we are part of.
The breeze and the trees and the birds flying over.
The earth,
The power of gravity.
Going down,
Down into the earth.
And out into all.
The locations of the Earth.
The roundness of the planet.
The winds,
The storms,
The peaceful lakes.
The abundance of flora and fauna.
I am this.
Let your body relax and remember,
I am this.
And perhaps your mind is aware of the vastness of space.
Bringing in awareness of the great sacred void.
The stillness,
The vast stillness.
And the light of the void.
The sprinkles of light of the stars.
The light in our being.
The radiant light.
And the sacredness of the great void.
Together.
One.
My body,
Mother earth.
The darkness,
The light,
The energy,
The pulse,
The sound.
I am the water.
I am the fire.
I am the earth.
I am air.
Resting in space,
Resting in awareness.
All that I am.
And if our mind wanders into some element of who we are,
Some experience perhaps.
There's room for that here too.
And then we can return our awareness.
Oh that I am.
Remember.
I am this.
I am the vastness of earth.
And the element of water flowing down the mountainside.
And I'm the lightness of a bird in the air.
Held in the waters of that beautiful lake.
I can stand aligned in a tree.
Let myself feel.
The pulse of nature.
Letting go of all of those particulars and resting in the sound.
A sound vibration.
Of the universe.
From all of space.
Maybe you come back again.
To connecting through the soles of your feet with Earth Mother.
Feeling that energy coming up through your legs.
Through your hips and pelvic floor,
Up through your stomach,
Your heart.
Your fingers up through your shoulders,
Up into your head.
Our whole body in our awareness.
This particular location of energy.
And thoughts and memories and all of that that's in our personal experience.
Held within the vastness.
Of the universe.
Resting in this beautiful energy.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Knowing that we are held.
As we come toward the completion of the practice.
We can dip back into this any time.
It might be that we stand on the earth and feel through our feet.
And we remember.
Or we look up into a bird flying by and we remember letting go of gravity and allowing our awareness to fly and soar and dip and have fun.
We remember.
Standing with our arms around a tree.
Aligning with that pulse.
Letting ourselves slip back into awareness of unity.
Consciousness.
It might be that we remember,
I'm breathing in the element of air and water right now.
And some of that comes from that tree over there.
Nourished by this in so many ways.
I'm nourished in my heart as well as in my body.
