The Seven Elemental Paths To Presence

On Day 1, we recall the mountains or hills we looked to in our past, a reliable and visual source of stability, resilience, and dependability. Together we'll walk our first elemental path sharing a Mindful Mountain meditation practice, deeply grounding and stabilizing the whole landscape of our body for the journey to come.

On Day 2, we flow from the mountain to revisit the rivers of youth, with a personal story. And we recognize how they can represent 'our continuous presence' flowing through life. We acknowledge how moving with, instead of resisting the flowing change, helps avoid stress building up. And we'll share a refreshing and replenishing "River Meditation" together.

In Day 3, our rivers reach the sea and waves - how they can be symbolic of the turbulent or tranquil feelings, emotions and moods, we experience. We share a simple 'naming and taming' practice and then go deeper with a meditation to "Embrace the Waves" of difficulty we encounter. Sharing words of self-comfort and reassurance to keep us emotionally balanced.

On Day 4, the waves recycle to become rain. We discuss how the way we are brought up, where, and 'who' shapes us and impacts our health and wellbeing outcomes. But whether we had nourishing care or not, we can still self-support now. So we'll briefly discuss the powerful "RAIN" practice, made famous by Tara Brach. And then together share a "Refreshing rain meditation". It will help connect with this life force of nature, whilst asking reflective questions and offering self-compassionate gestures too.

On Day 5, the rain feeds the roots of our forest and we reconnect with the communities that surround us. We pose a question to help us clarify that there can be no real 'separation', now or ever between us, others, and nature. And grounding together in meditation, we embody 'our tree' and look around at the many trees that shade and protect us. Re-connecting as one.

On Day 6, the forest we are part of meets the wind of change. We'll explore the sudden, or slowly emerging changes that can unsettle or unsteady us in life. But instead of clinging to the past, or resisting change which generates stress or anxiety, we explore a powerful 3 step process to reframe 'change'. And together, we'll share a "Wind of Change" mindfulness meditation, inviting us to 'let go', of whatever we cling to.

On Day 7, we recognize that all change happens under one sky. A sky we've shared since the dawn of time, much like we've shared the same neurobiology and humanity. We discuss how our hard-wired nature and conditioning mean, we need to consciously pause to connect with the present moment. So we walk our final path to presence together, with a uniting and connecting "Sky of Awareness" meditation.