All right,
So we'll do a five elements meditation and this is really nice especially if you are outside or exposed to the elements.
Maybe you have some sunshine or you are in nature somewhere,
But if not,
If you're inside and you're just in your room,
Whatever,
In a city,
That's totally fine.
You could still do this.
So wherever you're at,
Just go ahead and get comfortable.
Closing your eyes if you'd like or keeping your eyes slightly open with a gaze towards the ground and just giving yourself a few moments to settle in.
Perhaps there's some ripples from whatever activity you were doing before,
Conversation or work or movement.
So just noticing that,
What effect it might have on you right now.
Simply being aware of that.
As you take in some slow and deep breaths,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Keeping the exhale a little bit longer than the inhale and just feeling your body now as you sit or stand or lie down and just noticing the weight,
Sense of heaviness or lightness in the body.
Noticing your feet,
Noticing your hands,
Shoulders,
Allowing sounds to come and go,
Thoughts to come and go,
Emotions rising and falling like waves.
And whenever the mind gets distracted,
Just slowly without jerking back,
Slowly gently bring your attention back.
Softly resting on the feeling of breathing and softening and easing any tension that might have built up.
So really starting with the earth element.
This is connected to the sense of being grounded.
So really feeling your back,
Your spine supporting you now.
Kind of the solidity and the firmness of that and the feeling of your hips and your butt and your legs on the ground connecting.
Feeling the sense of dignity and strength.
Feeling the sense of density.
Noticing your teeth,
Your head,
Your ribcage.
All of this,
All of you is part of the earth and not separate from the earth as are the trees and the mountains and the rocks and the creatures all around you.
We eat,
We digest the earth,
We return to the earth and yet we're not separate from it.
And now turning to the water element.
Noticing perhaps any moisture,
Perspiration or sweat on your skin,
Saliva in your mouth,
Humidity,
The wetness of your eyes.
The water inside and outside is not separate.
Your body is 70% water.
And when you drink water,
It's absorbed in your intestines and blood.
And this water comes from the springs and the lakes and the rivers.
You're not just peeing it out.
So when you're drinking water from these sources,
Know that you're actually becoming the rivers.
You're becoming the lakes.
It's only in the act of identifying or attaching with the body that we feel separate.
But in fact,
You are part of the cycle.
Part of the clouds and the rivers and the lakes and the oceans.
Feeling now the air or wind element.
Noticing first your breath as you inhale and exhale.
And each breath you inhale,
There's oxygen coming in that was released from the forest and the plankton.
And as you breathe out,
You breathe out carbon dioxide,
Which is taken in by trees and grass.
This air is all coming and going,
Moving in and out.
It's all the same air.
Every time you inhale and exhale,
You are changing the atmosphere.
Feeling the air against your skin and going in and out of your lungs.
Realizing how you are completely,
Completely dependent on this to survive.
If you find in any moment you're getting lost in any stories or thoughts,
Just forgetting about the past and forgetting about the future.
And forgetting about the present and just being with this moment as it is.
Noticing these different elements,
How they make who you are.
Moving on now to the fire element,
Heat and temperature.
So you might even put a hand on your belly,
Your chest and just become aware of the warmth of your body,
The warmth of your belly as you breathe naturally.
Noticing how as you breathe in,
The air is a little cooler and as you breathe out,
It's a little bit warmer.
And the heat of your body is no different than the heat of the sun millions of miles away.
Of course we need the heat and the energy of the sun to survive as a planet and as a species.
The process of photosynthesis needs sunshine and water in order for plants to thrive.
Everything around you right now really does depend on the sun burning brightly.
Feeling how you're connected to this source of heat and life.
Now for the fifth element of space,
Starting to notice the sense of space all around you.
And even if your eyes are closed,
There's still this felt sense of space and your position wherever you are in relation to things around you.
So you might just sense the space in front of you and behind you,
To your left and to your right,
Above and beneath you.
And now in all these directions at the same time,
As if there's just space all around you,
Your mind is expanding into the space.
Your mind filling the space,
Allowing your sense of self to expand beyond the boundary of your body,
Beyond the boundary of your skin,
And seeing if it can gently fill up the room or the area where you're in.
And going beyond that,
Beyond that,
Further and further.
Knowing that there's space everywhere between the atoms of your body,
Between objects,
Between planets and galaxies.
Seeing how far the sense of space can expand,
Like a light or a bubble gently expanding outwards to fill everything.
Easing any tension that you have along the way and just letting this float without pushing anything.
And now,
Becoming aware of all the elements,
Bringing into scope the feeling of your body and the hardness of the earth,
Your connection to the earth,
The flow of water from the rivers and the oceans and the flow of water inside of your body,
The movement of wind around you,
The movement of wind and air through your body,
The burning of fire and the sun and the heat within you,
A sense of space that encompasses all of these,
And how this connects us all to the oceans and the mountains and the sun,
The atmosphere,
The galaxy,
The universe.
Letting go of any sense of self,
As you notice how everything,
Including you,
Is made up of the same stuff,
Just in different forms.
And whenever you're ready,
You can just gently let go of any attention or effort here and take a few moments to notice the quality of awareness and presence that has arisen.
And if there's any insight,
Anything you noticed,
You might just take note of that.
If there's been any shift in your feeling and your sense of spaciousness,
Just give yourself some time to soak that in and know that you can access this at any time,
Whenever you take the time and space to do this practice.
