Hello and welcome to this short mindfulness practice centered around the idea of the four elements.
This has its roots in a very old Buddhist practice,
But essentially it's just another way to view the body and to explore different aspects of experience.
So the four elements,
As you'll be aware,
Are earth,
Water,
Fire and air.
So the element of earth represents firmness or hardness.
The element of water can represent wetness or flow.
The element of fire represents both heat and cold,
So feelings associated with temperature,
And the element of air represents motion and movement within the body.
And through these four separate lenses we can bring our current present awareness to our body and to our mind.
We can use these different aspects of experience to ground ourselves in the present moment and to bring an open mind to exploring how your body is feeling at this time.
So we're going to begin by getting into a relaxed position,
Whether that is sitting or lying on the floor.
If you're sitting,
I'd advise you to have your spine upright,
Sitting in what I like to call a position of dignity.
And we can begin this exercise by taking in one or two very deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
And again,
One in through the nose and out through the mouth.
So we'll begin this exercise with the element of earth,
Which,
As we said,
Represents hardness or firmness.
Perhaps the simplest way to experience this is to run your tongue across your teeth,
And there you're instantly feeling hardness and firmness in your body.
So if you haven't done so yet,
You can gently allow your eyes to close and bring your awareness to anywhere in your body where you can feel a sensation of hardness or firmness.
This might be contact with the ground,
Contact with the seat that you're sitting on.
Maybe it's a hard tension that you feel somewhere in your body,
Or perhaps the weight of your muscles.
See if you can identify where in your body you're feeling that hardness.
And when you find a part of your body that feels hard or firm,
Just be with that part.
Stay with it.
Maybe breathe deeply into it.
View it with curiosity and perhaps with compassion,
And stay with it for a moment.
And now we're going to breathe and stay with it for a moment.
And now we're going to bring our attention to the second element,
Which is wind.
And the easiest and most obvious way to experience this is with the movement of breath in your body.
So without consciously changing how you're breathing,
Take a moment to feel where you are aware of your breath in your body,
Whether it's your belly or your chest,
Maybe the back of your throat or your nostrils,
And stay with that movement of air in your body.
At the same time,
You might want to be aware of space within your body.
Are you aware of the space within your lungs or within your inner ear or your mouth?
Again,
Stay with the sensations of space and of moving breath for a minute or two.
Next,
We're going to bring our attention to the element of water.
So any feelings of moisture or liquid in your body.
Again,
Perhaps the most obvious is saliva in your mouth,
But perhaps you're aware of sweat or of moisture in your eyes.
Again,
Bring your curious awareness to water,
Wetness,
Moisture in your body,
And stay with that awareness for a few breaths.
Lastly,
We're going to focus on the element of fire.
So we're not looking for an intense burning sensation anywhere in your body.
We're just looking for whatever you notice to do with temperature,
Perhaps the temperature of the air on your skin,
Or maybe some parts of your body feel warmer or cooler than others.
Bring your awareness to any sensation of temperature that you feel anywhere in your body.
And once again,
Sit with that awareness for a few breaths.
And now finally,
You're going to bring your awareness to your entire body as a system.
Your entire body as being made up of these elements of earth,
Wind,
Water,
And fire.
Your entire body as firmness,
Movement,
Moisture,
And temperature.
And rest in a general awareness of your body.
Again,
Try to approach this with a sense of curiosity and with a sense of compassion.
Thank you for choosing to spend this time with me today,
And I hope that you have found this very short introduction to the four elements a useful tool in your mindfulness kit.
