Fire - A Six Elements Meditation

Deepening our experience of the present moment by connecting to the element of Fire through mindful awareness of the emotions. A simple and effective meditation to feel truly connected to the now. Part four of six.

Transcript

So we'll be exploring the element of fire in this fourth part of the Six Elements Meditation, And connecting fire to mindfulness of our emotions and how we're feeling. But to begin with, We'll just do a brief recap of the first three elements of earth, Air and water. So firstly, Becoming aware of your body and just checking all the sensations throughout your body. And in particular, Notice all the parts of your body that are in connection with something. So maybe feeling the chair or the floor, Also your clothing. And feel the weight of the body and how that weight is being supported. And that feeling of weight in the body is the pull of gravity, The pull of the earth, Gently attracting your body towards the earth. All of us, All of the time, Have this tangible physical connection to the earth. And becoming aware of the breath in the body, Feel the sensations as you breathe in and out. Really allow the breath in without any restriction and let go and release the breath each time you breathe out. Allowing the breath to flow freely through the body. Perhaps getting a sense that you're allowing the body to be breathed by the breath. So rather than thinking I am breathing, The body is being breathed by the element of air. And the element of air, The atmosphere of the earth, Breathing everyone's body. One breath of the earth, Breathing everybody. And allowing our thoughts throughout this meditation just to flow freely through the mind. Never making any effort to change them, To slow them, Redirect them or stop them. Giving your thoughts complete freedom. Just allowing each thought to follow the next. Noticing that it takes no effort to think, You don't have to remember to think. Just allowing the thoughts to arise in your mind naturally, Spontaneously. So your thoughts are just like water flowing in a stream or a river. And your mind is like the ocean, Broad and deep and wide. Okay so next let's invite the emotions and how we're feeling to take centre stage in our awareness. To be in the foreground of our open awareness. Allowing body, Breath, Thoughts, Sounds and the environment around us. Just to be as they are, Just slightly in the background. And becoming genuinely interested in exploring exactly how you're feeling in this moment. You may be able to identify a predominant emotion that you may be able to name or recognise. Or it may just be more of a mixture, A general sense of how you're feeling. And there's no need to analyse or name any emotions. Just getting in touch with how you're feeling generally. And just allowing that to be as it is. Not making any effort to change it in any way. Keeping that awareness nice and open. So there's plenty of space for your emotions to be just as they are. I find it helpful to connect how I'm feeling with sensations in the body. So if that's also useful for you, Then maybe sensing or locating the related physical, Bodily sensation with how you're feeling with those emotions. I find this helpful to experience the emotion in this tangible, Physical way. But it's not necessary, Just an option to try if that's helpful for you. I also find it useful to give my emotions space. Especially if it's a negative feeling that feels a bit stuck. Then although we're not going to make effort to change that feeling, Because we want to experience things just as they are in this moment. I can give that feeling, That emotion space and giving it this space and time to eventually work itself out and resolve itself and integrate itself into my experience. So I'm not suppressing, Ignoring or trying to change my emotions, Allowing them to do what they need to do and giving them the time and space they need to do that. So getting a sense of the space around the body, The space of the room, The space outside. Even as far as the horizon and the sky, Just getting a simple sense of awareness and acknowledgement of the open space that's around us now and always. And then allowing the experience of the emotion and how I'm feeling to be in the center of this open space. So hopefully that will help with the emotions so they don't feel like they're stuck in the body or stuck in the mind. We experience them in this wider open space. So we're free to allow them to be as they are. We can observe them, Be aware of them, Allow them to go through whatever process they need to go through. And for positive emotions, It means that positive emotion can not be limited but can be shared, Can be fully expressed through us and out into the world. And whatever we're feeling, It can be useful to remember and acknowledge that we all at one time or another experience the same mixture of emotions. Whatever you're feeling, There'll be many, Many other people who are feeling and have felt the same thing. So that can really help with negative emotions so that we can still feel there's a connection with others so we don't feel alone and disconnected, Which often negative emotions can lead to us withdrawing and feeling isolated. And for positive emotions, If we recognize those in others and share them with others, That can help really stabilize and grow those positive emotions and they can become infectious. We can help draw out those positive emotions in others because we also share the same mixture of positive emotions. So connecting this experience of emotions with the element of fire. Fire can be very useful, Can give light and heat and transform things, But also it has its inherent dangers. And there's a natural fear of fire and we can sometimes be fearful of our own negative emotions. If we approach fire in a responsible way with plenty of space, Then we can reap the benefits of fire, The light, The warmth and the potential for transformation. And when an emotion is passing through the mind, Through the body, For me it can sometimes feel like an inner fire, An inner flame burning inside, And allowing that fire to burn itself out, Again with that space, That fearless open space, And not interfering with the fire. The other aspect of connecting emotions with the element of fire is if I really can connect to the most basic and foundation of feelings and sensation, That feeling of simply being alive, So feeling the aliveness in the body, And feeling that aliveness in the body as to fuel the fire for all our emotions. So then however positive or negative, However gentle or intense the emotion is, If I can connect to the basic sensation of aliveness, That spark or fire of aliveness in the body, And that's the perfect foundation to just allow the emotions, Whatever they are, On the surface to do whatever they need to do. Okay, So I'm going to leave some minutes of silence without commentary, Just to give you plenty of time to really check in and connect with how you're feeling, Really exploring all the different emotions, Sensations and feelings, Connecting that with sensations in the body, If that feels appropriate, And remembering to keep that awareness nice and light and open, So your emotions have got all the time and all the space they need to do whatever they need to do. And maybe exploring the core, The centre, The foundation of all emotion, That basic sense of being alive, The spark, The fire of aliveness. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay, So we'll start to bring the meditation to a close now. If you feel you need more time to allow your emotions to process or integrate or settle, Then do take that time. Keep the breaths going, Keep connected to your body, And keep the awareness nice and open. If you're ready, We can bring the meditation to a close, Maybe taking a few slightly deeper breaths in. Bring a bit of movement back into the body, And just when you feel ready, You can open your eyes.