Six Elements Meditation - The Extended Version

Journey through six dimensions of mindfulness. Feel the connection between your body and the Earth; allow your body to be breathed by the element of Air; feel the Fire of emotion; let your thoughts flow freely like Water; explore Sound to discover silence, and radiate the Light of your aware self. Extended version. All six elements also available as separate meditations. (Even longer version with better quality audio and an introduction - March 2021.)

Transcript

The six elements are earth,

Air,

Water,

Fire,

Sound and light.

So the first four elements are the sort of common four elements that you'll be aware of and then I've added sound and light as well.

Over the six days you can build up the full experience.

Okay,

So all the meditations for each element are mindfulness meditations.

For me that means becoming more aware of what's already there,

What's already happening,

Becoming more aware of the present moment.

And this six elements meditation is just a way of breaking that down into different aspects so we can explore the variety and the depth of the present moment in different ways.

And I find it can be quite balancing as well to realise that as you go through the elements you may notice that you're more familiar or spend more time in one rather than the other.

For example,

For myself I'd say I spend more time in thoughts which is the element of water in this meditation.

So by regularly becoming more aware and more attentive to all aspects,

So that includes the body,

Emotions,

Breath,

Sounds and awareness,

It helps me realise that I can have a more balanced approach to what I'm aware of and where I put my attention and my time.

So that's one benefit I think of the six elements meditation is that balance and that holistic approach to all the different aspects of ourselves and of our experience that we can become more familiar with.

So the mindful approach for me can be summed up in four words.

Awareness,

So being aware of what's happening internally or externally.

Then acceptance,

So accepting what you become aware of.

If we don't accept then it's difficult to maintain that awareness or deepen that awareness because we'll be wanting to move away from or suppress in some way or distract ourselves from what we are becoming aware of.

So that idea of unconditional acceptance,

Non-judgmental acceptance.

And then the third word is to allow.

So that idea that these things that we become aware of are things that are already there,

That are already happening,

We don't have to make them happen.

So that sense that we're allowing something to happen rather than creating it ourselves.

That's more obvious I guess with things like the breath,

Which is the element of air,

Where we know that we don't have to remember to breathe.

We know that breath just happens on its own,

It's an autonomic function of the body.

But actually realising we can apply that also to our emotions and our thoughts for example can be really beneficial for the mind.

So we'll look more at that with the elements of water and fire when we look at the emotions and the thoughts by applying these same principles of mindfulness in all the different areas.

So we have awareness,

Acceptance,

Allowing and then the last stage of letting go or letting be.

So that sense of really relaxing into the experience.

And this idea of letting go moves us on to the other part of the six elements mindfulness meditation,

Which is it's not just about the mindfulness of myself,

So my own experiences.

But it's about connecting,

Letting go of that sense of isolation,

Of it being just about me and becoming aware of something greater than myself.

So that's where the idea of the elements come in.

So for example,

The element of earth is about mindfulness of the body,

But then taking it beyond just the body and connecting that to an experience of the earth.

Going beyond just yourself and exploring that relationship between yourself,

Your body and the earth.

And then also adding that dimension of realisation that that experience of the earth is shared by all of us.

So it's also connecting and sharing that with everyone else as well.

So that's another theme that goes through all the six elements is connecting something greater than yourself,

Starting with your own experience.

And then realising that that's shared by everybody as well.

OK,

So that's sort of an introduction in a sense to all six sessions.

That it's mindfulness based,

Awareness,

Acceptance,

Allowing and letting go.

And it's also about going beyond yourself,

Connecting to the element and realising that that element is shared by all of us.

OK,

So this evening is the element of earth.

So we'll start with the earth.

And this is about connecting to the body.

So I'll do a mindfulness meditation commentary on the body,

And then we'll develop that to see how we can connect that to awareness of the earth.

OK,

So for all the elements,

All the meditations,

There's no particular posture you need to be in.

So you can be sitting,

Standing,

Lying down and you can have your eyes open or closed also.

The first part of the six elements meditation is the element of earth.

And to begin with,

We can connect to the awareness of the body.

So we're connecting to the physical element and that experience of our physicality in the body.

I think this is a useful place to start,

The six elements,

As the earth and the body is the perfect place to feel really grounded and connected.

Starting with that immediacy of the body,

A very tangible connection with the present moment.

So each element is a way to connect to the present.

So feeling the body,

The awareness of the body,

And feeling that connection to the present moment through the body.

So we can feel that very tangible and literal connection to the present through the body by feeling the sensations of contact and connection.

And noticing the feet connecting with the floor,

Noticing all the points of contact with the chair.

You can also feel the connection with our clothing.

And the sensation of connection can really help to end that feeling of the body being separate or isolated.

As we feel the body is always in connection,

Always in contact with the world,

With the present moment.

The body is never in isolation.

So beginning to really enjoy that feeling of just settling into being present with the body.

Allowing yourself to fully arrive in the present moment by fully arriving within the body and really feeling the sensations of the body and those points of contact.

And then if we begin to feel the weight of the body.

So rather than feeling a particular sensation in one part of the body or another,

Getting a sense of the whole body and feeling the weight of the whole body.

And notice how the weight of your body is being completely supported and held through those points of contact.

So now we can begin to connect this experience and this mindfulness of the body with the element of earth.

So as you feel the weight of the body now,

Knowing that that experience of weight is the force of gravity.

So we feel the heaviness of the body because gravity,

The force of gravity is gently pulling on the weight of your body.

And that force of gravity is there because of the mass of the earth.

So that feeling of weight,

A very tangible,

Immediate sensation in the body that you can feel right now is the earth exerting its influence upon you.

It is the earth gently pulling your body towards itself.

So experiencing that direct physical connection to the earth.

So without any need to conceptualize or visualize,

We can feel in our bodies this direct connection and relationship to the earth.

And this attractive pull towards the earth that we feel in our bodies is always there every moment,

Whether we notice it or not.

It is an unconditional attraction,

An unconditional support of the body.

And it's the same for every single one of us,

For everybody.

The earth is holding and supporting all of us equally in every moment.

So by being present with my body,

I can feel connected to something greater than myself,

Greater than the body,

Feeling that connection to the earth.

Feeling that support and contact,

Feeling grounded,

And also knowing that I share this experience with everybody on the planet.

So connecting to the present moment through my body,

Connecting to the earth through the body,

And connecting to everybody else.

And one more aspect of mindfulness of the body that we can explore is really feeling that sense of aliveness in the body.

Recognizing that feeling in the body of being alive.

This body is physical,

It's also animate,

It's a living body.

Feeling that connection with all the living bodies of nature,

All sharing this experience of aliveness.

Feeling your physical presence,

Aliveness,

Brings that feeling of presence,

Physical presence of your body.

So getting a sense of your presence,

Your location in the space around you,

Allowing your awareness to broaden and widen.

Getting a sense of the wide open space that's always around the body,

Feeling the alive presence of the body in the center of that space.

Getting a sense again that we all share that space.

One space and all these alive physical organisms sharing that space and all connected to the one earth.

Being present with the body,

The connection to the earth through the weight of the body,

Holding that experience within the vast open space of your awareness.

Friedwater Boston,

Michigan.

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Allowing yourself to be fully present with the body.

Connecting to the present moment through the body.

Feeling the connection to the earth through the weight of the body.

Feeling the connection to all of nature through the aliveness in the body.

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Just being fully present with the body.

And feeling connected to your environment through the body.

Feeling the living presence of your body.

Holding your whole body within your open awareness.

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This is day two of this series of six elements meditation.

And we will continue on from the element of earth and mindfulness of the body to the element of air and mindfulness of the breath.

So let's just spend a few moments just connecting with the body and reminding ourselves of the connection to the earth.

And then we'll move on and spend this meditation on the breath.

Allow yourself to be present within your body.

Notice the sensations throughout your body.

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Feel all the parts of your body that are in connection,

In contact with something.

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Feel the weight of your body.

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Allow that weight to be supported,

To be held.

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And feeling the weight in your body to be the gentle pull of gravity of the earth.

Gently pulling,

Attracting your body towards the earth.

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Feeling that connection,

Feeling grounded to the earth and connected to the present moment through the body.

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As you do connect to the body,

You may naturally find yourself becoming more aware of the breath.

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As the body becomes still and relaxed and the breath becomes the main activity,

The main source of movement and sensation in the body.

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So to begin with,

We can go through the four steps of mindfulness with the breath.

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And the first step is simply to become more aware of your breath.

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I encourage you to make this awareness a very tangible physical thing by really being aware of the physical sensations in the body caused by the breath.

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So really feeling the breath entering the body.

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So just checking it's a felt experience,

The awareness of the breath,

Rather than just a conceptual or mental exercise.

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And the other thing to note for this first step of awareness of the breath and something that we'll use for all the different elements is that although the breath is our topic for this meditation,

And it's what we're going to be most interested in.

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I invite you to not focus or concentrate on the breath,

But allow your awareness to remain open and light.

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Competition for your attention.

No effort to focus on one thing to the exclusion of anything else.

Keeping the awareness nice and open and exploring the physical sensations of the breath in the body as everything else happens around the breath.

The second step with the breath is to accept the breath just as you find it.

So not making any effort to change the breath in any way.

It doesn't matter how fast or slow,

Deep or shallow,

Your breath is in this moment.

Being aware of the breath as it is and accepting the breath as you find it.

The second step is to accept the breath as it is and accept the breath as it is.

The third step to allow the breath.

So we'll apply this particularly to the in-breath.

So for a while,

Really consciously allowing the breath in to the body each time you take the in-breath.

And see if you can allow the breath in as freely and as fully as the breath wishes to enter the body.

So you're not restricting the in-breath in any way.

And just notice how it feels in the body to fully and freely allow the breath into the body.

So familiar.

And the fourth step of letting go and applying that to the out-breath.

So continuing to allow the breath into the body.

Now really feeling that release as we consciously,

Fully and freely let go of the out-breath.

How does that feel in the body each time you let go of the breath?

How does that feel in the body?

So now we can build on this experience of allowing the breath in.

And letting go as we breathe out.

Of accepting the breath just as we find it.

See if you can get a sense of the body being breathed by the breath.

So it doesn't feel like you are doing the breathing.

It doesn't feel like you have to make any effort to breathe.

But we are simply becoming aware of and allowing a natural spontaneous breath to come and go,

Rise and fall within the body.

So feeling the body being breathed by the breath.

Crops So if we can subtly shift our experience of the breath,

So this feeling of the body being breathed by the breath,

And that's how we can start to connect with the element of air.

So we can experience breathing as something that's far greater than just our body and our particular breath.

So connecting to a greater movement,

And allowing our body to be part of the breath of the element of air.

So getting a sense of that wider space around the body,

The space stretching out to the horizon all around you and up to the sky above you.

Getting a sense of the atmosphere of the earth and your connection to the earth's atmosphere through the breath,

Through this direct physical connection to the element of air as it breathes your body and as it breathes everybody's body.

We're all breathing the same element of air,

We're all breathing the same atmosphere of the earth.

I like to have the thought and the experience that there is one breath,

The breath of the earth,

The element of air,

The atmosphere of the earth is breathing one breath and each of our bodies is feeling that one breath rise and fall.

I'll leave a few minutes of silence without commentary just to give us time to explore the depth of this experience of the breath.

Simply being present with the body,

With the breath,

Allowing the breath to breathe the body and maybe connecting to that idea of the wider space around you,

The atmosphere of the earth,

The element of air and the one breath of the earth,

Breathing all our breaths.

We're all breathing the same element of air.

We're all breathing the same element of air.

We're all breathing the same element of air.

Really settling into the body,

Into the breath,

Into the present moment,

Allowing everything else including your thoughts just to happen around the breath,

Just in the background.

And see if you can experience the body being breathed by the element of air,

By the breath of the earth,

Connecting us all together,

All breathing the one breath of the earth.

We're all breathing the same element of air.

So this is the third element in the series of six for the Six Elements Meditation.

And the element of water.

And this will be a mindfulness meditation on our thoughts and on our mind.

Now it really doesn't matter what the content of your thoughts are.

Doesn't matter if you're thinking about the past or the future because you can only be thinking in the present moment.

As long as you are aware that you are thinking,

That you are having thoughts,

Then you must be present.

So being disinterested in the content of your thoughts and just experience the process of thoughts arriving in your mind and how that feels to be thinking whilst noticing that you're thinking.

This can feel a little strange to begin with if it's something you're not used to doing because often we identify so closely with our thoughts and what we're thinking.

So just taking some time to find that part of yourself that can observe,

Listen,

Witness,

Your thoughts as you think them.

So really resist any temptation to change your thoughts in any way.

Don't try and slow them down or stop them or redirect them.

Don't try and think calm,

Peaceful or positive thoughts.

Just allow any thoughts at all to come into your mind.

Give your thoughts,

Your mind complete freedom.

So we're going to use the element of water now to help us with this practice.

So imagine that your thoughts are flowing through your mind just like water flowing through a river or a stream.

So allowing one thought to follow the next.

And as the observer of our thoughts,

We're sitting on the riverbank by the side of the river or stream.

So we're not following one thought all the way down.

We're just watching it go past and then we're there to catch the next thought that goes past.

So just see if for a few moments you can experience your thoughts to be passing through your mind one after the other,

Flowing like a river,

Not following up on any particular thought,

Disinterested in the content,

Just enjoying the flow.

Excellent.

So allowing our thoughts to flow freely in this way can really help ease tension in the mind and by accepting any and all thoughts and not making any effort to change our thoughts in any way can also help ease any sense of conflict.

We can notice that thinking is actually quite an effortless experience.

Our thoughts will just come whether or not we remember to think,

Whether or not we make any effort to think.

We can have absolutely no idea what our next thought is going to be and we can just wait and watch and notice it as it arrives.

Watching,

Experiencing the flow of thoughts.

Even if we allow the thoughts to flow freely,

If there are a lot of thoughts,

If they feel like they're noisy or negative thoughts,

Then we may still feel a little tense and crowded in our minds.

So the second way we can use the element of water to help with this experience.

As we allow the thoughts to be like a flowing river,

We can think of the mind as being like the ocean.

So the thoughts are the activity of the mind.

The mind itself is the arena,

The theatre or the space within which this flow of thoughts takes place.

So just imagining how vast and deep and open the ocean is and how relatively small and insignificant the flow of the river of thought is in comparison to the depth,

The vastness of the ocean.

Watching a sense of that unlimited mental space of the mind within which the thoughts come and go.

And using this idea of there being a foreground and a background to your awareness,

You can actually begin to bring the mind,

The ocean,

More into the foreground of our awareness and allowing the stream of thoughts to gently move more into the background.

So our experience becomes predominantly out of the open space and the depth of the ocean.

And the thoughts just become like a background sound,

Background activity having actually no impact on this experience of depth and openness of the ocean.

Systems.

So although each of our individual streams of thought will be unique to ourselves,

Our own private inner dialogue with ourselves,

The ocean,

That vast unlimited ocean of mind is something we can share.

It's an experience that we can share with everybody else,

Or rivers leading eventually to the one ocean of mind.

So no matter how different our thoughts,

We can still connect and feel connected with others through this experience of one mind.

Okay,

So I'll leave a few minutes of silence without further commentary,

Just to give you an opportunity to really become familiar with this experience of giving your thoughts complete freedom to flow freely without any interruption or involvement,

Just allowing them to be and do whatever they want to do.

And then seeing if you can get this feeling of the thoughts flowing through the vast open space and depth of the ocean of mind.

All right.

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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.

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 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 centre of this open space So hopefully that will help with the emotion so they don't feel like they're stuck in the body or stuck in the mind But 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 And 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 will 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 recognise those in others and share them with others And that can help really stabilise 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 But 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 And 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,

So I'm going to leave some more time for questions,

If you have any questions,

I'll be happy to answer them Okay,

Thank you Okay,

Thank you Okay,

Thank you So part five of the six elements meditation,

The element of sound And mindfulness of sound,

Of listening,

Of hearing,

And also exploring through that the shared experience of silence So if we invite sounds to take centre stage within our awareness,

See if you can keep your awareness nice and open and light And although we're going to be most interested in the sounds we can hear,

Acknowledging there'll also be the breath,

Sensations in the body,

Thoughts,

Feelings And allowing them to also be within our open awareness,

But just slightly in the background as we pay particular interest to the sounds that we can hear in this moment right now So the idea is to become aware of the sounds and accept whatever sounds are there for you in this moment Just allow the sounds to come and go through your awareness And that feeling of letting go,

Of letting be,

Allowing the sounds to just be as they are,

And allowing yourself to relax into the experience of listening to sounds So aware,

Accept,

Allow,

And let go So as I begin this listening mindfulness practice,

I find it useful to break down the different types of sounds that I can be listening out for,

Just in case I'm missing any out of habit So I can listen to the loudest,

Most obvious sounds I can listen to the closest sounds I can listen to any continuous sounds And listening out for all the occasional sounds,

Including the quieter sounds and the more distant sounds So taking a few moments to really explore the environment of sound around you,

Noticing all the different sounds Keeping that awareness nice and light and open,

Not concentrating But allowing the sounds to come and go within your open awareness Still aware of the body,

Thoughts,

But just playing more interest in the sounds you can hear,

Being alert to all the different sounds Another useful little technique to help maintain our interest in experiencing the sounds is to acknowledge that in every moment,

The blend and mixture of sounds that you're hearing,

Where you are right now,

Will be completely unique No two moments will have exactly the same combination of sounds Another thought you can have is to imagine what the experience would be like if you were listening to sounds for the very first time As we continue to be open and alert to all the different sounds we can hear We're going to see if we can now add an experience of listening to or being aware of,

Or in some way sensing the quietness,

The silence So one way I describe this to myself is to think of there as being a silent space within which all sounds come and go Just as objects exist in space,

And experiencing sounds as existing within a silent space So this is a quietness or a silence that doesn't require the absence,

The ending of sounds,

But coexists along with sound It's the space within which sounds come and go,

So they exist together between,

Behind each sound,

This space and this experience of a quietness,

A silence Rather than actively trying to listen to silence,

I find it more useful to listen out to the most distant and the quietest sounds I can hear And then just allowing this feeling,

This sense of quietness to gradually come upon your awareness I also find it useful to just be aware of the physical space around me And experience,

Hear the sounds occurring within that physical space,

And then feeling the quietness,

The silence of that space.

So remembering just to allow your thoughts to flow freely in the background of your awareness.

Still aware of the body,

The breath,

How you're feeling.

And then simply choosing to be more alert and more interested in the unique blend of sounds in each moment.

Just allowing those sounds to come and go within your open awareness and within that quiet silent space.

And if you do begin to get a sense of that quietness behind,

Between the sounds,

Then we can use this idea again of the foreground and the background of your awareness and bring that silent space from the background more into the foreground of your awareness,

Allowing the sounds to just move into the background.

So being more interested in the quietness and the silence in the space within which the sounds are,

Less interested in the sounds themselves,

And gradually allowing the awareness to be filled and absorbed by that sense of quietness and silence.

Class.

So the final thought for the commentary before we have a few minutes of silence before we finish is to be aware that all our individual experiences of sounds in this moment will all be different.

We're all in different places,

Different times,

Different environments.

We'll all be listening to different sounds and even if we were together in the same room we'd still be hearing the sounds in our own way,

Our own associations.

But when we start to experience the silence then there is just one experience of silence.

So as I connect to and become aware of that silent space,

Being aware that that's a space that we all share,

Whatever each of us is hearing,

Whatever sounds are coming and going,

We can all share this one silent space.

A few more moments,

Another minute or two,

Just relaxing into this experience of being present with all the sounds you can hear,

Keeping your awareness nice and light and open,

Noticing the occasional quietest most distant sounds,

Being open to an experience of quietness,

Of silence,

Also coming into your awareness and enjoying that silent space that we can all share together.

This is the sixth part of this series of six meditations on the six elements and the sixth element is the element of light and the light of awareness.

So become aware of yourself.

So up until now we've been aware of experiences,

Whether they're internal experiences of emotion and thought or external experiences of sounds and breath.

And now see if you can get in touch with yourself as the experiencer,

The one who experiences all these different aspects of the present moment.

Aware of the observer,

The witness,

Aware of your own awareness,

Conscious of your own consciousness.

So one way of experiencing the self of awareness is to experience yourself as the space within which all your experiences happen.

So just as we were experiencing all the sounds,

Experiencing within a space of silence,

So too all our thoughts,

All our feelings,

The body and the breath are all being experienced within the space of our awareness.

So rather than thinking of things being outside of yourself,

Being open to the experience that everything is happening within yourself,

Within your awareness.

So we can allow our attention to wander freely throughout the present moment,

Whether we're noticing a sensation in the body or we take a slightly deeper breath in and feel the breath or we notice a particular thought or feeling or noticing a novel sound in the environment around us.

Just allow your attention to wander freely without choice.

Knowing that everything we're aware of is a part of the present moment,

We can't experience anything at any other time.

And feeling that experience,

Whatever it is,

To be within the open space of your awareness.

So the thoughts are flowing freely through our open awareness.

The breath rises and falls within our awareness.

The body is present within our awareness.

How we're feeling is held within our awareness.

And the sounds we can hear coming and going within our open awareness.

So just allowing each moment to come and go,

Allow your attention to wander freely within this present moment.

A sense of holding the present moment within the space of your awareness,

Allowing it to unfold within your awareness.

So just before I leave a few minutes of silence without commentary,

So we can continue to explore this experience,

This present moment and our own awareness.

We can just investigate some of the qualities of this space of awareness.

So one we've looked at already,

And it's a silent space.

As it's the space within which sounds come and go.

So that space itself must be silent.

It's also the space within which all movements take place.

So therefore the space itself must be a space of stillness.

And it's a space where all form,

All objects are,

Our body and all other objects around us.

So the space itself is an empty space.

And it's a place where time passes by,

Where all change happens.

So the space of our awareness is changeless and timeless.

And all the experiences that happen within our awareness are limited and finite.

The space of our awareness within which all these limited and finite experiences come and go is itself infinite and unlimited.

So holding the simplicity of everything that's happening in this present moment,

Within the space of our awareness,

Within that silent,

Empty,

Still,

Changeless,

Timeless space.

Experiencing that space of awareness to be ourselves.

Our experiences come and go,

But the one constant is that sense of self.

The self of awareness,

The experiencer,

And the space within which all the experiences come and go.

So coming home to the self,

Being mindful of yourself and all our experiences happening under the light of our awareness.

And the final thoughts for a few minutes of silence is that all our individual experiences,

Thoughts,

Feelings,

Sounds,

Breath,

Body,

All unique,

All different.

But this space of awareness,

This empty,

Silent space of awareness is one.

One space within which all our different experiences are happening.

So connecting with everybody beyond our individual experiences by connecting to this one silent,

Empty space of awareness,

This one light of awareness shining on all the different experiences,

Just like the sun shining on all the different lives on earth.

So hold as the H.

.

OK,

Just a few more moments.

Just enjoying relaxing into the present moment.

Allowing everything of the present moment to just pass by moment by moment within this one open awareness.

.

OK,

So if we bring the meditation to a close,

Maybe taking in a few slightly deeper breaths.

If you feel ready,

Bring a bit of movement back into the body.

Sometimes I like to just go back down through the elements.

Listening to sounds.

Listening to the nearest sounds in the room with me.

Noticing how I'm feeling.

Connecting that to the body.

Noticing the breath in the body.

Noticing my thoughts.

Feeling the weight of the body.

Feeling that contact between the feet and the floor.

And then just open your eyes whenever you feel ready but no rush at all.

Reviews

Amazing practice! Long but so good. I had to stop about halfway but will come back to this. Many thanks. ☮️💖🙏

Relaxing and restorative; a pleasant blend of guidance and silence. 🙏

Oh my, that was wonderful!, peaceful and expansive. What a lovely way to usher in the new year. Thank you.