Six Elements Meditation with Flowing Stream and Birdsong

Explore six different ways to be present with this mindfulness mediation on the six elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Sound, and Light and take your practice beyond yourself, out into the world and connect with others. Background nature sounds of a flowing stream and birdsong

Transcript

Six elements of mindfulness. So six different ways to be more aware of the present moment. First element is Earth. And this part of the meditation is about exploring sensations in the body. And two aspects of that in particular to help us connect with the Earth. And that's the sensation of contact and the sensation of weight. So feeling the weight of the body and the connection, Points of contact where the body is in contact with something. So we'll start with that. So just have a scan through your body and notice all parts of your body that are in contact with something. So for example, Your feet and the floor, Whatever you're sitting on or lying on. But you can also include that contact with clothing. And maybe feeling the air on the hands or face. So there are lots of different types of contacts you may be able to feel in your body now. So I'll just leave a few moments for you to have a scan through the body. And really feel that sensation of connection across all these different contact points. And the second part of the Earth element is that feeling of weight in the body. See if you can get a sense of the weight of the whole body. And how does that feel? Does it feel like heaviness or lightness? Do you feel like you're having to hold that weight of the body? Or are you able to allow the ground below you to support you and completely take that weight? So you can begin to let go and allow all those muscles to relax. And feel that your body is supported. And you can really directly connect to the Earth by just realising that this feeling of weight is actually the force of gravity. And that's the mass of the Earth attracting the mass of your body towards the centre of the Earth. So as I feel the weight of my body, I am actually feeling a direct connection, A direct energy and attraction towards the Earth. This is a really nice way I find to start meditation, To become present in the body and directly connecting to the present moment through the body. The body is always here and now and the Earth is always exerting that attractive force on my body. So I can feel connected and grounded. So the next element, When you're ready to move on, Is the element there and we connect that with the breath. So become more aware of your breathing and as with all these elements we're not going to try and change or create anything, But simply become more aware of things that are already there. So feeling the breath in my body just as it is now. Allowing the breath in, Letting go as I breathe out. I'll spend a few moments just enjoying that flow of breath through the body. So it's not that you have to make any effort to breathe, You're becoming more aware of the process of the breath happening to the body. The element there is breathing all of our bodies. And the third element, The element of water and our thoughts. So simply getting a sense of the thoughts flowing through the mind just as water flows along a stream or a river. So it doesn't matter what you're thinking, The content of your thoughts is completely irrelevant to this meditation. The idea is to just simply get a sense of that flow of thoughts, Succession of one thought after the next. Not trying to change the direction of flow, Not trying to block the flow. And really not caring what the water, What the thoughts are carrying. Just enjoying the flow of thoughts through the mind just as we are enjoying the flow of breath through the body. And if you have time to spend a bit longer on this aspect, What I tend to notice happen is that naturally on their own the thoughts sometimes do tend to slow down, Become a little deeper, Less trivial. So similar to water, The walled river is eventually finding its way to the ocean, The deep, Wide, Open ocean. But you can't force the river to get there any quicker, So the practice is always just to allow the thoughts to go at their own speed, At their own depth. And just allow the flow, The free flow of thoughts through the mind. So staying with that one as long as you choose, I'm going to move on to the fourth element of fire. Then connecting that with the emotions. So checking how I'm feeling, Checking what emotions are present, Maybe gentle and subtle mix of emotions, Or there may be a dominant, Stronger emotion. So just see what's happening for you now. And if possible, See if you can connect that emotion or that blend of emotions with a sensation in the body. Now we can allow that fire of sensation to gently burn within the body. Giving it all the space and oxygen it needs to express itself. The idea being if it's a positive emotion then it can provide heat and light and energy and really fully express itself. And if it's a negative emotion, It'll be giving it the time and space it needs to burn itself out and resolve itself. All we need to do is just allow the emotion to do whatever it wants to do and just feel that sensation in the body. So no expectation, No effort. Allowing and exploring. This is an element where it's really useful to give it enough time, So if you need to spend longer here, Please do. And if there's a lot of emotion, It's really useful to keep connected to the first two elements of air and air. Feel that weight of the body, That connection with the ground, And keep the breath going. That'll help resolve any emotions through the body. So take the time you need. And the fifth element of sound. This is where we can let our awareness open up and be nice and broad and wide, Far reaching. Really actively listen out to all the different sounds that you can hear in your environment right now. So exploring the nearest sounds, And the most obvious and loudest sounds. And also being alert to the quieter sounds, The more subtle sounds, Maybe some continuous background sounds. And then see what the most distant sound is you can hear. That would just be an occasional sound, But remaining alert and open to catch the most distant sounds. And if I spend enough time with this element, With this part of the exploration at the present moment, I can begin to get a sense of not just sounds, But also of silence, Of stillness, Of quietness. That exists with sounds, And it doesn't require the absence of sound, But sits alongside all sounds, Between, Behind and underneath. It feels like a silent space within which all of the sounds come and go. And the final element, The element of light, And the light of awareness. So far we've been aware of different things, Aware of the body, The breath, Thoughts, Emotions and sounds. This final step is to be aware of our own awareness, Be conscious that we are conscious. So being aware of yourself as a conscious, Aware being. And as with all these elements, Just exploring what's already there, Not creating anything, Not trying to change anything. So spend these few moments just being with yourself, Allowing yourself to just be just as you are. And aware, Conscious being fully present in this moment. And within this awareness, This awareness of ourself, All the sounds we can hear, All our thoughts and emotions, All happening within this space of our awareness. And the breath and all the sensations of the body, All experiences happening within our awareness, Within our open awareness. That space of being and consciousness. So for the last couple of moments for this meditation, Just allow your awareness to move choicelessly amongst all these different aspects, Sounds, Thoughts, Breath, Emotions, Sensations in the body. So not choosing to focus on one thing or another, Just allowing your awareness to be open and notice the unique blend of experiences from all these different aspects. Passing within and through your awareness from moment to moment. Okay, So we'll bring meditation to a close. We'll bring meditation to a close.