Beginning with the element of earth.
And we're going to connect with the element of earth by first becoming more aware of the body.
Notice how your body is feeling right now.
Good time to adjust your posture if you don't feel completely settled or comfortable.
Have a quick scan through the body to see what's going on.
Allow yourself to fully arrive in the present moment by connecting to the body.
There's two steps to the earth connection through the body.
The first is to simply become aware of all the parts of the body that are in contact with something.
So have a scan through your body now and notice that sensation of contact and connection in different parts of the body.
So as I'm sitting I can feel the contact between my feet and the floor and the contact with what I'm sitting on.
You may have backrests that you can feel with your back and I can also feel contact with my clothes.
And I can feel a slight coolness from the air on my hands and face.
So all these different types of contacts with the body.
So the next step is to see if you can feel the weight of your body.
Get a sense of that feeling of lightness or heaviness.
Feeling the weight of your body and allow that weight to be held and supported by the floor,
By the ground,
By whatever you're sitting or lying on.
For me this is the beginnings of allowing the body to relax.
I feel I can let go of the muscles and really allow the body to rest and be supported and held.
And I can imagine any tension,
Feel any tension in the muscles just easing,
Perhaps even that feeling of the tension leaving the body through those points of contact,
Through that sensation of connection,
Drawing out any tension in the body.
So a really nice feeling of the body coming to rest,
Feeling secure,
Collected,
Supported.
So to really feel that direct connection with the air is just a case of adding that realization that this feeling of weight in the body is there because of the air.
It's the mass of the air pulling on the mass of the body.
A gentle pull of gravity is what we can feel in our bodies right now.
So allowing that gentle pull on the body and feeling that as the earth attracting your body towards itself.
No visualization or imagination required but I'm actually feeling that physical and direct and immediate connection with the earth.
Feeling that right now in the body as that simple sensation of weight,
Gentle pull of the earth on your body.
A really good way to begin a meditation,
Feeling grounded,
Connected,
Feeling supported,
And feeling that connection to the earth,
The real tangible sensation in the body.
And the earth attracts every single body equally towards itself at every moment.
So we're all feeling right now the exact same pull of the earth.
So remembering you can stay with any element as long as you choose.
I'm going to move on now to introduce the second element of air and becoming more aware of the breath.
Feeling the element of air as it enters and leaves the body as we breathe.
We don't need to change the breath in any way.
There's no particular technique.
I become more aware of how I'm already breathing,
Feeling the sensations of the breath in the body.
Noticing how I don't need to make any effort to breathe,
Don't need to remember or choose to breathe.
So I'm becoming more aware of an automatic and natural spontaneous process happening within the body.
I could choose to affect the breath,
But instead I'm going to allow the breath to find its own rhythm.
I'm going to become more aware,
More sensitive to the breath,
Really feel the breath just as it is.
Experiencing the breath as free and flowing.
Allowing the breath in and letting go as I breathe out.
Allowing the body to be breathed by the element of air.
It's as if the element of air is doing all the work of the breath.
I just allow the air in and let go when the air is ready to leave the body.
And just as with the pull of the air,
So too the breath of the air,
The element of the air.
The same for every one of us,
We're all breathing in the same element of air.
All being given life by this element.
So staying with the breath and with the element of air for as long as you choose.
Maybe dropping back to the earth for a while.
Just finding what element works best for you in each moment.
And the next element,
This journey through the six elements,
Is the element of water.
And connecting that to the thoughts,
To the mind.
And the idea is to simply allow your thoughts to flow freely through the mind just as water flows freely in a river or stream.
Bringing your awareness to your thoughts and allowing them to come and go.
Making no effort to change or stop any thought.
It really doesn't matter what the content of your thoughts are.
Our only aim here is to get a sense of the thoughts flowing one after another.
For each thought that I become aware of,
I don't need to hold on to that thought or interact with that thought.
Just allow it to be as it is and it will flow away in its own time.
And I stay open and alert and ready to receive and welcome the next thought that comes along into the mind.
Whatever that thought may be.
And in this way,
Your thoughts can flow freely through the mind.
It doesn't matter how fast or slow the river of your thoughts is flowing.
It doesn't matter how deep or shallow.
Just welcoming,
Noticing,
Letting go and being ready for the next thought to come.
Giving your thoughts complete freedom to flow however they want to flow.
Gradually,
In their own time,
You may notice if you spend more time at this element,
That the river of thoughts eventually finds its way down to the ocean,
Where you can begin to experience the mind as fast,
Open and deep.
Enjoying the journey of the river no matter how long it may take to eventually reach the ocean.
And each river travelling to the ocean is like the private thoughts each of us has.
As we do eventually reach that calmer,
Wider ocean,
It's as if we can then begin to connect with others on this level of mind.
We can be all more open and connected to others.
More sensitive and aware of each other's mental states.
Less lost and crowded out by our own private stream of thoughts.
So moving on to the fourth element.
That's the element of fire.
Connecting that with the emotions and that sense of aliveness in the body.
That basic,
Primal sense of being alive in this moment.
Feeling that aliveness and that sensation and emotion arising in the body.
Being more aware of how you feel right now,
What emotions are there for you.
See if you can connect that with a sensation or an energy somewhere in the body.
We can approach that energy in a neutral and accepting way.
Whether it's connected with a positive or a negative emotion,
A strong or a gentle feeling.
Allowing that energy and that sensation to be present in the body.
Seeing if we can get again that sense of flow,
The energy and the sensation flowing freely through the body.
Allowing our positive emotions to fully express themselves.
Allowing our negative emotions to resolve themselves and integrate themselves.
And underlying all the positive and negative emotions is that fundamental feeling of aliveness in the body.
OK,
So we can move on to the fifth element of sound.
So listen out to all the different sounds that you can hear in your environment around you right now.
Listening to sounds near or far,
Loud or quiet.
Being open and allowed to any sounds that come and go.
And again getting that sense of flow,
Allowing the sounds to flow freely through your awareness.
Accepting any and all sounds just as they are.
This is a good opportunity to really allow your awareness to open up and be broad and wide.
By really listening out for the quietest and most distant sounds that you can hear.
Being alert but open.
If you have time with this sensitivity to sounds,
You may be able to get a sense of being able to listen for and get a sense of silence.
So silence isn't the absence of sound but a silence that's always there between and behind all sounds.
A silent space within which all sounds come and go.
So as you listen to sounds,
You may be getting a sense of that silent backdrop or background to those sounds.
And this takes us on to the final and sixth element.
The element of light and the light of awareness.
All the other elements are things that we have been aware of.
This final element is about being aware of our own awareness,
Being conscious that we are conscious.
Getting a sense of yourself as that being of light,
That being of awareness.
A continuous and conscious self within which all your experiences happen.
Just as that silent space contained all of sound.
So this space of consciousness,
The aware space of the self is where all your experiences come and go.
Allowing everything that you're aware of,
Sounds,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
The breath and the body,
All of these things flowing moment to moment within this space of your awareness,
Within this space of your consciousness.
So concluding this meditation,
Just getting a sense of that being,
Of just being yourself.
The awareness that is allowing everything that's happening in each moment to flow by.
Free flowing thoughts and breath.
All flowing freely through your awareness.
All flowing freely through your awareness.
All flowing freely through your awareness.
All flowing freely through your awareness.
