Meditation For The Fire Element

Welcome to your Yoga Nidra and meditation practice.

And get comfortable in your space,

Whatever you need,

Right here,

Right now.

Take a deep breath in,

And a long breath out.

Again,

Full inhale.

Complete exhale.

Allow your body to melt into the floor.

Shift and move around however you need to let your body settle more deeply into the surface beneath you.

Be comforted that right now,

In this moment,

Everything is okay.

Your only responsibility is to simply be here,

Feel your body,

And listen.

Try not to worry or feel frustrated if you do not hear everything I say.

Flowing in and out of conscious hearing is natural.

Just remember that your core essential self is always listening.

There is no right or wrong approach in this experience.

Allow yourself to listen without trying too hard.

Visualize the space you are in without opening your eyes.

See the ceiling,

The walls,

The floor.

See your body as it rests on the floor and any props.

Visualize the position of your body,

The clothes you are wearing,

Your face,

Your hair.

Notice the texture of your skin.

Maybe the coolness of the room you're in or the morning humidity and warmth creeping in.

Notice any sounds in your orbit.

Become intimately and keenly aware of the existence of your physical body in this space.

You are in held space,

Protected space.

Come into stillness now and remain in that stillness.

Giving over to deep rest,

Deep self-care.

Feel your natural spontaneous breath.

Let it move through you in its own way effortlessly.

Feel the coolness of the air on the inhale.

Feeling it move through your sinuses,

Towards the back of your throat,

And then towards your lungs.

Feel the warmth of the air on the exhale.

Feeling it move over your upper lip.

Give your bones permission to become heavy.

Feel that complete heaviness even more and allow all of your limbs to sink into the floor.

As we officially welcome summertime,

The solstice is a great moment to consider the power of transformation.

In traditional Chinese medicine,

Our fire element is the one most closely associated with the summer season.

With fire being that through which so much of the natural world transforms.

As humans,

We can harness our inner fire for our personal growth and development.

The organ associated with the fire element is the heart.

The heart houses the shen,

Your spirit,

Which is deeply connected to your mind,

Soul,

Vitality,

And expression.

We can think about our sense of communication and connection as an outward energy that in turn creates depth and meaning in our lives.

To be able to love and be loved is so critical to our health and vitality.

A balance in this element requires contact and intimacy,

Which requires vulnerability.

Ask yourself,

How can I open up to the warmth and delight of others' company?

How can I connect in ways that bring me nourishment?

When our fire element is in balance,

It translates to a deep knowing of when to be protective of ourselves and how to establish appropriate boundaries that support your needs.

Who is someone in your life you can be vulnerable with?

What does it feel like to know that you are loved?

I invite you to go more deeply now,

Deep inside yourself to notice your heart's true desire.

Create a sankalpa,

Which is an affirmative intention based on this desire.

This is a positive statement in the present tense.

Repeat,

For example,

I embrace change.

I trust my instincts and insights.

I am intuitive.

My heart flows with compassion for myself and others.

I am happy and healthy in my body,

Mind,

And soul.

Give yourself a moment to create your affirmative intention and state it silently to yourself three times.

Tell yourself,

I am practicing yoga nidra,

I am here,

And I am awake.

Allow yourself to steep in the inner warmth,

The fire of your sankalpa,

Your affirmation that speaks to your heart,

Your true self,

And what is precious.

Now,

Begin to allow your awareness to travel sensationally through your body.

Without moving,

Simply feel each part as it is mentioned,

Welcoming all sensation just as it is.

Begin with the mouth.

Feel your mouth.

Feel sensation inside your mouth.

Feel your jaw,

Lips,

Upper lip,

Lower lip.

Notice the point where the lips meet.

Feel the inside of your mouth,

Your upper teeth and gums,

Your lower teeth and gums,

Your tongue.

Notice your sense of taste.

Feel your left inner cheek.

Feel your right inner cheek.

Now feel all parts together as a whole.

Feel your mouth as sensation,

As radiant energy.

Feel your nose.

Notice your nostrils.

Notice the breath moving through your nasal passages all the way back into your head.

Become aware of your ears,

Left ear,

Right ear,

Both ears simultaneously.

Feel the wrinkles and folds of the ears,

Ear lobes,

Ear canals.

Notice your ears receiving sound,

Listening.

Feel your ears hearing.

Feel your eyes,

Left eye,

Right eye,

Both eyes together.

Notice your eyelids.

Feel each eyelash.

Notice where the eyelids touch.

Become aware of the surface of your eyes,

Centers of your eyes,

Backs of your eyes.

Feel your eyes now as energy,

Radiant glowing orbs.

Bring awareness to the crown of your head,

Your forehead,

Your face.

Feel your whole head.

Feel your neck,

Back of your neck,

Sides of your neck,

Throat.

Notice the notch at the base of the throat.

Notice your right palm,

The back of your right hand,

Thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger.

Feel your whole right hand energetically alive.

Feel your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Whole shoulder.

Notice your left palm,

The back of your left hand,

Thumb,

First finger,

Second finger,

Third finger,

Fourth finger.

Feel your whole left hand energetically alive.

Feel your wrist,

Forearm,

Elbow,

Upper arm,

Whole shoulder.

Become aware of the upper chest,

Upper back,

Shoulder blades.

Feel your heart center.

Notice your abdomen,

Your rib cage.

Feel your belly,

Navel center,

Pelvis,

Hips.

Feel your right hip,

Right thigh,

Right knee,

Right calf,

Right ankle,

Foot,

Toes,

Sole of foot.

Feel your whole right foot.

Feel again your pelvis.

Feel your left hip,

Left thigh,

Left knee,

Left calf,

Left ankle,

Foot,

Toes,

Sole of foot,

Whole left foot.

Notice both feet.

Feel your root between your sitting bones,

Navel center,

Solar plexus,

Heart center,

Throat center,

Mouth,

Third eye between the brows,

Your crown.

Feel now the back body resting on its supports.

Bring awareness to your whole back body as sensation alive with vibration.

Now feel the front body equally filled with radiant vibration.

Pour your awareness into the right side of your body.

Feel your right side.

Pour your awareness into the left side.

Feel your left side.

Feel your midline.

Feel your body as a whole,

A complete entity.

Feel radiant sensation throughout your whole body.

Now,

Imagine yourself in a place that makes you feel peaceful and calm.

Are you inside or outside?

In a city or somewhere more far away and remote?

Are you by yourself or are you with family or friends?

Notice how this environment and its components make you feel.

Now imagine yourself on a remote sandy beach where the air is fairly calm and still.

You can hear the ocean nearby.

It's mere feet away,

But its gentle roar is just that,

A soft rumble in the background.

It's late afternoon,

So the sun isn't as strong.

So it makes the casual stroll a pleasant one.

You pause in your walk just to stand and look out towards the horizon.

The juncture of the sky and water is hazy as they begin to blend in with one another.

While you stand there trying to distinguish ocean from sky,

A young man approaches you.

His body is strong.

You can see the sinews of his musculature.

His face is radiant and tan from the sun.

He invites you to sit with him on a nearby piece of driftwood.

You oblige because he has kind eyes and an undefinable warmth that you like.

His introduction is brief.

He tells you he is a local and he knows these beaches and the far-reaching surrounding forests quite intimately.

As he swiftly shifts the conversation to the surrounding environment,

He remarks on the beauty that envelops both of you and the importance of maintaining that natural wonder.

He then passes you a shell.

It's remarkably clean,

No traces of sand,

Salt,

Or dirt.

He asks you to hold it,

To feel its contours,

Its smooth exterior,

And yet also notice just how fragile it is.

It was some creature's house once,

A protective barrier.

He tells you he collected that shell from a sacred lake where he likes to swim.

He then catches you off guard by asking you directly but kindly to close your eyes.

He asks you to think about your own birth.

Of course,

This is not an event you can remember in its actuality.

But he entreats you to take the time to turn inward and consider the pain and sacrifice of the person who brought you into this world.

He is visceral in the coaxing of this memory,

Encouraging you to meditate upon the physical pain,

Blood,

And sweat that your birth mother endured for you.

The intensely magnificent workings of the body and the self.

You consider the power of this natural process.

After you reflect,

He tells you to blow into the hollow portion of the shell in your hand and allow for a sense of physical renewal and awareness in light of this memory.

Then he brings you to the next stage of your growth,

That of a young child,

Learning under the instruction and guidance of your parents and guardians.

He tells you to recall the times when you were advised to do something and did not,

And were subsequently scolded.

You ruminate upon the time of your youth and the process of learning through stumbling.

How your emotional intelligence and awareness of the space you occupy began to expand and take on a new understanding of how we communicate,

Interact,

And participate in this world,

Beginning to understand the karmic path of consequences.

Again,

You are asked to blow into the hollow of the shell.

He then brings you towards a much more adult memory,

Recalling your first experience of being on your own.

What did that independence feel like?

Was it ever a struggle?

What were the joys and the challenges?

He asks you to recall how you felt,

Where you were,

Who was with you as you really began to explore this stage of your life.

Who was there to help you understand the complexities of adulthood?

Asking you to think about this critical foundation that connects you to who you are now.

As you blow into the hollow of the shell for a third time,

You take a moment to pause and consider just how powerful and divine your physical body is imbued with a vibrant mind and a radiant soul.

Finally,

He turns to face you directly and asks you to think about someone you love.

Any experience you've had where you have felt a deep connection with another,

One that transcends this known physicality of this earth.

A meeting of souls,

He suggests.

You allow yourself to melt into this reverie of thought.

Allow your heart to open up to a blissful acceptance and celebration of the experience of loving and being loved.

This time when you blow into the hollow of the shell,

That little self-generated wind is your choice to send this sincere love and gratitude back out to your environment.

When you blink your eyes open,

You're sitting alone on the driftwood,

But you feel calm and simply pleased with it all.

Begin to notice your breath and its natural flow through you.

Feel the in-breath,

Feel the out-breath.

As you exhale,

Feel it like a bellow clearing out any and all tension.

On the inhale,

Feel the freshness move upward through your whole body,

Bringing a sense of calm to each and every cell.

The exhale carries away what does not serve you right here,

Right now.

The inhale brings a renewed sense of serenity and ease.

Now,

Remember your heart statement of affirmation,

Your sankalpa.

Repeat it again three times as the present truth.

Notice your back body facing the earth.

Feel all the spaces where you touch the ground and your supports.

Notice your front body facing skyward.

Notice all of the space that surrounds you.

Notice your breath,

Feeling its rhythm and pace.

We are now completing your yoga nidra practice.

Before moving,

Sense your fingers and just imagine them moving.

Now begin to wiggle your fingers.

Feel each individual sensation.

Notice your toes as well.

Begin to wiggle your toes.

Gently rock your head from side to side,

Awakening slowly.

Draw a deeper breath into your belly.

Draw one knee towards your chest,

Followed by the other.

And just rock slowly onto your right side,

Carefully pressing your left palm into the floor.

Ease your way up to a comfortable seat,

Lengthening your spine.

Take a full breath in and a full breath out.

May you enjoy the rest of your lovely day.