Dear Friends,
Today we bring our exploration of the water element into direct practice.
Over the past several days, we have been invited to get familiar with water as flow, connection, and change, and as something we participate in rather than possess. Today’s practice offers a way to experience this directly, through embodied awareness.
I invite you to listen to a guided meditation by Susie Harrington, recorded as part of a series on the elements. This meditation weaves together direct sensing, imagery, and reflection to help us feel the water element as it moves through the body and the wider world.
https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/14191 (32 minutes)
The practice begins by settling into contact and support, then gradually invites awareness of softness, fluidity, and subtle movement in the body – how water allows the body to be pliable rather than rigid, cohesive yet responsive. Attention moves through different areas of the body, noticing moisture, internal movement, and the way breath and posture are supported by this fluid nature.
As the meditation unfolds, the water element is also explored more broadly – as something shared rather than personal. Water is felt as moving through us, borrowed for a time, circulating through clouds, rivers, soil, bodies, and back again. In this way, the practice gently loosens the sense of separation and ownership, not through analysis, but through direct experience.
You are welcome to listen in whatever posture feels supportive, and to engage with the practice in a way that matches your capacity today.
A brief alternative practice (3–5 minutes)
If you do not have time for the full meditation, you might pause for a few minutes and notice the water element in simple ways:
- Sense any softness, moisture, or subtle movement in the body
- Notice the gentle movement of breath, or the pulse of blood
- Let sensations change on their own, without directing them
- You might simply reflect: This water is moving through me, not belonging to me.
Even a few moments of noticing can support the themes we have been exploring.
I would love to hear what you discover in practicing with the water element. You can reply to the email or post a comment. Your reflections help keep this a shared exploration.
With good wishes,
Andrea
Really appreciate the posts on water element Andrea. The felt sense is one of being “a part of” Connected and soft fluid and the opposite of rigid! Opposite of tight. It’s really sweet. Thsnk you. Deb
Thank you, Deb. I am glad the reflections are supporting that sweet shift from tightness into softness and connection. I love how you describe there being a felt sense of being “a part of” – it’s beautiful to hear about your experience.
What a beautiful experience to practice with Suzie’s guidance and the gentle flow of water in the background. I like to reflect on this water is moving through me, not belonging to me. This practice helps to connect with the sense of softness and flowing with life.
Hi Michele, It is lovely to hear how the practice landed for you. I am glad Susie’s guidance and the water sounds supported a sense of softness and flow. The reflection – this water is moving through me, not belonging to me – is a powerful way to open into connection.