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For this meditation, you can visit a nearby pond, stream, river, lake, or beach. You can also do this meditation in the shower or bath. If these aren’t an option, wherever you are, find a comfortable position seated or lying down.
“if the ocean can calm itself, so can you. we are both salt water mixed with air.” -- meditation, Nayyirah Waheed
Begin by closing your eyes. Allow your breath to slow. Let the muscles of your face relax. Relax your forehead, eyes, jaw. Allow your shoulders to relax away from your ears. Take a slow, deep breath, gently filling your lungs. Slowly breathe out. Take one more breath, this time slowing your inhale even more. Pause. Slowly release the breath.
In your mind’s eye, visualize a body of water. What do you see? It is still water, maybe a pond, or a lake? Is it moving, like a stream or river? Is it vast, perhaps an ocean?
Find a spot near the edge of the water where you feel safe. You might be alone, or near others. Take off your shoes if you can, and want to. Feel the soil, sand, or rock beneath your feet, or sit and run your hands along the ground. Breathe in. Breathe out. Ask yourself, what sensations do I feel beneath my feet, or in my hands? Is the ground cold, damp? Is it firm? Warm? Is it soft? Breathe in. Breathe out. Notice the sounds of the water and the air surrounding you. Look around at the life at the water’s edge. What plants, flowers, insects, or animals do you notice? Name them, one by one. Name yourself. You are a welcome and honored part of this ecosystem, connected by the water you share in your very cells. You are not alone.
Step into the water with your bare feet, or sit near the water’s edge and place your hands in the water. What sensations do you feel? Is the water moving? Is it still? Is it warm, cool, freezing? Is it gentle, or forceful? How does the energy of the water align with the energy you feel inside right now? Does feeling the water’s energy shift your own? Do you want it to?
You don’t have to know the answers to these questions right away, or at all. Just being here is enough. You are enough.
Stay here at the water’s edge as long as you like.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
