Ground & Nourish
Earth Element Practice
This course addresses anxiety, insecurity as well as issues of scarcity and self worth by 1) grounding awareness in your body, 2) bringing illumination and meaning to your inner world, and 3) aligning your own inner nature with the outer nature of earth energy to realise authentic presence in your life.
This embodied process of revisioning your values and belief systems through the lens of your past, present and future selves is facilitated naturally through: 1) mindfulness practice, 2) contemplative inquiry (journaling) to explore your experience with generosity and with unconscious assumptions you may embody with your body/mind that influence your inner world, 3) cultivating gratitude in movement and 4) the use of botanicals; specifically: vetiver, sandalwood, ginger, cedar wood, yang-ylang and clove (Earth Element Blend).
~ Why You Are Here ~
You who can benefit from Ground & Nourish if you are experiencing:
Anxiety levels that are unhelpful and intrusive.
Inability to focus in ways that are productive and meaningful.
· loss of vitality
· feeling fed up
· self-defeating thoughts
What you say/do is having very little effect on you or anyone else.
So much anger, hatred and fear around you that you are being
pulled into a negative dynamic.
Your world and the world around you are veering more and more out of control and/or
going in the wrong direction.
Putting on a good face but on the inside you know that life (your life as well as others) could be better, happier and more integrated with peace, vitality and joy.
Knowing that you are done with self-improvement projects. While they may appear to help initially there are no long-term, substantive changes and you find yourself back where you started.
~ What You Get ~
Understand that anxiety may be a coping strategy designed to protect you in situations that are no longer operative.
Working with Ground & Nourish Practices as contained in this Earth Element Module allows you to become aware of these unhealthy energies from the inside.
Once you become aware that these energies are indeed here (no more denial!) you can find stable ground (your nest) where you can begin to take responsibility for your thoughts, feelings and sensations. You are now in a position to transform these energies with cultivation and nourishment, so that they can be of service to you.
This transformation is accomplished by revisioning your alignment between your own inner self-nature and the outer energies of the natural world.
Realize there are underlying causes for your anxiety such as issues of self-worth (I need to acquire XYZ to feel better about myself and to make others feel better about me), scarcity (incessant planning/worry) and lack that may be creating a sense of fragmentation/separation/isolation from self and other. This sense of fragmentation/separation/isolation then feeds the negative thinking/feeling cycle that produced these unhealthy feelings in the first place.
When we ground these unhealthy thoughts, feelings and sensations consciously in the body and nourish them with kindness, acceptance and validation, they can be 1) recognized, 2) accepted, then 3) integrated.
Energy becomes available to you enabling communion, connection and vitality.
These practices empower you emotionally and spiritually to release holding patterns that have maintained unhelpful (not to mention unhealthy) thoughts, feelings and sensations born of unexamined assumptions in relation to self-worth (the meaning and value of your existence).
~ How You Get There ~
Learn to quiet the mind so that you can begin to ground your awareness in your body to experience trust, generosity and gratitude by establishing a daily 10-minute mindfulness practice.
Learn to bring meaning to your inner world by resourcing curiosity and kindness to find appreciation and wonder with regard to your own embodied (inner) experience.
Become 1) conscious and aware of your thoughts, feelings and sensations, then 2) engaged in the process of aligning your inner, natural, authentic self with the outer (nature and natural) earth energy that surrounds you. Cultivating your awareness of this dynamic relation provides the ground for on-going nourishment and vitality.
Begin the process of revisioning your lived experience as an integrated on-going manifestation of the vital relation between your own inner (natural/authentic) self and the outer (natural, elemental) world.
Uncover assumptions you may have constructed regarding your being in the world in your efforts to survive what you perceived to be inhospitable environments.
Revise (where appropriate) belief systems, values and expectations of self/other using the light of your authentic self-nature to support the process of authoring yourself and your journey.
Cultivate nourishment of self and others with helpful a) thinking, b) character traits and c) attitudes that enable vitality to grow from a practice to a lifestyle.
Materials
Mindfulness practice (mandala, mudra and mantra) in combination with journaling and the use of botanicals, videos, guided meditations, and PDF's (all downloadable) enable you to move at your own pace.
Process
Creating a sacred space (your nest in movement or at rest) for spending time with your inner world you are working with your heart/mind via guided contemplative inquiry, critical thinking, character development and attitude cultivation.
Outcome
The ability to recognize, observe and resource energies (natural forces) in the process of discovering your own inner awareness of your vital forces (dragon) so that you can show up for others as well as yourself with grace, awareness, equanimity and joy.
Example Curriculum
Greetings Dear Hearts!
This is me - BSeie, your guide, fellow traveller and playful transgressor in the service of vitality and joy. I am deeply honoured to have been empowered to share the Six Element Family of practices (Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space and Conscious) with you.
A deep bow to each and every one of you.
Six Element Practice is the result of a vision I received during my practice on Mt. Koya (the seat of Shingen Buddhism or Vajrayana Buddhism in Japan) - a vision that seeks the realization of vitality, ease, and harmony, through conscious, transformative practice.
This transformation is mediated through the connectivity we embody with natural forces (Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space, & Consciousness). We are not alone. Through the support of the Six Element Family we can heal, support and enable vitality in all aspects of our lives - for ourselves and for others as well as for the planet herself.
Dragons are the play of natural forces made conscious.
Join me as we discover what nature has to offer us; both inside and out.
Move along at your own pace through free offerings, courses and coaching sessions.
Begin at the beginning with Building Your Nest (Earth Element/ Issues of Anxiety and Lack), then move onto Exploring Your Nest (Water Element/ Overwhelm) and Repairing Your Nest (Fire Element/Burnout).
If you prefer a different order that is ok too.
You are your own best teacher.
Welcome to Dragons Work!