Five Elements Nature Meditation: Water for Clarity and Renewal

Did you know you are a water creature? Sixty percent of the human body is water, and it is vital to every physiological process in the body. While you can be deprived of food for three or four weeks, you can only go three or four days without water.

And you have probably already experienced the mental and spiritual benefits of water. A quick shower or a lap in a swimming pool can do wonders to rejuvenate the mind and spirit after a hard day. When people vacation, they often flock to oceans and lakes for a reason—just the sight of the clear blue water is enough to melt the stress away. That’s why it’s important to keep the energy of water flowing through your life, and if you don’t have a pool or a beach close by, the power of your imagination will do just fine.

Water Gratitude Is Life Gratitude

First, I recommend nurturing a mindset of gratitude for the abundance of water on this planet. Just as you are a water being, this earth is a water planet. More than seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, which allows infinite forms of life to thrive here. Thanks to the many ways that water finds its way to the land—through precipitation, rivers, lakes, and streams—we humans have been able to sustain ourselves in many different environments. And, as we have developed the ability to direct the flow of water through aqueducts and irrigation systems, we have been able to grow food and build towns in places where this would otherwise have been impossible. So, whenever you turn on a tap or sit down to have a meal, don’t forget that water is what brings life and sustains it.

The Cleansing Power of Water

As you know, water is an element associated with cleanliness, which, as the old saying goes, is “next to godliness.” We use it every day to clean our bodies, our clothing, and our homes. But have you thought about how it can cleanse your mind and spirit, as well?

To feel the cleansing power of water, you do not need to soak in a tub for an hour or take a vacation by the seaside, although those things are nice if you are lucky enough to have them available. Instead, if you are short on time, just try this:

1. In the restroom, turn on the cool water tap and let it flow for a few seconds at a steady, but not rushing, pace.
2. Place your hands under the water, close your eyes, and feel the cool water flowing over them.
3. Breathe slowly in and out, feeling the stress and tension washing out through your shoulders and arms.
4. After just a couple of minutes, you can stop, and you will feel surprisingly refreshed.

You can use this as a quick water meditation, even when you are away from home and short on time.

Water Meditation I: Clear Water Visualization

This visualization is useful when your mind feels overwhelmed with too many competing thoughts. It will help you feel calmer and increase your ability to focus.

1. Sit in a traditional meditation posture with your palms facing upward and resting gently on your knees. If this is not comfortable for you, you may sit in a chair with your back straight and your palm resting, facing upward, on your thighs. Breathe naturally and fully into your abdomen and relax your body completely.
2. Visualize in your mind’s eye a glass of murky, agitated water with sediment swirling around in it. This represents your mind at this moment, full of countless fleeting thoughts and worries.
3. As you breathe in and out naturally, watch the sediment slowly but surely settle to the bottom of the glass. Keep your mind totally focused on the glass and let all other thoughts fall away. With each breath, more and more sediment falls to the bottom of the glass.
4. Continue this visualization until all of the sediment has settled on the bottom of the glass. When it is crystal clear, return to waking awareness and open your eyes.

Water Meditation II: Emotional Brain Cleanse

This is another water visualization that can help you find greater clarity and serenity, especially when you are experiencing negative emotions or when you need to let go of old negative memories. As you imagine emotional “dirt” being washed away from your brain, your brain will become lighter and brighter.

1. As in the meditation above, sit in a traditional meditation posture with your palms facing upward and resting gently on your knees. If this is not comfortable for you, you may sit in a chair with your back straight and your palm resting, facing upward, on your thighs. Breathe naturally and fully into your abdomen and relax your body completely.
2. In your mind’s eye, visualize your own brain with all the negative emotions you are holding represented as dark, murky residue.
3. Now, imagine a waterfall of clear, clean water flowing down onto your brain from heaven. Feel the hot emotions of anger and resentment being cooled, and the heavy emotions of sadness and disappointment slowly washing away.
4. As you watch the water flowing over your brain, you can see it becoming cleaner and brighter until it shines from within like a golden light. The memories that once brought anger and sorrow are now just neutral memories, pictures from the past that have little meaning now. Your brain is focused on the present moment and can see the great potential that lies before it.
5. Repeat this meditation as needed to help yourself disengage from old memories and emotions that hold you down.

Water Is Refreshment and Renewal

Many spiritual traditions use water as a symbol of spiritual rebirth, as in the sacrament of baptism in Christianity. This is quite appropriate since the need for rebirth is continual while we are on our path to spiritual completion. Sometimes, this means rebirthing yourself as a whole new person, and other times it is just a matter of resetting the mind in the moment for greater clarity and insight. Whatever your need right now, always remember the healing power of water and use it every day to place yourself in the flow of a brighter and more fulfilling life.