Five Elements

"Thy sunshine smiles upon the winter days of my heart, never doubting of its spring flowers."

~ Tagore

If we only pause and reflect a moment, we are instantly connected with the five elements of Nature no matter where we may be physically. Why? Because we are nature. That's easy for many people to forget when we are caught up in our hectic, daily lives, perhaps working in an office or sterile hospital environment. All we have to do is befriend our breath (as Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it) and we are instantly aware of Air. Think about eating or put a carrot in our mouths, and immediately our system secretes enzymes, starting the Fire of our digestion. About sixty percent of an adult's body is Water (seventy percent in the brain; ninety percent in the lungs; babies can be about seventy-eight percent water); we can feel it in our tissues. Our bones consist of tremendous amounts of minerals and our cells require minerals for every function; these minerals are Earth. The last element is Ether -- space, stillness, a field within which all else functions. Amazing! So, the next time you feel like to desperately need to experience nature but are unable to at that moment, simply pause and reflect and there nature/you/we are.