We Are Elemental: Embodying Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Ether

You are nature. Your bones are earth. Your blood is water. Your warmth is fire. Your breath is air. And the mystery that animates it all? That’s ether (also called spirit or space).

Various elements are honored across countless traditions—from ancient Egypt and Greece to India and China to Indigenous cultures throughout Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific. The elements are integrated into spiritual philosophy, healing modalities, and daily rituals. In classical Buddhist teachings, the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air are given as objects for mindfulness, just like the breath. Through practice, we discover that meditating with (and as) the elements helps us connect to the body in a way that simultaneously connects us to everything else, loosening the barriers between self and other—between so-and-so and the cosmos.

Over these four days, on the stunning land of Cortes Island, we’ll explore the five elements through guided meditation, embodied practices, solo and group time in nature, journal prompts, song, and conversation. We will practice grounding ourselves like trees with roots deep in the earth. We’ll feel the fluidity of water and emotions moving through us. We’ll sense the fire of transformation and the ephemeral quality of air and thought. And we’ll open to the spaciousness of ether—that fifth element often forgotten but always present, holding it all.

We will spend much of our time in silent contemplative practice. And every evening, we will have time to connect in facilitated dialogue, including within affinity groups where people of color and white people can investigate their particular experiences.

May we remember together: We Are Elemental.

Sebene’s dear friend, Shawna Wakefield, will be assisting and offering song circles throughout the program helping us connect to our elemental natures through sound and music.

What You’ll Gain

• Learn about the qualities of the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether
• Develop an embodied relationship to the elements
• Explore the elements within and around us
• Deepen a connection to self and other through elemental awareness

Who This Program is For

• Those seeking a program mostly in silence and also open to song circles as well as evening facilitated conversation within racial affinity groups
• Anyone curious to explore mindfulness as both an internal and external embodied awareness practice
• This retreat is open to all levels—beginners are welcome

What You’ll Experience

• Guided meditation
• Embodied practices
• Solo and group time in nature
• Journal prompts, song, and conversation
• Individual & communal ritual

Testimonials

Sebene has a gift for creating space for exploration and acceptance, and I feel grateful to have been part of that space. (past participant)

I love the spaciousness with which you hold space… I love how much YOU are in it. It’s definitely not a pass through of generic teaching transmission. It is SO YOU and, at the same time, so expansively welcoming for everyone to show up as their own self. (past partcipant)

Daily Schedule

A detailed schedule will be emailed to you about 30 days prior to your program. Click here to view a sample program schedule.