Sensory Awareness This exercise follows on from the sand symbol meditation. In this exercise you will feel the spirit of nature in a rock, tree or other object. Choose an object, it could be a rock that you can lie on, a tree you can hug, a field of grass or an expanse of sand. Try this exercise with many objects and you will sense different feelings from all of them. Prepare yourself using meditation, one of the guided mediations, yoga or Chi Kung, until you are in a receptive and open state. Embrace the object you have chosen. This may mean lying on it, holding it or hugging it. Take a few minutes just to centre you experiences. Become aware of the surface you are holding or leaning against, is it hot or cold? Rough or smooth? Hard or soft? Are there any specific feelings or energies associated with it? Take a few minutes to explore these feelings. Become aware of the air around you, is it hot or cold? Moving or still? Damp or Dry? Is the sun warming your skin? Take a few moments to explore these feelings. Return to your object and after you are fully immersed, imagine sinking into it. When you have sunk in, feel the quality of the embrace, the loving energy of nature. You may be able to feel what it is like to be a rock, tree, the sand, the grass.

Return to the sensations of the air on your skin. This time imagine that you are your chosen object and feeling the sun and air on your surface. Imagine that you have become one with the object- you no longer have a human body, as your body is the object. Take some time to rejoice in the bliss and the beauty.

Explore the boundaries of your object, try to feel right to the edges. If it is a tree you may notice different sensations in the branches and leaves, in the roots and in the trunk. You may actually have some feeling of what being this tree is like. If you are on a rock, feel it deep in the ground, the difference between the cradling earth and the sunshine. Likewise, explore whatever natural object you have chosen.

Slowly bring yourself back by becoming aware of your human body. This exercise is very good for developing empathy with nature.

Cosmic Breeze

This energy exercise takes the streams of energy that make your consciousness and purifies them. It allows you to experience the bliss of non-being. Having developed your senses and become aware of the subtle energies of nature, you will be able to perceive through your chakras.

In a meditative state you will be able to draw the energy of the chakras together into the Cosmic Breeze symbol and liberate pure lifeforce energy. This energy will take you to a realm beyond your body and your senses into a boundless state.

You must begin by drawing on all your past experience. Find a sacred spot and centre yourself using meditation, yoga or whatever system you now use. This exercise is best done at twilight, drawing on the powerful planetary energies. The Cosmic Breeze symbol, described below, should either be visualised or drawn on the sand.

You should then open your chakras one by one. Once all your chakras are fully open, imagine a stream of energy emanating from each. This rainbow of energy enters the Cosmic Breeze symbol and is transformed into a stream of pure energy that spirals around you, engulfing you. As it does so it takes you higher and higher into a state of non-being. Draw the exercise to a close by closing your chakras.

Cosmic Breeze Symbol

The Cosmic Breeze Symbol Skandha- Anica which means 'empty aggregates' is a very powerful symbol that converts the five skandhas into pure energy. The Skandhas, form, sensation, thought, activity and consciousness have been described in the Seven Senses section and are the means by which our senses give rise to the illusionary self. The symbol draws the skandhas together and liberates the energy as pure life force. It takes energy, one stream from each chakra and converts them into their skandhic components and then into pure life force.

This symbol is a very powerful aid to meditation and spiritual development. Any sensory information is converted into pure life force and the user can experience the enlightened mind. In a sense it is a shortcut to enlightenment as it allows us to see our true natures instantly. This symbol can be used for mediation, in groups, or individually.