Interbeing with the five elements is a very old practice—18,000 years old, they say. Back then people divided the physical world into five elements: earth, wind, water, fire, and space. You've probably heard of the four elements—earth, air, water, and fire—so we’re just adding a fifth: space.

This practice allows us to connect with nature, connect with the world, and break it into bite-sized chunks—to connect with each element. Traditionally, they say every space is made up of these five elements. Many at first, think that to connect with the five elements you have to go out into nature, which is lovely to do—but it’s a bit conditional. You’ve got to go out to the parks—who has time for that? What I love about connecting with the five elements is that they can be found everywhere.

When we have time, we can go out into nature—practice at the beach or a park, in an outdoor setting. But we can also practice indoors. You can do the guided practice below even in the room you are in at home. You can touch this practice in a parking lot, your office space, or wherever you work.

When we’re not in balance with the natural world—when we’re not in balance with these five elements—a lot of emotionality and suffering can arise. But when we are able to connect with the world around us, we’re able to be grounded in the Earth element, be open in the Space element, joyful in the Fire element, be flexible and move with the flow of life in the Air element, and find comfort and peace in the Water element—it helps us balance and gives rise to wholesome energies.

We are focusing on how to cultivate and develop wholesomeness. Wholesome qualities of mind, wholesome actions of body, speech, and mind. When I say wholesome, I mean in alignment with our intention and aspiration— how we want to be in the world. These are practices that help generate the energy to bring that intention to life.

I won’t go into too much detail here, but I’ll share a bit about each of the five elements so we know what to look for:

Earth connects us with groundedness, connectedness, strong and steady focus. Think about the dirt, standing on the beach, standing in the woods. The trees, the ground, the grass are all available to us. We can walk barefoot or sit in the grass. There are benches outside for us to just sit and connect. Sit on the ground, or walk the shell path, and feel the groundedness and stability of the Earth.

Water connects us with comfort, fluidity, and ease. Peace comes to mind—like a hot bath or the sound of rain. As you walk around the center, there’s a lovely water fountain. If it rains, just sit and listen to it. There’s a beautiful pond out back. For those at home, start thinking about your sources of Earth and Water.

Fire connects us with joy, inspiration, creativity, and energy. One of the biggest sources in Florida is the heat of the sun. Go out and stand in the sun—feel the warmth on your body. A campfire, a fireplace, even the hot air we usually complain about—stop and connect with it. Our bodies produce heat. Recognize it, connect with it.

Air connects us with flexibility, movement, liveliness, lightness, and freshness. A cool breeze outside. Coming into a cool room from the heat—feeling the AC or a fan.

Space connects us with openness, accommodation, and vast acceptance. Step into a big field or look up at the sky—clouds, night sky—feel that sense of openness. The meditation hall here has high ceilings—so much space in there.

We can go into natural settings where each element may feel stronger. We’ll focus on one element at a time. What I love is that it's a bite-sized practice—you can choose just one and not feel overwhelmed.

The park, the woods, the beach—they're great. There's so much at the beach: water, wind, heat, the vast sky, the sand. But even if we can’t travel, we can still connect to the elements. At home—the cool air, the AC or fan. The spaciousness of your room. A cool glass of water—feel it in your hand, drink it. The warmth of a cup of tea or coffee—connect to the heat. Even the support of your chair or cushion, feeling the floor, lying down.

Even indoors, this practice works. It’s lovely to connect outdoors, but we’re not limited to only practicing when it’s convenient or nice outside.

When we connect with the elements—space, heat, and others—we can send that energy to parts of the body where it's lacking. Where we feel constriction. By connecting with spaciousness—by looking out a window—we can send that energy to areas that feel tight or closed.

So much of what we consume in the world is negative—focused on problems. This practice invites us to look non-judgmentally, to touch reality without commentary or story.

Often, when we're starting, we might need to prime our experience by starting with more pleasant environments. If the heat is challenging, don’t start there. Maybe build up to it. Begin in a cool place, indoors, looking out a window. Cultivate wholesome relationships, then move to neutral spaces, then to more challenging ones. It’s personal and experiential.

You have to find how you connect with the world around you. That’s why bite-sized pieces help—it’s not overwhelming. Just take one small bite of the experience. Let it come in, let it go—start recognizing it in wholesome ways.

And here’s how this applies in daily life: We don’t all have time to go to park and beaches and walk the boardwalk. (Though if you can, I recommend it!) Skunk Ape'n is a great practice.

But you can also use this practice in short moments. Sitting at your laptop, working—you notice you’re distracted, tight, agitated, or you’ve lost track of time. Look up and ask, "Are any of the five elements present?" Connect. Open space—eyes open, senses open. A water bottle—drink, feel the coolness enter your body. Feel the air from the fan or AC.

It doesn’t have to be a 30-minute guided meditation. Though if you want that, it’s very healing—like a long bath. But it can also be short moments. Sitting, working, coffee nearby—wrap your hand around the mug. Feel the heat. Connect with that element. Let it move through your body. Then drink, put it down, and go back to work.

The ability to return to this again and again in bite-sized moments is powerful. It brings us back to reality, away from our devices, and reconnects us with what’s wholesome. If the news has you spiraling—step outside and touch the elements.

Hopefully, this gives us something usable—a way to live more wholesomely and in alignment with our aspirations.