“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire,

humans cannot live without a spiritual life.” -Buddha

Connecting around a campfire is more than just a summer mainstay.

You may have yearly gatherings or fond memories of gathering with family and friends around campfire, roasting marshmallows, telling stories, and watching the flicker of each flame. A campfire is a hearth-like symbol of community and connection that draws you in with its glow. Perhaps you know the sensation of staring into a dancing blaze and gazing at a fire until each ember is extinguished at the end of the night. 

Gazing at a fire is a spiritual practice. It is mesmerizing for a reason.  When we gaze at a flickering flame, our brain begins to shift out of beta brainwave state, which is associated with thinking and alertness, into alpha brainwave state, which corresponds to a relaxed and creative state of mind. We enter into a liminal state that allows us to enter an alive, receptive state of expansion and growth. 

Take your spirituality with you as you go this summer. Set aside 1-minute to gaze at a fire ( or a video of a fire!)  and notice what unfolds in your experience.

1.   Build a campfire or choose to watch a video of a fire. Take a few deep breaths and release the chattering mind.

2.     Take one hand and place it over your heart and breath inward. 

3.     Take your other hand and place it over your navel and breath downward through your inner channel.

4.     Then, with eyes open or closed, expand your awareness around you (which just means pay attention to the landscape that surrounds your body). 

5.  Gaze at the fire. As you gaze at the fire, breathe. Focus on the sensation of the heat flowing into you with each inhalation. Continue to pay attention to the fire.

6.     Notice using your 2nd senses of seeing beyond what your eyes see, feeling beyond what your body feels, hearing beyond what your ears hear, and knowing beyond what your mind knows what you are aware of in that moment.

7.     What emerges around you? What emerges within you? What sensations do you experience as you gaze at the fire?

When you experience stress or discomfort, return to your inner image of the fire and allow the trance sensation of rest and peace in your body to rise naturally once again. Take this sensation with you throughout the summer.

May the light-filled embers of rest go with you and remind you of the flame of Fullness that is alive in you!

With love,

Annie