Get Elemental
Knowing the elements is an important part of wellness because everything is energy including our thoughts, emotions, and physical body. This energy has different qualities and serves different purposes. There is a desire in the collective to learn this information as we return to our true nature and shed outdated beliefs and dysfunctional ways of doing things.
There are 5 elements in nature: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Ether.
Earth – This element is rooted in the 3D physical world. It represents physical matter and concrete objects. This includes trees, grass, plants, animals, and physical structures such as homes and buildings. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, earth energy is a grounded energy. It relates to your possessions, money, and resources in your life, and your connection to nature.
Air – This element is felt, but not seen. It has a lighter, freer energy than earth, but still holds a lot of power. Think of wind. Wind can be powerful and destructive. In spiritual and mystical traditions, air energy relates to how you use air through speaking and breathing. It also relates to your internal speaking - your thoughts. Are your words and thoughts constructive or destructive? Air (like the other elements) is a neutral force. It is how you use air energy in your life that is important to understand. You can think and speak positively or negatively, which can be constructive or destructive on your health and your impact on others.
Water – Water conforms to the shape of its container, it cannot hold its own form. However, it can be extremely powerful. It can cool down or boil over. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, water relates to your emotions. Emotions flow like water, so you need to understand the properties of water to understand your emotions. Emotions that are not expressed and buried deep down are like stagnant water – it grows bacteria and becomes toxic, especially in the darkness outside of the light of awareness. Emotions flow by being expressed and released. Being triggered means we have stored emotions, and it can feel like a dam being released – it is a large force that can cause destruction. Interestingly, blood is 92% water, and our bodies are made of about 70% water. This is why our emotions impact our physical health so much, particularly our blood pressure. As the heart generates electrical impulses, the blood is a conductor of that energy, so we want to make sure our emotional center is emitting love rather than fear or shame.
Fire – Fire is a dynamic element. It is fast moving and doesn’t stay still. We may feel “on fire” to do something, like a hobby or a passion. However, the duality of nature shows us that fire can also be damaging. It can cause intense pain and suffering if we are “on fire” with anger, rage, or resentment. Either way, the energy of fire is there to motivate us into action. There is something that needs to be addressed. Anger is a useful emotion because it helps us identify injustice, and therefore helps us identify what we value and what has worth. If we ignore or misunderstand anger’s fiery call to action, we are left in pain seeking out ways to feel better.
Ether – This is an element that is more complex and difficult to understand. It is the space between the particles of matter, because the electrons, protons, and neutrons do not actually touch each other. They are suspended in space and interact with each other through electromagnetic forces, just like planets in outer space. The microcosm is the macrocosm (as above, so below). Ether permeates all things and is the medium for light and sound. Ether is associated with God because of its omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient qualities. Without it, life would not be possible. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, ether also refers to your life path. If you are following society’s or someone else’s path rather than your own spiritual path, then even the cells in your body are impacted because they cannot work together in harmony. There is discord and dis-ease due to the conflicting energies.
The source of life is love. When you have deviated from love, you will feel the tension. If you feel dissonance anywhere in your life, you can use the elements to better understand what needs to be done to align to love. You discover how to work with the energies of life rather than against them or attempt to control them. Nature is more powerful than us and asks us to work together in collaboration to achieve harmony. So let’s get elemental!