Playing with the Elements, Part 2 – Air

Imagine the real air. What qualities does it have? First, it’s invisible. Second, you cannot touch it. It’s all around us and can even expand if we give it space. It’s in constant motion, never stops. So, where to look for the air parallel in our lives inside of the 4-element system?

Our mind if full of thoughts that are invisible and we cannot physically touch them. They are definitely moving constantly and sometimes they even expand exponentially. So, our thoughts belong to the element of Air. And if we talk about pollution in case of the real air, we should talk about pollution of our mind as well.

What can pollute our mind? All the useless information we often starve for! Living in the information era, we are obsessed with information and we often forget to put filters in order to keep our mind clear and healthy. Never ending stress on production and/or consumption of information is the most dangerous source of pollution in the segment of Air.

How to reduce it? Breathing and exercise (which leads to better breathing) are good ways how to clean the mind, and both belong to the Air as well. There is a wide range of breathing exercises, some of them are very aerobic, but you can be successful even with the quiet ones, based on yoga for example. Or you can walk regularly. Especially when you walk in nature, it’s a good way how to clean your mind and reduce the information overpressure.

I believe that is what you are exactly doing already. Perhaps you just didn’t realize it was compensation inside of the Air’s element.

Talking is a very similar issue. Communication also belongs to the Air, as well as all the social bonds. If we tend to overwhelm our lives by talking either in a virtual or in real world, we simply need some physical exercise again. We need to move and breathe.

If we want to achieve a balance across all the elements, we need to learn how to identify them in our lives. So, what else belongs to the Air?

All kind of invisible waves meets the condition of being invisible, untouchable and in constant motion. The sound is a good example. If you think your place is too noisy, go outside or anywhere to the silence. Breathe deeply.

The same definition and solution is valid for the electromagnetic waves. They can pollute your inner Air system and cause damage. We cannot do much, but we have to count with these omnipresent waves in total sum.

Finally, I would like to mention cooperation with the previous element. Let’s go back to the real air, for better imagination. The air is a good tool to keep the fire alive. Breathing to the fire is a way how to wake up the flames. On the other hand, too much of air means a danger for the fire. You can either kill it or spread it out of control. And that’s why is important to keep the Air in reasonable limits.

Too much thinking, talking, collection of useless information, being in noisy places or in places with huge density of electromagnetic waves can kill your joy, laugh, excitement and even your vitality. Or it could spread sparkles of your interest into million directions, so you became lost.

The Air, as well as the Fire, is a good tool, but dangerous master.

Next, I will speak about the Water and the influence of the Air and the Fire to the Water.

With love,

Ivana

In case you missed  Playing with the Elements, Part 1 – Fire

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Playing with the Elements, Part 1 – Fire

As I have already mentioned in the article Seasonal clock, I work with four elements on many levels. It keeps me fascinating how several basic principles can be applied to something such complex as life.

Speaking of the 4-element system, the players are fire, air, water and earth. Each of them has its own spirit and each of them is needed. If we learn how to identify them in our lives, we can find a way how to reach balance more easily.

Although many say that water is the main player and without water it would not be life, I will start with the fire because only the fire warms the water to the temperature suitable for living. And this is also a nice example how the elements affect each other and cannot even exist separately.

The fire is the first spark of life and the feeling we are still alive. It is a small flame that may become a torch. Depending on conditions and our will, the torch brings the light and heat as long as we feed it. To keep the fire we need to supply oxygen (the element of air) and fuel, for example wood (the element of earth). On the advanced level, we also need to make the fire safe, having some shelter for it. And this belongs to the earth as well.

The fire represents everything that warms or burns or what brings the light. The fire means interest, curiosity, joy, laugh, activity, competition, excitement, passion, enthusiasm, etc. For simplicity I would call interest as the core of the others. People like the fire, being attracted to it by invisible forces, but they are also afraid of being burned. Then they build the shelters in the name of safety, too tight for life. And then, they complain that there is not enough joy or success in their lives. Or that they miss the sense (light) in their lives.

How to solve it? Anything that arouses your even small interest is a flame whose future you have in your hands. Is there enough oxygen and suitable fuel for it? Which kind of oxygen and fuel is needed for your particular case of interest? And are you willing to feed it? Then just try! No fire is dangerous from the very beginning. And only when you taste and like the first fruits it’s the time to think about the shelter, no earlier. So you avoid many disappointments and energy losses.

The fire itself isn’t positive or negative, it is neutral or better to say natural force whose priority is to shine and warm. No good or evil inside. It is our will and experience which make the fire either a tool or a weapon. Trying to separate from the fire means the same like to separate from the life, dying alive. It is only fair to accept it, just as the fact that accidents happen.

Finally, I must say that having a lack of fire is just as dangerous as having it too much. Imagine how difficult is to keep living in desert, how much suffering it costs. So if you don’t balance the fire of your excitement and desire, your life may turn to desert. In my case, I tend to be too enthusiastic sometimes and forget to eat, drink and even go to toilet. The subject of my deep interest can claim the fire so urgently that simply switches other requirements off, including basic biological functions. So I know that I have to be careful because all kind of addictions work on the same principle.

What to do? If you have too much fire inside, find a way to let it out. It is better to diversify methods and make regular breaks across your activities. Never hold the fire back! You would create a volcano with uncertain date of explosion.

I will bring the fire topic throughout the other elements again, speaking about their mutual influence.

Looking forward to your questions and comments,

Ivana