Picture: Lula connected to the Earth and Fire in the garden of our cottage in Western Slovakia
The elements are parts of nature, therefore parts of us. We connect to them and have all kinds of special relationships with each one.
Thanks to the practice, I can spot the imbalance or prevalence of an element in my body quite easily. Reaching for a second cake, though my stomach does not need it at all, unable to cut off procrastination and get down to work… It is the dominance of the earth with its force to attach, to lock me in passivity. Having a day of several superficial conversations, hopping from place to place, being active but not really getting anything done… the vata, the wind takes the leadership. Coming home after a long summer day on a beach, driving on a swelteringly hot highway, the fire is just way too much. I seek shade, semidarkness, a cold yoghurt for supper. A stretch of Brussels´ cold and rainy days can make me long for a dry, hot day at our cottage in the mountains of Slovakia. I picture myself sitting on the warm stone of the terrace, watching the orchard absorbing the heat, plums growing in front of my eyes. And I know that water is the essential one for me. I can deeply long for rain. I jump with joy when the first drops fall on town and the air tastes like metal – it is the water meeting the dryness.
The elements are in a constant flux, in a playful motion. And yoga can provide connection with all of them.
Root yourself in the mountain pose, feel your feet firmly touching the ground and the nourishing earthy energy entering into the body.
Do a sequence of deep launches and feel the flow, the fluidity representing the power of water.
In a triangle pose it is the lower body that provides firm grounding so that the upper body can move deep into the asana. The linking element here is the centre, the core, the home to our fire. The principle of transformation.
Throw a warrior pose on a meadow or a mountain, ground yourself deeply and offer the upper body to the air and space, these are the lighter energies that invite us to grow, to expand and to explore, to evolve.
Gratitude is the ingredience changing the practice into a spiritual experience.
Gratitude for being whole and being the part of the Game of Elements.
Pick up your favorite one in this moment…
Namasté.
