Working With The Elements

I recently experienced a Somatic Yoga class during which we focused on the elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

We practiced moving in the manner of each of the elements. Being somatic movement, there were no instructions and being on Zoom, you didn’t feel uncomfortable about making sounds and crazy movements as you felt the elements moving through you!

The earth element is grounding and a way to counter being in your head. Being earthed is common if you are a person who needs to be in control. Someone for example who has a place for everything and everything in its place, like my very ordered kitchen cupboards! Uncertainty doesn’t suit overly earthed people and can leave you feeling lethargic, dense, dull - I’m too familiar with this one!

Air is fluid, light, freeing; an element that can cause you to be scatty and air-headed! I could have got carried away with the air element, I enjoyed it a little too much. Creating air like movements landed in my body as indulgent. I could feel myself laughing, wanting to be naughty just as I was at school! And I could see the possibility of being irresponsible if I were in the air element for too long. However, it also felt utterly joyful!

Being a Leo, fire is my birth sign. I am aware of a constant need for warmth to get me going and sustain me. Fire is the element that leads to action. It can help us to be creative and get things done. I know I have a limited capacity for busyness and that I get overwhelmed easily if I have too much to do. But I also recognise a need for more fire to bring me out of that lethargic state of being too grounded and I certainly felt the positivity of fire. It led to a feeling of determination.

Water allows us to go with the flow, to be organic in our processes. There is a danger of being so fluid that we lose that important connection to earth and never get things done. Water made me feel vibrant, I could literally feel my body vibrating after making watery movements. The fluidity of water was liberating in a more gentle, graceful and passive way to air.

I can see how playing with the elements could help cultivate balance and it is something I would like to explore further. Why not have a play yourself?