Air - Breath, Expansiveness, and the Heart, Anahata Chakra

PART FOUR of The Elements Within Us - AIR

Earth (Muladhara or Root Chakra) – Our solid body. The physical. Gravity. Our bones. We are anchored into our body.

Water (Svadhistana or Belly Chakra) – Allowing. Flow. Movement. Balance. Our soft body. We are flowing within. Balance brings us to our center.

Fire (Manipura or Solar Plexus Chakra)  –  Aliveness. Urge. Purpose. Enthusiasm.  Endurance. Continuity of breath mechanics, the diaphragm. Digestion. Spark of life.

Air (Anahata or Heart Chakra) – Expansiveness. Joy. Meaning. Maturity. Self-possession. Forgiveness. Love.

It has taken me a long time to put pen to paper about the air element within us.

Each element, with their increasingly subtle properties, becomes more wide and multi-faceted. It is not a ladder, the chakras, more exponential expansion.

Ahh, air. Air molecules each have more space and move more quickly. Unimpeded and free to vibrate naturally, responsively.

Like with a hot air balloon, the fire at the solar plexus/lower ribs, the constant pumping of the diaphragm, the filtering and digestive organs, the heat generated and the rhythmic drawing in and then expelling of the breath. This fire’s heat, action, subsequence is that we arise and expand into air.

Our pranayama, our disciplined exploration and dedicated practice, opens more and more of the hundreds of thousands of alveoli of our lungs to fuller and fuller function. Our lungs are enormous. All our breath techniques lead to the full breath, the yoga breath. (Come to class to learn about the many pranayama techniques of yoga, to open your breath.)

Throughout our lifelong pranayama journey are the gifts the air element brings:

Spaciousness within for all we feel, all we have experienced, our relationships with all, the fullness of our empathy.

Within this spaciousness is expansion of consciousness. Our heart chakras are transformational. (It is not our situation which changes, but our inner experience of it.)

This is due to the gift of healing the air element offers. Within this expansive space, there is room for ALL you feel and all the versions of you: the capable, responsible (if somewhat stressed) adult, the hurting child, the rebellious teenager, the caring citizen, the irritable, short-tempered self, the wise, knowing self… Through meditation, we become first much more aware of these energies and emotions, then we can consciously process them, bring them all together ("samadhi").

The gift is the insight, the deep understanding that arises as we pay attention to these sometimes very long-held but unprocessed emotions and versions of ourselves. We begin to love and understand these previously unconscious inner drivers of our thoughts and behaviors. We feel deeper compassion through self-understanding. We change without shame, without blame.

Forgiveness naturally follows as we clearly see that there is really nothing to forgive. We are only human, being human ("hu" - all the colors, "man" - to be). Somehow, we can also easily see this is true for all others too. This free us. We become so free.

Our practice of pause, feel, breathe, open, and be, allows us to process all that comes, and to guide our lives truly from our hearts. What grows is Love.

Transformational.

The heart chakra, the air element, alive and active in our bodies, offers us guidance. We sense how and when to speak, what to do, when we should do nothing. An inner sensing (“tanmatras”) develops that we can touch into in the moment to guide our actions and our words. At times, our actions must be big, bold, new, and challenging. At times, we just know inside that we must keep our own counsel, and offer acceptance and non-judgment.

Humility comes naturally also. As the yoga sutras (2.20) declare, “Every seer has his own seen.”  When we see from such an expanded state, we really get it that we normally see through only our own perspective. We begin to understand that others’ experience, even of the same event, is different. We see that we can learn from others rather than judge them wrong for being different. Our consciousness opens as humility is understood.

Living this way brings forth such natural joy. Gratitude for the symphony of our souls within, for the inner sense of calm. Deep appreciation for the beauty all around us and within our relationships and experiences.

Living in love, regulating these basic elements within, exploring and balancing Earth, Water, Fire, and Air brings us to a mature level of development that provides a foundation of being that will sustain higher levels of consciousness.

Vibration (sound element) – Vishudda (“to vibrate with truth”) or Throat Chakra – living your truth

Light (light element) – Ajna (“yes knowledge”) or Third Eye Chakra – clarity, enlightenment

Unity of Being (beyond all form) – Sahasrara (“thousand petalled lotus”) or Crown Chakra– spirit, pure potential, infinity and eternity

Namaste and Love to All,

Jacqui

Namaste.