“The generosity of air allows each object to emerge and to be.
Air gives space”.
John O’Donohue
I am fascinated by the innate intelligence and alchemy of the elements – water, fire, earth and air – and how we can harness their healing properties in our lives, and in our homes.
I am finally getting around to writing about air (a good three years after I wrote about the first three…!) Despite this extended hiatus, the beginnings of spring feels like a good time to explore the lightness and uplifting sense of renewal that the air element conjures.
Spring is in the air.
Spring is a season of birth, new beginnings, renewal, and growth. In Ayurveda, the ancient Indian health system (which often accompanies yoga), spring is said to be governed by the water and earth elements (known as kapha dosha). This is because as the earth slowly warms and as things begin to thaw and melt, there is a lot of moisture in the ground and atmosphere.
I can vouch for this as I hear the ground squelch beneath my boots when I am in the garden, in between the April showers. Digging a hole to plant a climbing rose revealed a wishing-well of water.
Ayurveda aims for equilibrium between the elements or doshas and so would advise that the light, freshness of air (alongside the warming fire) element is required to balance the heaviness that comes from the predominance of earth and water in spring.
The nature of air.
Air is unseen and the most intangible of the elements, yet we are surrounded by it.
Air allows movement which helps to clear stagnancy and creates the right conditions for change. Air is not fixed, it allows for swiftness, flexibility and adaptability. Air is not stuck, it is fast-moving and can feel uplifting and fresh.
Yet a predominance of air can be unfocused and uncertain, like in the phrase ‘it’s up in the air’.
A breath of fresh air.
Air is present all around us and within us through our breath. I love the words from The Radiance Sutras, a yogic text translated by Lorin Roche, which describes the luminosity, potential and life force in the everyday experience of the breath,
The way of experience begins with a breath
Such as the breath you are breathing now.
Awakening into luminous reality
May dawn in the momentary throb
Between any two breaths.
As the breath is released and flows out,
There is a pulse as it turns to flow in.
In that turn, you are empty.
Enter that emptiness as the source of all life.
The breath flows in and just as it turns
To flow out, there is a flash of pure joy —
Life is renewed. Awaken into this.”
Our breath connects us to ourselves and to the world around us. In his book, The Four Elements, John O’Donohue said, “We all breathe air. Air is the interflow between all people. It is also the medium of interflow between person and nature”.
It seems there is a more complicated and anxious relationship with the idea (and reality) of all breathing the same air since the Covid pandemic. Speaking with friends, it can feel uncomfortable to be in an unventilated space in close proximity to lots of people. In the height of the pandemic and lockdowns, many of us turned to nature for solace on our daily walks and perhaps our connection, through the exchange of air between ourselves and nature, became even more important.
Air as creativity.
Air also relates to ideas, creativity, and communication. Another quote I love by John O’Donohue is about the word ‘inspiration’,
“One of the loveliest words in the English language is the word ‘inspiration’. It signifies the creative breath…inspiration is the flash of connecting light that suddenly comes from elsewhere and illuminates”.
‘Inspiration’ comes from the Latin ‘inspiratus’, the past participle of ‘inspirare’ which means ‘to breathe into’ and in England has had the meaning ‘the drawing of air into the lungs” since the 16th century.
The air element can feel stimulating and relates physically to our minds, as well as our breath. With phrases like ‘head in the clouds’, the air element is present in daydreams, abstract thought and creative ideas.
When out of balance, the air element can feel overwhelming and scattered. An abundance of ideas dreamed up by the air element needs the grounding earth element in order to bring them into reality.
When the mind and breath come together, we communicate, creating messages which travel in sound through the medium of air, thus coming full circle.
