Dear Friends,
Today we begin exploring the air (or wind) element.
After working with fire, we turn toward a subtler but equally present set of qualities: movement, motion, and pressure. The air element is what moves. It animates breath, circulation, digestion, and the countless small shifts that keep the body alive.
In the early teachings, the air element includes all forms of movement in the body: the in-and-out of breathing, the expansion and contraction of the lungs, the movement of the diaphragm, and the subtle pressures that support posture and motion. Air is present wherever there is movement or change.
Air is easy to overlook. We don’t encounter it as a thing so much as an activity. It is known through movement – through breathing, pressure, and motion – rather than through any fixed form.
We experience air both internally and externally. Inside the body, breath comes and goes. Outside, wind moves through trees, across skin, through open windows. These are not separate processes, but expressions of the same elemental quality.
One way to understand the air element is as constant movement. Even when the body appears still, air is at work: breath continuing, circulation adjusting, pressure shifting. Stillness is never completely static; it includes motion.
As with the other elements, air arises according to conditions. Breathing responds to posture, activity, emotion, and environment. Wind changes with weather and terrain. Movement happens without needing to be directed moment by moment.
Today, I invite you to simply to begin noticing the air element as it already shows up in your experience. There is no need to regulate the breath or settle the body. Just an orientation toward movement – inside and out.
You are welcome to let us know what you notice as you begin working with this element. You can reply to the email or post a comment.
With good wishes,
Andrea
The timing of this element’s practice is very auspicious as I just booked time for later this year to use a Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (aka scuba diving).
And it is especially meaningful as I had to use this practice of very conscious and intentional breathing on a dive a few years ago when I’d found myself panicking. So yes, this teaching of the air element is a timely and much appreciated reminder as, as you say, focussing inside and outside.
Hi Rod, What a lovely bit of timing. Scuba seems to bring attention to breath in such a distinctive way, especially in moments when steady, intentional breathing matters most. I am glad this exploration of the air element feels like a helpful reminder as you look ahead to your next dive.
Hi Rod, your comment really resonated for me, specifically the part about panicking while scuba diving, which I can really relate to even decades later. I had never compared the feeling of very real panic that I experienced when I couldn’t release the pressure in my ears with panic experienced during a panic attack which I found much harder to cope with. I’m curious to discover if the skills I learned for panic under water can be applied to panic attacks. Hopefully I won’t have another 😉