Dear Friends,
Over the past days, we have explored the earth element – qualities of solidity, structure, and support. Earth gives form. As we turn now to the water element, we begin to explore what allows that form to hold together and adapt.
In the teachings, the water element refers to qualities of cohesion and fluidity. It includes everything that binds, moistens, and allows movement – whether within the body or in the world around us. Blood, saliva, tears, sweat, and other fluids express this element in the body, just as rain, rivers, and oceans express it externally.
One way to understand the water element is through its binding function. It is what allows parts to hold together while remaining flexible. Dry sand slips through the fingers; with water, it can be shaped and held. In a similar way, the water element allows form to cohere without becoming rigid.
At the same time, water is never static. It flows, circulates, evaporates, and returns. It responds to temperature, pressure, and movement. These qualities are not personal or controlled – they arise wherever the right conditions are present. The water element moves according to nature, not preference.
Seen this way, the water element helps us recognize that form is always in relationship with change. What holds together does so temporarily. What flows does so according to conditions. This applies equally to the body and to the world it is part of.
As with the earth element, it is easy to take these qualities personally – to identify with change as my experience or flow as something happening to me. The teaching here gently points in another direction. The water element is not who we are; it is a natural property we participate in.
Today, I invite you to pay attention to the water element in its many forms – how it binds and how it moves. You are welcome to reply to the email or add a comment to share what you discover. Your reflections may help others notice something similar in their own experience.
With good wishes,
Andrea