“If you don’t change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” -Lao Tzu
In a recent blog, I talked about the Huna practice of using ha breathing to balance the four energies. I can’t emphasize enough how important that breathing is! Without it, you have no foundation. Without it, your system is not prepared to receive the power of the energy that is available. So if you skipped that practice? I’d suggest you go back and do it before attempting the practices I’ll present here.
To recap, the four basic energy frequencies are:
Fire: dynamic, masculine, passionate, heat
Water: nurturing, feminine, magnetic
Earth: stability, support, strength
Air: movement, possibility, cooling
You’ve learned that different energies are appropriate for different situations. When you’re going for the gold, you need a bit more fire. When you need out-of-the box solutions to stubborn problems? You want to access the open feeling of air. Helping a loved one through the dying process? You want to flow the nurturing energy of water. Reassuring your clients through the volatility of the stock market? You’ll do well with the strength of earth.
To live fully and effectively, we want access to all of the energies. We want the ability to access the frequency of the energy that is best for each unique situation. But as I pointed out in my last blog, most of us major in certain energies — and aren’t very comfortable in others.
Have you identified which energy is your “major” one, and which ones you feel least comfortable expressing? Great! Then you know which energies you need to become more familiar with. One way to become more familiar with those unfamiliar energies is to notice the people around you. Who do you know or who have you seen that exemplifies each energy?
For example, if you want to become more familiar with fire, you might pay attention to friends who are highly competitive or pro athletes, especially athletes in contact sports. What does their fire energy feel like? Imagine yourself as that person: how would it feel in your own body? In your thoughts, your emotions?
For water, you could think of someone like Audrey Hepburn (who was not only beautiful but extraordinarily kind and nurturing) or a friend with similar qualities. For air, think about any friends you have who are artistic or highly creative. For earth, who do you know that is “salt of the earth,” trustworthy and deeply rooted? As you think of these different people, imagine their characteristics within yourself. What would it feel like to be that person with those qualities?
You can also use nature to call in different energies by using the following practices:
To access more AIR: Stand outside on a breezy day. (If nature doesn’t cooperate, try standing in front of a fan!) Relax your body. Feel the breeze and its free movement. Sense the coolness, the open possibility of where it might flow, its light blue color. Use your ha breathing and breathe in unlimited potential, unconstrained ideas, unleashed creativity. Exhale slowly with the sound “haaa.”
To access more EARTH: Stand with your feet at shoulder width apart somewhere outside in your bare feet. Get off the concrete and find a place on the earth! Sense the strength, the stability of earth. Visualize its yellow brown color, its depth, its constancy. Use your ha breathing to drink it in, keeping it even and focused.
To access more FIRE: Stand in front of a fire or any source of intense heat. Feel the dynamic, passionate, intense energy of fire as you visualize its bright yellow and red color. Fire is not lukewarm! Imagine that fire energy flowing into you and out through your palms. Inhale to the count of four and exhale more quickly with a “shhh” sound.
To access more WATER: If you’re lucky enough to live near water – a lake, the ocean, a stream – it’s great to step into it and feel the movement of the water. But even standing in your shower will work! As the water flows over you, sense its qualities and its deep blue color. Inhale with the ha breathing technique and exhale with a gentle “mmmm,” a deep nurturing hum.
The key is not to just learn about the energies, but to absorb them, get familiar with each one, how they work, and to flow them. As you work with these practices, you’ll find the energies becoming more natural to you – and more accessible when the situation calls for them.
Mahalo,
Dr. Matt
Photo Credit: bottled_void
