Welcome to Part 4: The Air Element
I want you to imagine you are outside, in your skivvies, and the wind is ripping. What are the qualities that you would feel?
The qualities of the air element are cold, rough, mobile, sharp, and light. You would quickly want to put on some clothes and come inside.
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How Air Shows Up in the Physical Body
Air likes to invade places in the body where there is space. Think about your lungs. There is a lot of open space and it acts as a container for the elements to invade. When you take in breath (air) into the lungs, the air element is entering the body.
The sinus cavity, urethra, and uterus are other spaces in the body where the air element likes to go.
The Air Element and Postpartum
The air element is extremely predominate in a postpartum woman. Let's breakdown an example of why. A pregnant woman's womb is filled with amniotic fluid (water element) and the baby (earth element) and once she gives birth her womb is now an open space. This gives way for the air element to rush in and fill up that space.
You will often hear of postpartum women complaining of constipation, dryness, anxiety, and overwhelm which are all imbalances of the air element in the body.
The Air Element and the Sinuses
Another example of how the air element likes to invade spaces are when it comes to the sinus cavity. Air can enter the sinuses and begin to majorly dry them out. Have you ever had your nostrils feel so dry? Well this is where air is drying them out which eventually makes it way up into the sinuses.
Eventually with too much dryness, this leads to inflammation and the body tries to compensate the dryness with mucous. This could then lead to congestion. The problem with not understanding the root issue is that we think the problem is the wetness of the congestion so we run to the store to dry it up with nasal spray. But the reality is that the root cause is dryness.
Dryness & Popping Joints
As mentioned, a sign of too much air is when you are very dry. Dry skin, dry hair, dry eyes, dry nails, dry sinuses, and general dryness.
Personally, I could lay in a bath of oil for an hour and the next day I would be dry again. I am constantly combating the air element and finding ways to balance with warm and wet.
Constipation is another sign. When there is dryness in your intestines or colon then you will experience dry stools which is constipation. It's your body saying 'hey, can you please feed me more warm and hydrating foods.'
Cracking and popping joints are another sign that there is too much air in this area.
The Air Element and Menopause
The elements are more predominate at certain times of life and life seasons. After the fire time of life which lasts from puberty to peri-menopause then the air element starts to take stage.
Have you ever heard of a menopausal woman complain of dryness, insomnia, and anxiety? This is because air is beginning to become more heightened in her body because she is entering the air time of life.
The air element is predominate up until the end of our life. You may notice that the elderly population tend to lose weight and deal with fragile bones. That's because the air element has slowly been chipping away at these more dense structures and have depleted them.
Anyone over the age of 50 and especially 60+ should focus on building strength, hydration, healthy fats, and finding warmth wherever they can. This is bringing in the qualities to offset the qualities of air such as rough, cold, and dry.
The Air Element & the Mental Emotional Body
Have you ever heard the term 'airhead.' I'm sure you have. This is when a person is aloof, up in their head, and not grounded in their energy. Air has energetic qualities of up and out versus the earth element which has qualities of down and out.
When this element is balanced this can lead to massive amounts of creativity. These are the artists, designers, and anyone with a think-outside-the-box mentality. There aren't confinement's to their thinking. Their creativity is without bounds.
The Shadow Side of the Air Element
When air is imbalanced and there is too much this presents itself as anxiety, overwhelm, hyper-vigilance, or a freeze state. These are the people who need to bring in other qualities such as fire, water, and earth.
The air element is directly tied to the nervous system which is the root cause of all disease. Without a regulated nervous system we cannot digest, we cannot sleep, and we cannot live well.
Sleep issues and insomnia are also a sign of an imbalanced air element.
Stay tuned for ways to balance the air element but for now I hope you can take a few days to audit how it's showing up in your physical, mental, and emotional body.
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