Balancing the Fire Element
Ayurvedic Wellness by Gemma Celento
Ayurveda, the science of life, teaches us how to maintain health and longevity by aligning our elemental composition (dosha) with the elemental intelligence of nature. This healing art will teach you how your body connects to nature, how to heal yourself and how to understand signs of imbalance. The most common misunderstanding in Ayurveda is that dosha is your wellness. It is actually how your body will show disease, and therefore is the map to wellness through elemental characteristics. This sacred science will unfold the levels of elements through the layers of the energy body and physical body.
The doshic ratio is the constitution of elemental intelligence within the mind, body, and how the subtle elements (tattwas) are relaying through the energetic body. It is also how one will respond to their external environment and seasons. In this blog I’ll cover how Fire shows up in the external environment and how that is relayed through you. This is the primary key in self-care, attunement, and working with Ayurveda for deeper spiritual and purification practices.
Everyone has all 5 elements. Ether, (Akasha) is the medium or space in which all preceding elements arise from. Each element arises based on the rate of vibration and will show pranic (lifeforce) movement. Thus, the elements all evolve into one another. Air (most pranic movement), Fire (movement into light), Water (less movement, light into cohesion), Earth (least amount of movement, stability). This is an important factor in understanding how Fire responds within the mind and body, and how to recognize its unique characteristics within your own mind, body, and energy field. As I teach in all my courses and to my clients, it is best to understand the characteristics of the element, so you may recognize those qualities in the subtitles before they perpetuate imbalance. It is also important to understand the subtle qualities of the elements in order to tune into seasonal changes, and energy shifts within the mind, and emotions. This will aid in optimizing your health and wellbeing throughout fluctuations. .
For those of you who are familiar with Ayurveda, you know the two golden rules: 1) like attracts like 2) opposites bring balance. These cardinal rules aid in restoring balance through opposing characteristics. For example, balance hot with cold.
As I mentioned Fire is a bit of Air and a bit of water. So these two elements will have the most impact on shifting the fire element within your constitution. It’s also key in understanding how the seasons shift and can affect your personal elemental ratios.
External environments that primarily shift Fire will be the seasons. Summer is the element of Fire, and will increase the elemental qualities of Fire in everyone. (like attracts like) This increase in Fire can cause the mind to become more agitated, more mobile (the connection with Air). For some it may increase the ‘-itis’ inflammation within the body. The purest expression of Fire is clarity of the mind- light, radiance, courage of the heart and strength in inner will. It is luminous and aligned with the inner source. Within the body the purest form of Fire is seen as a strong transformation in digestion, in cellular turnover, strong nutrient assimilation, vigor and stamina.
The second external factor affecting Fire will be your relation to external. The sensory processing. This is the bridge between perception and will use the elements to create reality as well as process reality. An important aspect is how you utilize your sense organs will shift the ratio of elemental intelligence within the mind and emotions. Each element has a connection to a sense organ and will work through sensory intelligence to shift subtle elemental vibrations. Fire is worked through sight. It is how the external environment is seen, and interpreted. Again these are faculties affecting clarity, directive, and transformation. Sight works the subtle elements of Fire (tattwa) to affect the elemental intelligence of co-creative reality. It is the bridge between the outer world to the mind, and then higher mind-inner sight.
Of course diet affects the elements as well. But, it is more important for me to leave you with the subtle aspects of characteristics and practices. You will see these characteristics within food. If you can notice them in yourself and the external environment it will be easy to recognize in food. The characteristics of fire are the qualities of the elemental intelligence manifesting within each being, each moment, and each creation/reality. Notice these qualities in the mind, emotions, and external environment. This will be the key on how to balance, if any of these qualities seem dominant, do the opposite.
Hot - heat, warm skin, flushed, hot-headed, stubborn, radiant, passion
Sharp or penetrating- sharp tongue, bitter taste, harsh
Light- clarity in mind, light hearted, also light (vision sensitivity)
Liquid- excessive sweating, bleeding, fluidity in joints, lubrication/moist skin, over doing, fluidity in events (not controlling)
Spreading- over distributed, easily agitated from external, ambition
Moist/Oily- nurturing, giving radiance, healthy digestive fire, ability to receive (absorb) and give
I’ve included a video of practices to rebalance the subtle elements. These practices work with the elemental intelligence through physical form and subtle body. It will purify the fire element within the different levels of the bodies (physical - energetic). Which is a higher form of working with the elements and will work to strengthen the qualities of fire into it’s exalted expression of inner light, radiance, spiritual strength and clarity in intuition.
