🌲Earth: The 4 Elements of Life

 

 

🌳Hey Beautiful Souls!

Another Somatic Sunday has arrived, and every time I say those two words together, I want to burst into song, "It's just another Somatic Sunday" rather than manic Monday. haha! When I began teaching, I knew immediately I wanted to bring what I'd just learned in YTT teacher training into my classes, into a collection or series. I had to share all of this amazing information with as many as I could! I LOVED teaching the series I chose, like the chakras: an 8 week series of classes focusing on each chakra, from the root to the crown, even the rarely known 8th chakra: soul star! I created flows with poses that tapped in, opened, and connected to the chakra, beautiful words focused on each chakra, and even the playlist was created with each chakra in mind. My friend and fellow teacher at the studio always says my classes are very intentional, and it's so true! The other series I taught was the 8 Limbs of Yoga: a 13 week series, where I dove into the Yamas, Niyamas, and remaining limbs of yoga! It was so fun! 

 

 

 

🌱Today's class began our 4 Elements of Life series: Earth, Water, Fire, Air. We began with EARTH today, my favorite! I always knew my Sun sign was Pisces, but only a few years ago did I discover my Moon sign is Taurus, and my Rising is Leo. A few Earth signs are Taurus, Capricorn, and Virgo. For the past few years, I've been very connected to my Moon sign, Taurus, beginning grounding morning rituals, like "Earthing" where I stroll barefoot with my cup of coffee outdoors, calming the mind, disconnecting with the constant activity and busyness to connect with the earth, with home. Most of the time, Hakoda, my giant snow dog, my akita, joins me, his paws or face sneaking into my photos I share on instagram. He's the cutest. I've shifted from being a beach, ocean-loving young girl, to a wise, older woman seeking the forest, mountains, greens and browns in my wardrobe and home, bringing the outdoors in, and being outdoors as much as possible, whether it’s hiking, cycling, kayaking, or yoga in the grass!

 

 

 

🪵The Earth element can be found in many ancient philosophies, cultures, and science, from Greek and Indian (Hindu) to Roman, and all indigenous communities where earth is sacred. Earth is associated with matter, nutrient-rich, full of minerals to support and ensure the abundant thriving of terrestrial flora and fauna. Earth is where we feel grounded, rooted, anchored and stable. Our yogic philosophy connects earth in our Muladhara chakra, our Root chakra, this swirling energy at the base of the spine, red in color, and inhabits our sense of safety, trust, survival, and home, where we develop and maintain familial & friend connections. Earth is the ultimate feminine element, supporting fertility, growth, support and healing. The Earth gives us everything we need, and it is in this balance of the 4 elements: earth, water, fire, and air, that life can thrive on our planet, from the tiniest leaf and organism, to the largest elephant, tree, and human. Gaia, or Mother Earth takes care of each one of us, so let’s take care of her!

 

 

 

🪨The Earth element can also be found in Ayurveda medicine, an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practiced throughout India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and is becoming more widespread in other countries, and in the west. Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia.Therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, and oils. 

🌵In Ayurvedic medicine, there are three doshas, or three elemental energies found both in nature and in the body: vāta, pitta and kapha. Balance of the doshas results in optimal health, while imbalance can lead to illness and poor health. 

 

  

🌲The Kapha Dosha is the Ayurvedic mind-body element associated with earth and water. It’s slow, moist, cool, oily, heavy, smooth, and steady in nature and embodies structure, lubrication, and stability in the mind and body. If you have a predominantly Kapha constitution, the qualities of Kapha (slow, steady, moist, smooth, oily, cool, heavy) will be expressed in your mind and body. Your frame and build will tend toward robust and strong, and you will likely have a radiant complexion, large eyes, and thick, lustrous hair.

You’re probably pretty warm, friendly, compassionate, and easygoing, too. If you know someone with a Kapha personality, they’re probably a true blue friend. When in balance, Kapha types are the teddy bears among us—sweet in nature and a pleasure to be around.

The heavy qualities of Kapha dosha can sometimes leave Kapha types feeling a little sluggish and lethargic (they’re the soundest sleepers of all dosha types). When it comes to getting things done, Kapha-dominant types generally take their sweet time! They may be slow to get going, but they are dependable and dedicated. Kaphas often have a sweet tooth and may

 

 

🌳Click the link below to take the Dosha Quiz to see which dosha best fits who you are! 

Dosha Quiz

 

 

 

 

 

🌲I found this quote and I loved the words connecting the earth element and women: 

"The lived experience of the earth element is unique to every woman. But it's always marked by a persistent beckoning to a more ancient version of herself, to escape her constraints, so she may live a more beautiful life, as her truest self." 

 

 

  

🌳We began our Earth Somatic Sunday class in Childs pose, so we could anchor to the earth, connecting the heart to this life source. We allowed the hips to open, and the shoulders to melt. I offered the addition of a bolster for extra support, a cheek meeting the bolster to fully surrender. Our pranayama was a 3-part breath, becoming present in the body and space we're in, letting schedules and to do lists fade away. Nothing to do, nowhere else to be but right here in this moment for ourselves. We brought our chin through center and the opposite cheek met the bolster as we melted the body once more. We moved through a sensory scan, noticing what we see around us, or beyond the lids if the eyes are closed, finding peace in the darkness. We traveled to smell, noticing what we smell around us, maybe food cooking nearby, fresh laundry drying, coffee brewing, maybe a scent in the room. I sprayed "Sacred Space" in studio, inhaling notes of palo santo, rosemary, and white sage. We scanned to our hearing, noticing birds song outside, maybe traffic, pinpointing an instrument playing in the music in studio, and to our taste, noticing the last thing we may have eaten, or cup of tea or coffee we sipped. Lastly, we noticed our sense of touch, what we feel against the skin, the warmth of the air or sun, maybe a cool breeze, the cotton of our clothes, the stickiness of our mat underneath us, supporting us, holding us. 

 

 

 

🌱We removed our bolster, and extended the hands long to the top of our mat, planting one hand at the top, and the other hand to the sky to thread the needle through underneath the opposite arm, melting here, and then coming through center, and threading the needle to the opposite side, melting, and meeting through center. We slowly rolled the spine, arching the back, brushing the fingertips along the mat toward the knees, the chest opening, spine waving long to the sky, the shoulders melting back, and the spine concaves, the arms extend out to the sides, and up, palms together, to the heart, and melting forward, walking the fingertips into a forward fold. We repeated this spinal wave in Childs pose 2 more times, and then came into a comfortable seat. 

 

 

 

🪵Either crossing the legs or finding a half or full lotus, we anchored the sit bones, spine lengthened to the crown, crown to the sky. We formed a Muladhara mudra with the hands to connect with our root chakra, to ground. We released our mudra and rubbed the palms together to create some heat, healing energy, and cupped the hands to the eyes, to the crown, forehead, and base of the skull, sending healing energy to the soul, to the mind, calming the chatter, and connected to the body, which is always present. We set an intention for our class, and released it reaching hands to the sky and to the right for a twist, peeling the should back to open the chest 5% more. We arched the hand behind us to the sky and toward the opposite knee to open the side body, and then brought it to the knee, crossing the arms, arching the back and dripping the chin. We twisted to the other side, and formed a backbend, peeling the fingers behind the glutes, and then into a forward fold. We unraveled the legs and melted the hips back into a child’s pose, walking the hands to the right, center, and left. 

 

 

 

 🌲We walked the hands back toward the knees, unraveled the legs, so knees could meet, as we sat onto the heels into our hero pose. We brought the hands to the back of the head, opened the chest with a deep inhale, elbows reaching out, exhaling we curled the back and cradled the head, forearms toward each other or meeting. Two more times in our cradle head breath, and then extending the fingers to the sky, and melting one hand down, the other arching over for sidebands on each side, another backbend, and then we melted forward into our puppy, into our forearms, knees under the hips, tail to the sky. 

 

 

 

🌳Our cat cow flow followed as we warmed up the spine, adding in organic movement, hips swaying side to side, or rolling forward and back into Childs pose waving back and forward into our table top. We melted into the forearms into our puppy, we inhaled and lifted the gaze and right toes to the sky, exhaled as we brought the knee to nose arching the back, 2 more times, and then planted the right toes to the back of our mat for a calf stretch, floating into the hands to rock forward and back, then floating the right toes to the left side of our mat, gaze following over the shoulder. We brought the right leg through center, and out to the right, and sunk the hips back into our 1-leg Childs pose, and finally into a supported side plank, rolling the extended wrist, and bringing everything through center to repeat on the other side, and into one more cat cow flow. We flowed through downward dog- plank waves, pranam knees chest chin, into a low cobra, and up into our downward dog. We floated to the top of our mats to meet in Tadasana, our mountain pose. We felt the grounding energy from the earth pull at the soles of our feet from the toes to the arches to the heels, that energy circling around the legs, to the pelvis, the hips, around each vertebrae of the spine to the shoulders as they melt down from the ears. The crown reaching for the heavens, we are stable, rooted, and anchored. 

 

 

 

🌱Our Tadasana flowed into sidebands, and a forward fold into a vinyasa flow either pranam or chaturanga, or skipping it to meet in downward dog. We extended the right leg high, exhaled the right knee to the left elbow, inhaled high, exhaled the knee to the right knee, inhaled high, exhaled the knee to the chest, and stepped the right foot forward between the hands into a Crescent Warrior. We inhaled the fingers high, shoulders relaxing down, and exhaled into cactus arms while dripping the left knee toward the earth in a rhythmic flow 3 times, and then stepping the back foot forward into our Pyramid. We floated the hands to our blocks as we melted the heart and lengthened the back chain of the body. We floated forward into our Warrior 3, hands wherever we find our balance, at the heart, grounded, on blocks, extending forward. I like to place mine over one another on the low back as the back leg floats. We stepped the floating leg to the back of the mat and extended into our Sky Archer, cartwheeled around right elbow to knee into our Side Angle, 2 times, and then grounding the left hand into a Twisted Lunge, right hand reaching for the sky. We stepped the right foot back, coming into a Side Plank, and then stepping the right foot forward again into our Pyramid. We walked the hands to the left side into a WideLeg fold, allowing the head and shoulders to hang heavy. We turned the heels in, as we rolled up into a 5pt Star, and sank down into our Goddess, bending the knees and cactusing the arms. We brought the hands together at the heart and floated into the right foot, into our Tree. We found our Dristi, our focal point, to aid in our balance. We floated through center, and into our Tree into the left foot, feeling that grounding, rooting energy once more, strong & sturdy. We extended up into our 5pt star, and exhaled into our Warrior 2 toward the back of our mat. We lengthened long into our Sky Archer, cartwheeled into a Side Angle, 2 times, and formed our Triangle pose, the most stable, strongest shape in our world! We floated forward into our Half Moon into our left foot and hand, and then landed in our Lizard, rocking forward and back, and either melting into the forearms or peeling open to the side for a twist. We moved through a vinyasa flow to meet in downward dog. Our gaze lifted between the palms as we walked the hands back, and melted the hips into our Yogi Squat, a strong grounding,  pose as we bring our root chakra closer to the earth. We lifted the hips, opened into twists, walked the feet together, as we stepped one foot behind the other, flipped around, and faced the top of our mat in a forward fold. We rose into our Tadasana, and continued the flow to the opposite side.

 

 

 

🪵Our somatic practice included something brand new! Somatic experiencing gave us tools to regulate our nervous system, to stimulate the vagus nerve that begins at the base of the brain and runs throughout the body touching every organ system! We agitated emotions stuck in the body, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. We began at the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, into the temples, the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself. We pulled down on the ear lobes, pulled the middle of the ears out to the sides, up to the top of the ears pulling toward the sky. We brought one hand to the base of the skull, the other hand’s two fingers rolling down the forehead to the tip of the nose! We brushed our fingertips down the neck a few times, releasing tightness in the throat. We tapped into the collarbone, and into the sternum! We inhaled through the nose as we tapped into the sternum, and stacked the hands at the heart as we exhaled while audibly humming into our bee breath🐝! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! We grounded the left foot, brought the hands to heart center, and lifted the right knee up into our Pilar, and floated the knee and hands to the right looping around to create an infinity symbol in the space in front of us! We found our balance with our drishti and then did the same on the opposite side. A little Tai Chi to calm our nervous system and find regulation! We came into stillness, then swayed right and left, and found stillness again, noticing the effects: we can feel cool, heat, or tingling sensations, even a spontaneous yawn! We removed anything stuck, anything harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information from the brain to the body! We sent messages to the brain that the body is not under threat, it does not have to exist in a continuous active state (fight mode). We helped our body adjust to triggers. We have the ability to help our nervous system shift fluidly between states when each are needed, the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems! Both are useful and 100% needed, but we do not want to become stuck in one state for too long. These practices are so useful off the mat as we encounter stress or triggers in our daily lives!