The Element Water

Not enough rain and your garden with wither and die. Too much rain and your garden will get soggy and rot. Just the right amount of rain and your garden with thrive and prosper. Water is necessary for all life forms. It can create and destroy. It is the right amount in balance that gives us aliveness and productivity.

Water itself is indestructible. With its adaptable nature, it can change form from liquid to solid or gas. Although formless on its own, it can change to the shape of any container. It is the purest form of liquid and covers approximately 71 percent of the earth's surface. Living cells are comprised of 70 to 95 percent water.

Always moving, water is unpredictable and unstable. It is yielding yet powerful. Over time it can erode the greatest obstacles. Even in its stillness, water has gentle movement and latent powerful energy. The energy is unleashed by outside forces such as wind, gravity and resistance.

You can see through water and it reflects whatever is around it. Water has its own rhythm and it seeks calm as well as high energy. Water will always fill in a void if it can.

Solar energy continually recycles water through evaporation. The vapor from the ocean surfaces condenses quickly and then falls back to the ocean or land as rain. The water on land eventually returns to the ocean from rivers and groundwater traveling through the rocks and sediments of continental margins.

A person with water personality tends to be very emotional; sometimes overemotional. They have deep intuition, strong imagination but can be very moody. They have a gift of understanding others and are very compassionate.

We use water to cleanse our bodies and clean everything from our clothes to our cars. It is refreshing and soothing. Splashing cold water on your face will energize you and it activates circulation. Water is used in various religious ceremonies as a sign of transformation, liberation, and purification. Some water is considered to have miraculous healing properties. An estimated 200 million people from all over the world have traveled to the natural springs in Lourdes, France to be healed.

Practicing yoga, the water element reminds us to be mindful of transitions. Moving is part of the practice and moving mindfully reminds us to move with the breath and go deeper into our practice. Bringing the water element into our practice reminds us to be intuitive and listen to our bodies. It reminds us that with time, intention and patience we can overcome obstacles in our practice. We can change our perspectives that inhibit our happiness and growth.

Whether its up in the sky as a cloud, or down on the earth as a pond, or at the extreme ends of the earth as a polar ice cap, water is all around us. It can inspire you to reach for the sky, contemplate stillness or search deep below the surface of what we see at first glance. Step into the flow of the river, ride the current and feel the vitality and serenity of nature in each and every moment.