Ayurveda Fundamentals 1

welcome to my brief introduction to the fundamentals of ayurveda starting with the fact that ayurveda says that nature is generative and regenerative you are nature therefore so are you I sees that there's five elements of nature are space air fire water and Earth the properties of these elements space is a field of possibility in which life can exist move communicate connect flow air is that flow air is wind really so it moves it's principal property is mobility fire property of fire of course is transformation that happens through digestion and metabolism and the property of water is that it coheres water is two molecules H and O H2O Binding Together inwater things grow and finally there's the Earth element and its property your principle is stability it's a beautiful thing to just imagine for a moment that these elements are bringing in the manifestation of a manifest experience of these properties right possibility for existence to come alive to move to flow and to grow the possibility of Mobility the possibility of transformation the possibility for cohering binding connecting holding right embracing and then of course the possibility of stability you think about those five elements you might even think for yourself how those five elements how those principles or properties benefit you in your life right where do you need some transformation where could you use a little bit more of the air element and Mobility where might your life benefit now from more stability Stillness to be grounded then we have qualities attributes of these five elements the attributes or qualities of space is that it's light it's subtle right of course it is it's where is space is around me right now space is also in my glass right and there is space in the body that allows things to flow through the body and all around the body so the qualities of space are subtle and light also it's cold vast the qualities of air is that it moves it's dry it's rough it's erratic and changeable it's also cool fire is the one element that is the obvious thing it's hot it's also sharp if you think about the Flames of a fire they've got sharp edges it's also light subtle and it moves you know those Flames moving in the fire but it doesn't move like air which can really move long distances it does move like air if an air Gets behind it and you have a wild fire but that's the combination of air pushing fires so we want to talk about these first really separately really individually and distinctly understand their individual qualities and properties and then we can explore more how they work when they work together so fire principle of transformation gives digestion and Metabolism in the body and then we have the water element its qualities are that it's soft it also moves it flows it's cool it's heavy right it's heavier than water and fire and it's smooth as opposed to air which can really dry out our skin and make our skins our lips feel rough so it's smooth it's soft it's heavy it's cool and it flows and then finally the qualities of Earth are Earth if you think about Earth without water Earth can be hard Earth can be rough can be dry Earth can be dense so these are the five elements and their properties qualities and then you want to think about how these elements are active and dynamic within you everything in nature is always changing space and Earth are the most stable of the elements and yet all five elements are always Dynamic the three in the Middle Air fire water are the most dynamic and so iur is really exploring how these elements are Dynamic always moving how they're dancing one with the other what they do when they dance one with the other and what happens when one or the other goes out of balance so space air fire water Earth space gives room to grow to expand to have fresh ideas and new sense of possibility air gives us the Capa capacity to learn to explore to reach out and touch to go through life right and it's everything in the body that's moving circulatory system nervous system synaptic patterns as you listen and learn so the muscles that help us

walk reach touch lift right even air element governs the flow of digestion through the body fire again gives the capacity to digest our food to metabolize those nutrients turn that into strong Health tissue in the body but also fire is a light therefore helps us to see so fire can give Clarity can give courage can help us digest what we're learning it our experiences in life it also regulates temperature keeping us just the right 98. 7 right so that we can and always changing and adapting according to the temperatures around us water within us we know that we're 60 to 80% water so made up mostly of water is the urinogenital tract water processed through the kidneys water is also you could say that which gives lubrication so that we have comfort in our joints and com comfort in our body and then Earth is the structure of the body sort of mass you might say so space air fire water Earth are the five elements of nature because you are nature they're also the five elements of you and this is physical mental emotional spiritual this is real and literal this is also metaphoric so I'd love to leave you with this question which element would most benefit you in your life right now and how can you cultivate that until next time thank you