Journey Through the 5 Elements: Fire
Fire is an element that has been revered and explored since the tradition of yoga began over 5000 years ago – from physical fire used in rituals, to the internal flame of the heart, and the digestive fire or agni.
In the ancient Vedic texts, the fire deity (also known as Agni) is mentioned in one of the very first verses. It represents the fire within the sun, lightning, as well as the fires lit within homes and for more specialized sacrificial uses. For many of us who practice, our practice begins with a salute to the sun, or Sun Salutation A & B.
Fire is one of the most powerful of the elements, and when we tap into its energy, we bring alive a sense of transformation within ourselves.
Fire & the Manipura Chakra
The third chakra, known as Manipura (which translates at the ‘city of jewels’) or more commonly the ‘solar plexus’, is our energetic fire center. Moving from the primal, earthiness of the root chakra, through the watery flow of the sacral chakra or Svadisthana, we reach the place that governs our inner power and digestive energy.
Manipura chakra is linked to our sense of transforming ideas into actions and food into energy, as well as our willpower and perseverance. When this place is in a balanced state, we generally feel confident in our ability to complete tasks; we feel physically and mentally powerful, and can discern ‘wrong’ from ‘right’. Underactive, and we’re likely to feel weak and unconfident, with poor digestive capacity and a lack of self-belief or inability to get things done.
If there’s too much energy moving through this chakra, we may become overly fiery, angry, irritable, pushing ourselves too hard and suffering from issues like acid reflux or heartburn. This chakra is our place of inner power, so when it comes to understanding how we use our power, it’s important to keep things balanced.
Practices to connect with the Fire Element
Touch: Warming the body through movement
Heat is a catalyst for the body’s processes – it can boost circulation and ease stiffness in the joints and muscles, as well as helping to promote sweating and increasing the body’s ability to withstand high temperatures. How many times have you started your practice feeling stiff but after a few Sun Salutations you are more flexible and able to maybe be closer to touching the floor! Using a sauna or steam room regularly can also help relieve both physical and emotional tension, by sending blood flow to tissues that may need healing and repairing. Especially during colder months, try to warm your body regularly to keep circulation moving well; take a warm bath, wrap up, try a hot stone massage, or even a hot yoga class.
Taste: Sour, Salty, & Spicy
The fire element is linked to the sour, salty and spicy or pungent tastes. So it is no surprise that these are also the very tastes that tend to make our mouths water and increase agni, the digestive fire. Consuming something sour, salty and hot before a meal also can help improve both the digestion and assimilation of nutrients.
Other foods you can use to increase the fire element within the body are, of course, hot spices like cayenne, chili, black pepper, ginger and cinnamon, as well as vinegars. Ensure you’re eating enough good quality salty foods like seaweed and miso, and boost your intake of sour foods with chutneys, citrus fruits, kefir, sourdough bread, wine, and fermented foods like sauerkraut.
Smell: Warm scents
Warming, heating scents like ginger, juniper and clove can help boost the energy of Manipura chakra, but if you need to calm and balance this place, essential oils can be very helpful too. If you’re feeling overly hot physically or emotionally, try calming things down with rose, geranium, chamomile, and sandalwood essential oils. You can mix these with a cooling carrier oil like coconut oil, or a more warming and stimulating oil like mustard.
Try massaging the nabhi marma point (a pressure point linked to Manipura chakra) located at the navel center. Massage around the navel in a clockwise direction for a few minutes, or until you feel a sense of relaxation in this place.
Sight: Candle Gazing
Tratak or ‘candle gazing’ is a more meditative way to reconnect to the fire element, and is also a great way to re-set after a long day staring at laptops and screens. Tratak should be “practiced in a dark room free from draughts and insects” according to Swami Svatmarama, who compiled the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and serves to help the mind cultivate eka grata or ‘one-pointed focus’, directing energy away from the chattering mind, and toward an object. The flame also has many representations in yogic literature, and in this sense, we can think of the flame symbolizing Atman, the soul, which is often pictured as a flame within the heart.
Sound: Listening to Fire
When was the last time you listened to the sound of a crackling fire? As humans, we have evolved alongside fire, and this is probably one of the few things that even in our modern world we still seek out to experience, thousands and thousands of years later we still enjoy sitting in front of a camp fire. If you have the space in your yard, or a fireplace in your home, consider setting up a campfire and listen to the crackling of the flames. You can also find soundscapes like this, and use them as part of a visualization meditation. If music is more your cup of tea, songs and music in the key of E may be the ticket, since the key of E is linked to the Manipura chakra. Tune into a fiery, powerful song in the key of E and get yourself moving!
Yoga Poses to Connect to Fire
Here is a short sequence to help you reconnect to the fire element:
Prep Poses
Bridge Pose
Hero Pose
Thread the Needle pose
Low Lunge
Asana Poses
Sun Salutations
Sunbird Pose
Extended Side Angle
3 Legged Dog
Tiger Pose
Cool Down Poses
Sphinx Cobra or Bow Pose
Head to Knee Forward Bend
Seated Twist
Relaxation
Pranayama
Kappalabhati breath. The ‘shining skull’ breath is a powerful way to boost the digestive fire, as well as helping stimulate the mind and body. This is an energizing breath that can be used to help awaken and enliven the senses in the morning, removing sluggishness and firing the body up for the day. To practice, forcefully exhale through the nose as you feel your stomach draw in and up, then allow the inhale to be passive and occur naturally. Try doing this 10 – 20 times in a row, beginning slow and working your way up to more rapid exhales. When you need to, take a couple of slow and gentle breaths in and out, before repeating for two more rounds.
