296 ~ The Air Element: Healing Guidance From The Breath

Hello Magical Human & welcome back to Madison Mindset the Podcast 🧚🏼

Join me for the 4th episode of the Elemental Healing series, where we explore the Air element and its connection to mind, breath and heart. 🌬️

episode overview:
• air element connects to the heart and throat chakras
• speaking your truth is essential for throat chakra health
• shallow chest breathing activates stress response while deep breathing promotes longevity and health
• pranayama techniques help train lungs, increase capacity, and balance the nervous system
• mental overactivity creates physical tension in shoulders, neck, head and chest
• slowing the mind through meditation dramatically decreases stress and related health problems
• alignment with elements helps us flow with life rather than struggle against it

Please share this episode with someone you love and leave a rating or review on your listening platform. Check out Patreon for deeper coaching sessions and practices related to the air element. 🌀

You are air

Love,

Madison Mindset x

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Air Element
• 3:46 Speaking Your Truth
• 9:52 The Power of Proper Breathing
• 13:52 Pranayama and Life Force Energy
• 17:09 Heart & Throat Opening
• 18:45 Releasing Tension in Shoulders and Neck
• 21:12 Slowing the Mind for Wellness

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello Magical Human and welcome back to Madison Mindset, the podcast. In this episode we are continuing on with episode four of the Elemental Healing series. I have already done three episodes on this Earth Element, water and Fire. There are also Patreon coaching sessions based on each of these elements. I highly recommend listening to the podcast episodes and checking out Patreon, because that is where we go a little bit deeper and I offer you some practices and go through them with you. So if you haven't already listened to the first three episodes, highly recommend checking that out. And if you'd like to check out Patreon and do some coaching on this and really deepen your connection to the elements that you are made up of and this world is made up of, then go and check that out. Now For this episode, we're jumping into the air element and we're going to be diving into different teachings the air element has to offer you. When you're ready, let's begin.

Speaker 1: 1:14

Hello Magical Human and welcome to Madison Mindset Podcast. My name is Madison. I'm a yoga teacher, a mindset and spirituality coach and a complete earth fairy. I see a world that is peaceful and easy to live in, humans that are awakened and enlightened towards who they are and what life truly is and why we are here. I understand life can be really hard. I've had a huge journey with anxiety myself. I understand what it's like to feel overwhelmed, overworked, stressed and frustrated within this earth. It is this journey that led me to begin my own growth journey. It is only through those struggles that I was able to birth this podcast, so that you can have the tools and techniques and knowledge to help you step forward and be a being of light, a magical earthly being who is grounded, supported, who takes on challenges with love and embraces the lessons that each day brings. You are that being. I am here to walk you there. I am here to walk you there. You will find many different kinds of episodes through this podcast. All are created in the moment and with love for you. Find the one you need for this moment and enjoy. Take a moment for yourself, sit down with your journal and tune in. Welcome, let's begin. Thank you, the air element. Now let's do a quick recap.

Speaker 1: 3:57

Okay, the earth element makes up the physical body. It has a lot to do with the food that you're eating, your connection with the earth, your grounding, everything on the physical plane. The water element has a connection to every little drop of water inside your body, the way you are held together. There is so much water in your body, right, you are mostly water. Water is also connected to your emotional body. Fire is connected to your ego, your spirit, your ability to do something, to put some oomph into stuff, to cleanse, to purify. You know it is your spirit, your purpose. Fire is really important to burn away impurities. Now we get to the air element and this is where we start to get more into the mind and spirit. Okay, so the first three elements, similar to the first three chakras root, sacral, solar plexus very associated with the physical body, the emotional body, right, very associated in that space, your drive, your purpose.

Speaker 1: 5:03

Once we get to the air element, we're connecting to the heart chakra and the throat chakra, these areas focusing, obviously, the throat is all about air, right, you're breathing in, you're taking in air. The heart chakra is around that lung space, breathing in, taking in air, breathing out. It's all around this section, right here. The throat, breathing in the lungs, expanding the air does have something to do with the heart, right? It's because your heart, right, your heart, has quite a deep connection to your emotions. This is why people die of heart attacks and things like that. This is why people die of heartbreak and really feel their emotions in their heart. This is why you might say to yourself what's my heart telling me? You know, my heart's telling me this, but my head's telling me that this is where we're getting into the air element. Okay, your heart is telling you something, your head is telling you something. Your throat, your voice, your throat chakra needs to express it. So this whole area here if you're watching the video I'm showing you, if you're not, I'm like just think of me just making circles around my head and chest right, it's all over. This area is all air. Okay, so we are getting into the mind, we are getting into the heart and we are getting into the lungs. So we're going to jump into a few different points and see what the air element has to teach us.

Speaker 1: 6:26

The first point I want to bring up here is speaking your truth. This is big news for the throat chakra. If you are lying intentionally to deceive or if you're just making things up, elaborate. You know. Elaborating on things a little bit, saying what you think people want to hear, that was big healing for me. I still struggle. I want to say what people want to hear, but it's not always the truth.

Speaker 1: 6:53

If you're in that space and you're struggling with that, you're going to have a rough time with throat chakra. You're going to have a sore throat. You're going to have to constantly clear your throat, right, you're going to have pain here. It's going to become obvious to you and you're going to struggle with your lungs. You're going to have headaches and all kinds of stuff because there's blockages in this whole area. When you block this area down headaches, migraines, tension in the face, sore throat, thyroid issues, glands sickness, right Tongue problems You're going to have issues with the lungs and potentially with the heart. You're going to have tense shoulders and upper back. Okay, so if you are not allowing this area to be free, to be open and honest exactly as you need to, then you're going to end up shutting down this area, because it's very sensitive, right?

Speaker 1: 7:45

Every time you lie, whether it's on a small scale, on a big scale, it takes a toll on the body. It's not true. The energies aren't aligning. There's something off, and when that happens, not only does the other person kind of get that energy that something is off, but you will get the repercussion of that. You know, and of course, relationships suffer. Everything outside of you has a great impact. When you lie, you don't get away with things. You know, even if you think you have on a logical level, emotionally, and what that does to you and to them. The energy is there. You can't get rid of it, okay, you cannot completely lie, it's impossible. Okay, it's there.

Speaker 1: 8:24

So, if you're not speaking your truth, if you're not speaking up for yourself, if you're not showing up for yourself, if you're not asking for what you need or expressing your opinions or your ideas or your thoughts or your emotions, you're going to have issues here. And, as I mentioned, all of these areas, the issue, the place you might have trouble sinuses you're going to have trouble in these areas. So, if we would like to maintain health in this area of the heart lungs, throat, nose, sinuses, head if you would like that, you need to work on speaking your truth big time. Okay, and in the Patreon version of this session, we're going to do a really cool mirror practice. So mirror work, practice for encouraging you to speak your truth.

Speaker 1: 9:07

Okay, because a lot of us have gotten into this frame of mind that people want to hear what they want to hear and you're trying to please them. So you're saying what you think they want to hear. You're saying things that you hope doesn't hurt them but hurts them anyway long-term. So, yeah, we've got to get out of this habit. It's almost an instinct, you know, to lie about things, even on a small scale. So we've got to work on that.

Speaker 1: 9:30

Because you know, since you were a little kid, you've been told to oh, that's not nice to say. Don't say that, oh, don't, don't tell them. You know are just kids, will say anything. Kids will go up to you and tell you exactly what you look like. They have no problem, they won't lie to you, but their parents, society, we teach them don't say that that's not nice, keep that in, don't say that. Okay. So eventually we learn don't say that that's not nice, don't say that, that'll hurt their feelings. Don't say that, don't say that and you end up with all these issues. So this mirror work practice we're going to do is going to really help you. Mirror work is great, but just a practice of practicing saying what you mean, meaning what you say, saying the truth. And if you struggle doing that, slow down, don't speak so fast. You don't have to reply straight away. Give yourself a moment, give yourself a second to consider, to consider, to think about it and to speak truthfully and honestly.

Speaker 1: 10:25

The next thing we're getting into is breath, breath, work, okay, breath, and the lungs here. Most of us are breathing up here. If you can't see this video, I'm pointing to my high chest, just under the collarbone and around the shoulders. We're breathing very shallow, okay, your lungs go all the way down, you know, to the base of your rib cage. They're huge, but most of us are breathing high chest. The reason we're doing that is sympathetic nervous system. So we're in go-go mode stress, fight or flight. Okay, so most of our day we're spending time here. Nothing wrong with that. You know. If you're running away from something, you want to breathe here, definitely. But when you're relaxed and the nervous system is balanced, the body breathes fully, completely deeply.

Speaker 1: 11:14

One of my favorite teachings in the yoga space, and I think it actually stems from Buddhism as well. But it is said that you know you were born with a certain number of breaths. Use them wisely. I love that. So, basically, you were born, you've got a number of breaths to use and once you get to the end of those breaths, that's it, and it makes so much sense on a logical level as well, because when you're breathing high chest, you're breathing really fast, you're stressed, you're breathing quicker than you should be. When you're breathing mindfully deep breaths with the lungs, when you train in breath work, the amount of breaths per minute slows down and your body is actually receiving more oxygen, more carbon dioxide. It's actually getting more of what it needs and it can help things such as asthma, any struggle with the lungs, anxiety. This kind of stuff can really settle the nervous system. So, as this teaching says, use them wisely.

Speaker 1: 12:14

If you're breathing high chest, fast and quick, for your entire life, you die faster. You do fast and quick. For your entire life you die faster. You do Mouth breathing bad Die faster. Right, you've got to breathe through your nose. Switch that over. If you're breathing quickly, you're stressed, and stress is one of the biggest killers in this world. If you want to look up a list of diseases, stress right up there, it's always there, right at the top Stress. What does this cause? Stress, stress, environmental factors, stress. Okay, so it links in with you've got a certain number of breaths. Use them wisely. If you use them quickly, you won't have as many years If you use them slowly, lungs are healthier, body is healthier, every cell is receiving exactly what it needs.

Speaker 1: 13:03

The breath is working fully, beautifully. Ah, so much better, right, so much better. A great way to help your lungs and to release this space is to just lift one arm and give the rib cage a rub, so right where your lungs are, the rib cage, slightly behind, and give it a little tap as well. Breathe properly and then do the other one. This is great for shoulder release as well. Tapping Feels so good, so so good. If you just try that, it really opens up the lungs. Now let's take a couple of deep breaths here together. Inhale through the nose low and wide. Exhale slowly and completely. Inhale low and wide, as deep as you can. Exhale fully and completely. That was only two breaths. Notice how you feel.

Speaker 1: 14:05

The other good thing about breathing slowly and completely when you breathe in, you're breathing in more than just oxygen, especially if you're living in the city or if you have any kind of human run area, society run area in your life. You're breathing in car fumes. You're breathing in toxins. You're breathing in smoke. You're breathing in chemicals, all kinds of stuff. You can smell it. You're breathing it in. Okay, when you do that, that goes into the lungs. If you exhale properly, it will leave the lungs.

Speaker 1: 14:39

If you're not exhaling properly and you're just breathing in toxins and letting them sit in the lungs, that can cause a variety of things, lung cancer being one of them, but just general discomfort with the lungs. If you're someone who's always clearing their throat, you always got a cough. Your body's probably trying to get rid of something you've breathed in. It's trying to get rid of something some gunk, some stuff in there, right. So breathing fully and completely will help your body get rid of the stuff that might be sitting in the lungs.

Speaker 1: 15:08

That tapping we just did on the side of the lungs. If you're not sure what I'm doing and you're only listening to this, just go and find the video again, okay, on Spotify or YouTube. It's on YouTube. Go and have a look at the video so you can see me if you're not sure. But just tapping the side of the lungs all the way up, all the way down to the armpit, lifting the arm, that will help. You know, even when you're sick, you can breathe in tap, exhale, cough. It's so good, it gets it out and moves, right. So help your lungs, and if the lungs are breathing properly, then the heart is getting a nice massage as well and being moved in the beautiful space instead of being shut down and clamped in. So you really want to get this space moving.

Speaker 1: 15:52

The next thing, going a bit deeper on that pranayama. Now pranayama is a yoga practice. Deeper on that pranayama Now pranayama is a yoga practice. Prana means life force energy. Yama means restraint or control. So pranayama is life force energy restraint.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Okay, when you're practicing different pranayama practices, they all have different purpose. When you're practicing them, you are training the lungs, you are increasing lung capacity, you are releasing the lungs, you are balancing the nervous system, you are helping the whole area that I am talking about here. And not only are you helping that, but you're moving that life force energy around the body, you're replenishing your life force energy. There are many different pranayama techniques and we don't have time to go over them in this episode. I have gone over some in other episodes kind of randomly, but if you would like to go over a few that I highly recommend as daily practices or even weekly practices, I'm going to go over three different techniques in the Patreon version of this session, so you can jump over there and do that with me. Otherwise, feel free to Google pranayama, send me an email, attend a yoga class. They all really help and they will teach you pranayama.

Speaker 1: 17:06

Next thing I want to point out is heart and throat openers. Okay, opening the heart and the throat Now in yoga asana you will notice in every class you do, you will open the heart in some way, some kind of postures that open the chest and you will also open the throat. The throat will stretch. Okay, this is to help this space because you notice that people's go-to alignment position right now, especially with all the technology, is rounded shoulders head down. That's closing this whole area that we're referring to. So heart opening gets this space open, opens the tissue, hydrates the tissue, gets it all open and moving. So highly recommend again yoga, any kind of heart opening, really easy one is just to stretch the throat back. Dropping the head back, chin high, until you feel the throat stretching, opening the heart, just taking the arms behind your back, you know, dropping the head back, chin high, until you feel the throat stretching, opening the heart, just taking the arms behind your back, interlacing the fingers and opening the chest. You know, stretching the neck a little bit. That's very easy ones you can do through the day, but again in the Patreon we'll be going over some easy yoga poses you could use whenever you want to open this area. Okay, but highly recommend opening that space.

Speaker 1: 18:20

Don't keep it closed. You're keeping it closed, you're keeping it shut down, you're keeping it stuck and stressed and that's going to lead to a variety of different troubles, tension being a big one. Okay, so definitely moving this area. Don't keep it locked up. It should be free. Air should be free to flow where it needs to go. Don't lock it in. The next thing the air element points to the shoulders, the chest and the neck. Okay, also the head, but these areas shoulders, chest, neck, head so doing gentle massage in this area can be really beneficial.

Speaker 1: 18:54

You'll notice when people hold onto tension, these are not the only areas they do it, but with the air element, as I mentioned in the beginning, it's a lot in the head. When you're up in your head, you notice someone isn't there and you know they're in their thoughts and you go hey, where are you? And they go oh, I was lost in space. I was up there somewhere in the air. You know I'm up in the air, airy fairy. You know, all these things you may have heard, they're up there just being blown along by whatever's up there. They're not very grounded right. So the head, when it's in an amazing amount of thought and thinking, you know, and as I didn't, I did not mention this in the beginning, but air is, you know, connected to your intellect as well. So so your thinking, your thinking, your thinking, all of that is generating this movement in the mind and movement in the brain.

Speaker 1: 19:45

Okay, so all that tension from that thinking, that constant fluctuation of the mind, it clamps down on the head and you end up with headaches, migraines, tension, headaches. That sometimes comes down to the jaw. You end up with a really locked jaw, a clenched jaw. You might clench your jaw at night. It comes into the neck. The neck gets stressed, the throat gets sore. These muscles clamp down over the voice box. It leads to sore throat. The chest gets tight, you get heart palpitations and you can't breathe properly because the tissue is that stuck around the lungs, the top of the shoulders, that typical massage muscle we all know, gets stuck and sore and your upper back takes a hit. All of that is air stuck in the body. You can see that as air stuck in the body, something that needs to move through, it needs to be blown out. So tapping helps all of these areas. Gentle massage In the Patreon, we'll be going over this properly. I'll do the practice with you, but in the podcast episode we don't have that time, so I'm just going over it quickly with you. Any kind of tapping and massage of this area obviously really going to help.

Speaker 1: 20:56

The final thing is slowing the mind. Okay, if you can stop thinking so much and stop the airy fairiness, the thinking and all the stress. If you can stop it even just for a little while, you give the body a break. Okay. So here we've got meditation, obviously a big one. We'll be doing a meditation practice for the air element in the Patreon. But, yeah, if you can slow the mind down a little bit, become a little bit more present, do one thing at a time. Don't dwell on your problems too much or complain so much. Just allow things to come and go to wash over you and see if you can get the mind to be still. Highly recommend yoga for this.

Speaker 1: 21:38

There are many other philosophies and practices, but the goal of yoga is to still the mind, is to stop it from blowing around all over the place to keep it grounded, to keep it anchored to this moment, this current breath, not worrying so much about the last breath or the next breath or yesterday or tomorrow, just being centered. If you can do that, you're going to dramatically decrease your stress. You'll decrease your risk of feeling tense and getting issues in all of these areas that I have gestured to and told you about throughout this episode, and you'll also increase your ability to be in your clarity, in your groundedness, so you can speak with truth, open and honesty. If you can do that, stress goes away and suddenly you've taken away one of the biggest killers in our world stress. So where you can remove that stress from your life, if you need help with this, I have the mindset coaching on Patreon open. You can come and jump in there. There are many coaching sessions already there. We can go over this.

Speaker 1: 22:50

Mindset coaching is a powerful way to transform your mind. I would love to chat with you one-on-one, but there's a lot of you, okay. So if you need anything, jump onto Patreon, enjoy those sessions. I go deep into there. There are worksheets and reading recommendations and product recommendations that can help you. There are practices all kinds of things. We can go over it together. Super accessible, and if you need to send me an email, I'm not really on Instagram right now so I wouldn't bother with Instagram, but there's my email addresses below. It's also on Patreon or you can leave a comment over there and we can chat.

Speaker 1: 23:25

Okay, it is time to get more in tune with our body, with the moment, with the elements of this world, and I bet you somewhere in there, in all this, there's the key to living a life of peace. When you're in alignment with it all, you're no longer swimming against the current, you're flowing with it. Thank you for being here, magical Human. I appreciate you. Please share this episode with someone that you love. Leave a rating or a review on the platform that you listen to this podcast through. I really appreciate that every single time I send you so much love. Enjoy the rest of your day, ooh.