Air Element Study, Lesson 3 - Breath & Meditation

Air Element Studies, Lesson 3 - Breath & Meditation

The easiest and most efficient way to connect with Air Energy is something you do all the time anyways.  Breathing.

Inhale.

Exhale.

You just engaged yourself quite directly with the Element of Air.  Of course, to really connect with Air Energy you need to bring awareness to your breathing.  Pay attention to it.  Do it with intention, take notice of how you feel with each breath.  This is where meditation comes in.
Meditation is a form of Air Element Magick.  It's an important skill to learn, not just for Air Energy magick, but for all forms of magick, for positivity, the law of attraction, stress relief, and improved health.  Meditation improves your focus and concentration, which makes it easier for you to truly focus your intent into any magick or ritual you do.  It also improves your brain-power as your focus and concentration improve, so do your abilities to learn and remember things (as you remember... learning and studying are basic Air Element aspects).  Meditation and focused breathing improves blood flow to your brain, eyes, and all other internal organs, improving your all over-health and sense of well being.  It can help you relieve stress, sleep better, worry less, and just feel better!

Over the next week I will post some basic meditation tips and techniques, a few guided meditations, and yes we will even create a craft project to help us with our breath meditations!  For starters, here is some food for thought;

The Meaning of the Breath
by Stephan Bodain, from "Meditation For Dummies"
"  Traditional cultures identified the breath with the life force that animates all beings.  For example, the Latin word spiritus (the root of both "spirited" and "spiritual"), the Greek word anima (from which we derive the word "animated"), the Hebrew word ruach, and the Sanskrit word brahman may all sound quite different, but they all have one thing in common - they all mean both "breath" and "Spirit or Soul".  When you follow your breath with awareness, you're not only harmonizing your body and mind, which gives you a sense of inner harmony and wholeness, you're also exploring the living frontier where body, mind, and spirit meet - and attuning yourself to a spiritual dimension of being."

Getting Started.... Basic Awareness of Breath Meditation
There are many basic meditation techniques that involve controlling the breath (controlling the length of inhale and exhale), counting the breath (counting how many breaths you take or how long each breath is), or creating a certain rhythm to your breath.  We will explore some of these later on.  But for now, just to simply learn awareness and contact basic Air Energy.... begin by simply being aware of your breath.  Sit comfortably, and relax.  It's best not to lay down because you may fall asleep, and while you do want to relax, you also want to remain aware.  Find a comfortable position and simply observe your breath.  Observe how your lungs expand.  Observe how in some breaths you breathe down into your belly, and in other breaths you simply breathe into the top of your lungs.  Observe that your exhale is naturally longer in length than your inhale.  Just spend 5 to 10 minutes observing your breathing, not trying to control or change it but simply just trying to remain in awareness of your breath.  If your mind wanders and you find you are thinking of something other than your breath, that's okay.  Just gently re-direct your focus and awareness to your breathing.  Be gentle with yourself, as if you are reminding a child who has been distracted to get back to their task.  Just simply spend some time in awareness of your breath.  Repeat this throughout the next couple of days.  Even when you are busy, take a moment to notice your breathing and how it is changed based on how you feel, what you are doing, who you are around.  Make an effort over the next few days to simply bring awareness to the act of breathing, which is something we normally do without notice or thought.

For Young Children (or for the young at heart!)
Sit cross-legged.  Place your hands on your chest and simply notice how your chest moves up and down with each inhale and exhale.  Do this for a couple minutes.  Next, lay down flat on your back.  Place a small stuffed animal on your belly.  Notice how it moves up and down with each exhale and inhale.  Try to remain focused on moving your toy up and down by simply breathing in and out as long as you can, up to 5 minutes.