![]() Whilst we know sunlight is important for the absorption of vitamin D, it also plays a huge role in regulating our moods too. This has been shown in thousands of studies to have innumerable benefits, including improving immune health, bone strength, and enhancing longevity. To connect to light, try to incorporate more sunlight into your day. We may not be able to see ether but it’s the substance that allows light to travel through space. Try adding more bitter foods to your diet with greens like chicory, chard and dandelion, as well as dill, fenugreek, turmeric and cumin seed. It can help support a healthy liver, which in turn can kick-start the body’s ability to naturally ‘detox’ from any excess impurities. The bitter taste helps clear excessive elements from the rest of the body removing excess fire element and heat, reducing water retention, and purifying the blood too. This taste helps scrape ‘ama’ (loosely referring to ‘toxins’) from the tissues, as well as gently cleansing the digestive system and gut. This is primarily because of its ability to cleanse and create more space in the body. The bitter taste is the only taste with a link to the ether element. Taste: BitterĪyurvedic texts explain how each taste is linked to a different element. It can give the mind a break from stress and chatter. Shifting attention between the body and the space around us can help bring about a sense of being more connected to the world around us. Notice the temperature of the air, sounds you can hear, and the light in the room you’re in. Then bring your focus to the space around your body. To become more aware of your connection to the space element, first tune into the qualities present in your body – warmth, coolness, heaviness, lightness, movement and stillness. However, we can shift our state of mind by shifting our focus away from physicality, onto aspects we can’t feel. Many practices like Somatics, body-scan meditations and guided relaxation focus on feeling sensations within the physical body. Practices to connect to the Ether Element Touch: Awareness of space As is caring for your throat with herbs like thyme and liquorice, and good quality honey. Expressing your emotions to someone you trust, singing and chanting are all beneficial. To encourage more energy flow throughout this vital space, it’s important to practice speaking the truth. We may also be afraid to sing in public and feel as though we have to hold back from expressing ourselves fully. The throat chakra is often a place where energy becomes ‘blocked’, especially if we were repeatedly told to ‘be quiet’ as a child.īlockages in the throat chakra may manifest in our being overly shy or experiencing chronic throat soreness. ![]() The throat chakra is very much about self-expression, speaking honestly and openly, and knowing that our voice matters. It is intimately linked to our ability to speak and be heard, but also our ability to truly listen. The throat chakra is located at the base of the throat, along with the larynx or ‘voice box’. The space element is directly connected to the throat chakra or ‘Vishuddha’, ‘place of purification’. In our yoga practice and modern lives then, how can we recognise and connect to the space element, especially when we can’t see or feel it? Read on to find out how to connect to the qualities of ether, and find more space and clarity in your own mind… Ether & the Throat Chakra Ancient ancient yogis saw ether as that which was unbound and all-pervasive, and the element of potentiality. ![]() The ancient Greeks saw ether as a god-like element, and a substance that allowed humans to connect to spirituality and intuition. They referred to the space element as ‘quintessence’ a term also used to describe the ‘heavenly bodies’ such as stars and galaxies. Medieval alchemists were fascinated with the ether element, believing it could turn lead into gold and even prolong life. Within our bodies we can recognise the space element literally anywhere there is space the sinus cavities that allow for our voices to resonate, the space in the lungs that fills with air, and space in the stomach before a meal. The space element is the most subtle of all elements. It is therefore the very essence of ‘emptiness’. Ether is without the firmness of earth, the coolness of water, the heat of fire or even the movement of wind. Referred to as ‘akasha’ in Sanskrit, ether is the element that comes first in yogic and Ayurvedic thinking. It’s stillness, yet it’s the very thing that makes all movement and life possible. Ether is both nothing and everything at the same time. Moving from the stability of earth, through the flow of water, the passion of fire, and lightness of air, we reach the element that makes everything else possible: ether or ‘space’.
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