How to connect with the element of Air

One of my first jobs was at a busy coffee shop in the oldest parts of Stockholm. I had a college there who would disappear every lunchbreak. When I asked him where he went, he told me something that has stuck with me ever since.

He said that he went up a nearby hill, every day no matter the weather, to gaze at the horizon.

Living in cities we are constantly surrounded by walls, outer or inner. Walking around on dark streets enclosed by tall buildings, no wonder we sometimes loose our perspective.

To connect with the element of air, we need to lose our self in the widespread vastness of it all. find that never-ending horizon within ourselves.

What you’ll need

Music

Headphones

Good walking shoes

Its time too get some new perspective! Put on your most comfy shoes and take a walk up the highest point in your neighbourhood. Whether it’s a hill, a tall building or the Eiffel Tower.

As usual, if you are unable to go there in your physical form, travel in your minds eye.

Resist taking the car or other transportation. There is something about the climb that is so very liberating.

While walking, put your headphones on and listen to your favourite wordless music. Sounds to me, is associated with Air, and music in particular holds its own kind of magic.

Focus on your breathing. On the air entering your body, the oxygen dissolving in your blood, being taken to cells to provide energy, and the carbon dioxide being exhaled. Air fuels you. Visualize how you leave your worries behind you. Leave them like a heavy backpack at the foot of the hill you are climbing. You can pick them up again on your way down, if you wish.

Once at the top, take your time to take in your environment. Let the horizon mesmerize you. See the clouds form and dissolve. Travel across the sky. Calm your mind. Breath. Maintain momentum.

Reflect on how the ground looks from way up high. How tiny are those things that felt so overwhelmingly big just a moment ago. Take deep breaths that make you dizzy. Get drunk on the boundless beauty of it all.

Thank the air for this moment. Look around you for a token or a gift. An airborne leaf maybe, or a feather. Take this with you as you travel back down to the ground, as a reminder of this very moment.