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In Ayurveda, the four elements are alive and well and form an integral part of the system of health and well-being from India. The approach of Traditional Chinese Medicine, based on their Five Elements, is related, but not quite the same.

Why are the qualities of the four elements of interest to us in the first place, we may ask? The answer is again provided by the integral approach of the ancients.

Through introspection and contemplation, they determined that the four elements are found within the human energy body as its components, and that most everyone is dominated by one or two of these four elements, which in turn produces certain typological differences and may eventually lead to imbalances or disease that can be successfully undone by working with this concept. This typology has survived in Jungian psychology, but not in Western medicine. Here is a list of correspondences:

• 4 Elements: Fire, Air, Water, Earth
• 4 Qualities: hot & dry, hot & moist, cold & moist, cold & dry
• 4 Temperaments: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic
• 4 Humors: yellow bile, blood, phlegm, black bile

In traditional holistic medicine, the constitution of the patient as per the four temperaments is first determined. Then, suggestions for changes in lifestyle and food intake are worked out, and particular herbs and spices, as well as preparations from animal organs and minerals, are prescribed to reestablish balance. This approach works for long-term imbalances as well as to reestablish an equilibrium that has been disrupted recently.

There is, however, a more elegant and faster way to establish balance, and that is the approach of working directly with the four elements within the human energy body by doing the following meditation or visualization and breathing exercise, which I have developed based on Franz Bardon’s work, “Initiation Into Hermetics.” I have used this technique on myself to undo the onset of a cold or flu or fever in the past, and I have guided several people through this exercise for the same purpose. My experience is that this seemingly simple exercise works instantaneously and successfully when done right. For legal reasons, it is necessary to state here that this exercise shall be undertaken at your own risk and not be construed as medical advice, but that it is rather an application of magic. Medicinal benefits are to be considered only as a possible side-benefit. If you do this meditation on your own without any guidance, we must also remind you that you are the solely responsible for any outcome.

Here is the exercise to balance the four elements:

Lay down on a bed or other flat surface and cover up so that you do not get cold. Visualize or imagine your entire body as being of clear glass.

From the tips of your toes up to the area of your genitals, load the earth element. This is done in the following way: breathe in seven times, and as you breathe in, visualize or imagine filling the said part or zone of your body with the color of sand or beige on each in-breath. Then, load the water element into your abdominal zone by breathing in the color turquoise seven times into this particular zone. Next, load the air element in your chest by breathing in seven times light blue into your chest. Finally, load the fire element into your head by breathing in seven times light red. Hold the thought of your body being divided into these four colored zones for several minutes. You may or may not experience sensations like heat, cold, motion or other energetic movement within. Then unload the four elements in reversed order: Breathe out seven times, releasing light red from your head on each out-breath, returning to clear glass. Next, breathe out seven times, releasing light blue from your chest, followed by seven times breathing out the color turquoise from your abdominal area, and finally release the sand color out of your legs during seven out-breaths, each time returning to clear glass.

That’s the entire exercise! You may find it worth your while, particularly once you experience the benefits.

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