by Emma Reeves | Apr 4, 2023 | spiritual practices
There are four main elements of nature: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, along with the additional element of Space or Aether. When you are connected to these elements, your inner and outer worlds will feel more aligned. So, what can you do to align with these sacred elements?
Respecting and honoring these great teachers of nature also helps you honor and respect yourself. After all, your body is made up of these elements, from the fire in your heart and digestion to the fact your body is up to 60% water. Often, if you are feeling out of balance, understanding the elements of nature can help you take steps to purify, heal, and reach equilibrium once more.
Read on to learn some ideas on how to connect to the elements of nature.
Earth
Taking time to connect to the element of Earth helps remind you that support is always there for you. Mother Earth is considered the great mother, sustaining all life and providing the resources we need to survive. She helps ground, nurture, and nourish us.
Go Outside and Make an Offering
Take a walk, sit down and meditate by a tree, or simply put your feet on the Earth. Studies have found walking barefoot and grounding outside offer many benefits, such as helping stabilize the circadian rhythms in the human body.
You can also give thanks to Mother Earth, such as by offering fruits, grains, and anything that helped you during the month. An offering is a moment to pause, connect to Mother Earth, and set intentions. Ayllu Medicina makes an offering every New Moon, setting intentions and planting new seeds for the month ahead.
Practice Self-care
You need to be able to care for your own body to also care for the Earth. Take some time out for self-care and check in with yourself. During our plant medicine retreats, we offer an ancient Goddess spa ritual, which can be a powerful way to release impressions.
Self-care also includes your diet and what you are nourishing yourself with. For example, you can eat root vegetables to help ground your energy to the Earth.
Recognize the Seasons
Mother Earth has four main seasons, which support her and all life on Earth. Women also experience these seasons every month with their menstrual cycle.
Understanding the Earth’s cycles can give you insight into your feminine energy and how it changes throughout the month. You can learn more about this in Hwaneetah’s talk about womb technology. There will also be workshops on this ancient wisdom throughout our women’s plant medicine retreat.
Attend a Ceremony
Attending a plant medicine ceremony, such as with Grandma Ayahuasca, can help you work on your lower chakras, root down, and allow you to connect to your inner nature. Her feminine spirit enables you to shed layers that no longer serve you and realign you with your true nature.
When aligned with your true nature, you can also remember that you are part of the whole (everything), and everything is part of you. Plant medicine ceremonies are a way to connect to the elements of nature in many different ways.
Water
Water is medicine and a life-sustaining force for all. It can be easy to disconnect from water, such as by holding in your tears or taking for granted the presence of water in your life. Building a relationship with water will bring you many teachings, such as how to flow, purify, and find stillness in the swells of life.
Cleanse With Water
If you have access to a bath, the ocean, or even a bucket, cleanse with water. Add some essential oils, chamomile, eucalyptus, or another herb to the water and wash away what no longer serves you. Ayllu Medicina believes life is a ceremony, so any act with water can be sacred when presence is there, including taking a shower or brushing your teeth.
Visit a Body of Water
If you have a body of water near you, such as the ocean, a river, a stream, or a lake, visit it! Spend some time in communion with the water, observe its many teachings, and let any emotions move. You can also pray, sing, or make an offering.
Give Thanks to Your Water
Research has confirmed that words, sounds, emotions, and the environment changes the molecular structure of water. So, why not take a minute to give thanks and ask to connect with the water source? If you do not start your day with a glass of water, consider doing so to start the day with clarity and intention.
Many ceremonies include a water prayer; after a night of fasting water, it is the only medicine you need. Vision Quest is another way to begin to build a relationship with water, which Ayllu Medicina attends yearly at Ayapuma. You can learn more about this at our retreats.
Try Ice Baths
Ice baths are an effective way to purify and cleanse. Sitting in a cold body of water and finding peace can alter your life in many ways, helping you stay centered no matter what challenges arise. There are many researched benefits of ice baths, including:
- Reduces inflammation
- Shortens exercise recovery time
- Relieves sore muscles
- Supports your immune system
- Improves energy levels and mental well-being
We also offer ice baths as part of our plant medicine retreats, such as our women’s retreat, which help prepare you for plant medicine ceremonies. We include guided breathwork and a warm-up to prepare. Our friends Bre and Flo have just published a video on cold exposure if you would like to learn more about this way to connect to the element of water.
Fire
The fire is at the center of our plant medicine ceremonies, communities, homes, and your heart. He is a wise and ancient teacher, which is why we refer to him as Grandfather Fire or Abuelo Fuego. When you trust in the element of fire, he has the ability to transmute, and heal in miraculous and loving ways, also reflecting the light of your heart.
Gather Around a Fire
One of the best ways to connect to the element of fire is to gather around one in community. A lot of healing happens this way, which is why our ancestors held ceremonies with fire before they had access to plant medicines. And until this day, there are fire ceremonies.
If you cannot attend a ceremony or safely manage a fire, then you can also light a candle and practice a candle-gazing meditation.
Move Your Body
As fire also represents energy and metabolism, moving your body to tend your own fire within is important. Tune in to how you are feeling and ensure you have ways to move emotions through you. Movement could include shaking, yoga, dancing, running, tapping, or any other movement that helps you release excess energy and recenter.
Create
Find the spark of fire in you by connecting to your creativity. As we get older, it can be easy to neglect to learn new things for fun and forget the importance of play. Take time to create art, play an instrument, or find another way to express yourself.
Attend a Sweat Lodge
Sweat lodges honor the four elements of nature, including fire. The grandmother stones are heated in the fire and brought into the sweat each round. Incense is added to each stone before darkness descends, water is poured on the stones to increase the heat, and songs are raised in the womb of Mother Earth. There are many benefits of sweat lodges, including:
- Purifies the mind, body, and spirit
- Restores balance and order
- Connects you to the four elements of nature
- Offers introspection and clarity
Sweat lodges are the perfect medicine to surrender to the Earth and remember who you are. Attending a sweat lodge is a powerful process to let go of what no longer serves you, so you can experience rebirth, aligned once again in your heart’s center. Ayllu Medicina holds regular sweat lodges on the coast of Ecuador, which you are welcome to attend.
Air
The element of air is associated with spirit, change, and freedom, along with other sacred symbols in different traditions. It is the breath of life, the winds, and represents all our ancestors that have passed. You can connect to air simply by taking a pause and a deep, conscious breath.
Practice Breathwork
If you want to go deeper into connecting with the element of air, practice breathwork. There are many simple breathing exercises to try, and if you practice yoga, you can incorporate pranayama exercises such as Nadi Shodhana and Box Breathing into your practice. Breathwork is an essential part of our plant medicine retreats, which you get to experience daily, along with meditation and yoga.
Sing
Singing is a powerful way to connect to the element of air, create sound, and reclaim your voice. Many people attend our plant medicine retreats and end up beginning to sing, sometimes for the first time in many years! There are many sacred songs that you can learn, which also honor the elements, such as our guides Aime and Hwaneetah’s music, Pájaros de Luz.
Pray
Praying and giving thanks is a powerful way to connect to the elements of nature, your ancestors, and the universe. Gratitude is always a good place to begin if you are unsure where to direct your prayer. You can pray to what feels aligned for you.
Light Incense
Light incense to cleanse your space, shift any stagnant energy, and connect to the air element. You can use incense sticks or fresh incense, such as Copal or Palo Santo. Burning incense helps calm your environment, increase vibration, and enhance your focus; it is essential medicine in our ceremonies.
Connect to the Elements of Nature at a Plant Medicine Retreat
Healing begins when you begin to pay attention to how your inner world reflects your outer world. A good place to start is by learning how to connect to the elements of nature. You can dive deeper into this practice through various traditions and attend a plant medicine retreat to learn more.
Taking the time to pause and remove yourself from everyday commitments is the perfect way to reset and connect to the sacred elements of nature. A plant medicine retreat also helps you connect to the fifth element of Aether, also known as spirit or space. During a retreat, you will receive various tools to help you simplify, make space, and let go of impressions, cleansing your mind, body, and spirit to find balance once again.
Our next retreat is a Women’s power retreat this April. You can learn more about this retreat and our other upcoming retreats here. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
by Emma Reeves | Feb 21, 2023 | spiritual practices
Mother Earth experiences four main seasons every year, with the transitions marked by Solstice and Equinox. Solstice and Equinox are significant astrological markers that are not only a time to focus on the external changing of seasons but your internal landscape too. So, with the March Equinox coming up, what should you do?
The March Equinox is the Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, also known as the Spring Equinox. And in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the Autumnal Equinox. Read on to learn more about how to celebrate Equinox and find balance during this time.
What Is an Equinox?
An Equinox is when the night and day are equal in length, with the term Equinox coming from Latin, meaning ‘equal night’. Spring and Autumn arrive on Equinox, whereas Solstice marks Winter and Summer. The two Equinoxes on Earth occur around March 20th and September 22nd each year.
Astrologically, an Equinox occurs because the sun is directly above the equator at noon. After the March Equinox, the sun’s subsolar point begins to travel North, marking the season of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
Why Is Equinox Important?
Equinox does not only mark the change of seasons. Equinox is a time of balance between dark and light, death and life, honoring the struggle and finding peace within it.
The Autumnal Equinox is often a time to celebrate the harvest and what needs to be shed. Whereas the Vernal Equinox marks the return of the light, the Spring, where seeds begin to be planted. And in general, Equinoxes are important times of rebirth and renewal, offering a moment to reflect on how to maintain balance moving forward.
Different cultures believe days like Equinox are the best time to transcend the physical realm, as everything is in balance. This includes the feminine and masculine, the day and the night, the light and the dark.
Also, for many cultures, the March Equinox is considered the first day of the new year. This is because ancient civilizations were in sync with nature, the moon’s movement, and the sun’s movement. Equinox is an important time to reconnect to nature and these cycles.
Equinox Rituals of Ancient Civilizations
Equinox has long held importance in different cultures, with evidence of many Equinox rituals of ancient civilizations. For example, there are many ancient structures aligned with the stars around the world, which people would gather at during significant dates, such as Equinox. These include Stonehenge in England and El Castillo in Mexico.
There were different Equinox rituals of ancient civilizations, including ceremonies, parades, offerings, plantings, and music. It was seen as a time to give thanks, gather in community, and connect to the elements.
How To Celebrate Equinox Today
Many cultures still celebrate Equinox. For example, the March Equinox is the Pawkar Raymi celebration for Mother Earth and Harvest in Ecuador. These celebrations are often referred to as ‘Mushuk Nina,’ which roughly translates to new fire, so a time of cleansing, renewal, and harvest.
There are many other ways to celebrate Equinox and mark this important astrological event.
Gather in Community and Give Thanks
Equinox is the perfect time to gather in a community and show gratitude toward your loved ones. It can be a time to renew connections and restore balance in relationships. If you cannot gather with loved ones, find a local community event, write a gratitude list, or send messages of thanks.
Be Around a Fire
As Equinox is a time of renewal and a restoration of balance, it is a great time to be around our grandfather fire. He has the power to cleanse, ground, and help you find alignment once more. Attend a sweat lodge, go to a plant medicine ceremony, join a fire circle, or light a candle and meditate.
Get Outside
Equinox is not only a reflection of the outer landscape but the inner world too. Women experience all the seasons every month as part of their moon cycle. However, Equinox is also a significant time for the sun, marking its journey to balance, so it is a time for everyone to recap and give thanks for what has passed during the season.
Spend time outdoors, connect to Mother Earth, and check in with how your inner nature is doing. You can recap your time since the last Equinox and determine what you need to find balance in yourself again.
Connect to Music
Listening to music, playing an instrument, or singing can help raise your vibration and change your energy. If you feel unbalanced, take a moment to pause and connect to this powerful medicine. Music is the perfect way to find your rhythm, send prayers, and express thanks, especially during Equinox when energies are coming into alignment.
Attend an Equinox Plant Medicine Retreat
Ayllu Medicina is holding a March plant medicine retreat to honor the time of Equinox. This transformational plant medicine retreat is the perfect way to renew, join in community, connect to the elements, and find your equilibrium. There will be a variety of ceremonies and activities to help you find balance, including:
- Ayahuasca ceremonies
- A San Pedro ceremony
- Sweat lodges (temazcales)
- Daily yoga, meditation, and breathwork
The sacred plant medicines can help you make space to welcome in the new season, connect to your heart’s center, and let go of what no longer serves you. The temazcales are also powerful medicine for purification and rebirth, so you will feel renewed for the seasons ahead.
The plant medicine retreat will also help you restore balance through nutritious food, daily yoga practice, meditation, and breathwork. After all, in order to transcend physical limitations, you need to care for your body and find balance here first.
We will also be focusing on music during this March plant medicine retreat in Ecuador as a way to connect to your heart’s rhythm and the elements. There will be drum circles, song sharing, and workshops to learn more about this powerful medicine.
Celebrate March Equinox and Find Balance Within
The March Equinox is the perfect opportunity to pause and give thanks to Mother Earth; for all the ways she supports us, including through her changing seasons. Equinox is also the ideal time to pause, go inwards, and check that your inner landscape is also finding ways to maintain balance.
Connecting to the rhythm of your heart will help you find peace within the light and dark, recognizing these seasons are part of planting new seeds, healing wounds, shedding what no longer serves you, and making space for new energy and growth.
If you are wondering how to celebrate Equinox this March and connect to your heart’s rhythm, join one of our Ayllu Medicina 2024 events! We have a sweat lodge and meditation on 21st March at 4pm, then a San Pedro ceremony on 23rd March at 9.30pm (spaces are limited, please reserve your spot).
Contact us directly to learn more.
by Michaela D'Amico | Jan 4, 2021 | Plant medicines, spiritual practices
During our retreats, everyday we cleanse and purify our minds in different ways – with meditation, purification, and with different forms of tobacco. Gaining new relationships with different parts of nature, or improving your current connections, is a crucial part of integrating your experience. However, before any power plant medicine ceremony, we have to begin a holistic detox and purify ourselves, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Purification
There are several purification (what some might consider a form of detox) practices that we use to cleanse ourselves before entering the sacred space to work with plant medicines. One of these practices is meditation. Another is temazcal, or sweat lodge, where the heat allows us to purify all of our 5 senses, including releasing the toxins in our body. Through sweating and with the addition of various herbs and prayer, we purify our emotions and undergo a full 360 degree purification process. We also use Sacred Tobacco for purification, in 3 forms – liquid, smoking, and offering it to the Earth.
Sacred Tobacco
Tobacco, which is native to the Americas, is of course well known for its use in commercial cigarettes. However, it was used first thousands of years before within native traditions, and is considered the highest power plant of all the medicinal plants. One reason for this is because of its use is linked to the 4 elements – Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. During a retreat, you will get to experience the many beneficial and sacred ways to connect to this power plant.
Perhaps you are surprised to hear that tobacco is part of ceremonial spaces. We are NOT talking about cigarrettes. There are two species of tobacco that are commonly used today – Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica. Nicotiana Tabacum is the variety used by cigarette companies, mainly because it is smoother and less potent so it can be used more habitually. Nicotiana Rustica, a much stronger variety, is used in the native traditions, including in Native America and the Amazon.
Liquid Water Tobacco
The Amazonian cultures of Ecuador use liquid tobacco for purification. The practice includes making a “tea” in which the tobacco plant is soaked in water. Then, we inhale this water through each of our nostrils, cleansing all the breathing channels that lead to our mind. That same water we exhale by spitting it out our mouth. Beyond the physical cleansing, energetically this practice allows us to open and activate the pineal gland so our breath can connect to it directly. This process is used to literally cleanse the thoughts. It allows us to refocus and cleanses the mind. If we do it well, we cleanse all of our thoughts.
This is one of the main ways we use this strong power plant. We inhale water tobacco before sweat lodge and before ceremonies, to get our minds ready to focus on our main purpose.
Smoking Tobacco
In native cultures all around the world, it is said that the tobacco plant has a memory of the way that humans have used it. We give direction and power to the plant depending on the use that we give it. The tobacco plant has been used for centuries to communicate with God, or the Great Spirit. When we smoke tobacco, we are opening a direct pathway to connect to God, and to the Universe.
This is how we can communicate our intentions through the smoke. The belief is that every inhalation of tobacco is one less breath for your life. That is why when we are smoking tobacco, we pray carefully and focus our intention. And we send this little bit of energy of life through the smoke up to the sky to connect to the rest of the Universe.
Offering tobacco to the Earth
Beyond cleansing and praying, we also use tobacco for offerings, protection and connecting to everything that is sacred. It is well known all over the world that nature recognizes the language communicated through the tobacco plant. For example, when we get to a new place, we give a little bit of tobacco to the Earth. It is a ritual action just to say, “Hello, we are here, we are going to honor and care for you, Mother Earth.”
And there’s more!
There are several other ways we begin the process of purification and detoxification, including rapé or snuff which is the ash from tobacco and other sacred plants, and offering tobacco to the fire to set our intention. Another key step for purifying and detoxing is following a simple cleansing diet. Head over to our FAQs to read more about this, and subscribe so you can receive our next blog which will dive into the explanation behind eliminating certain food groups in preparation for a ceremony.
by Michaela D'Amico | Dec 30, 2020 | plant medicine ceremonies, spiritual practices, Uncategorized
It is New Moon, the sky is dark and full of stars. A time for renewal and reconnection to ourselves and our source, the new moon reminds me to pause and give thanks.
I walk out to the small palm tree on the path to the garden and dig a small hole, singing about the love and abundance that surrounds me. Prepared with me is an offering of food and treasures I prepared throughout the day – toasted corn, plantain, a chocolate bar, eggs, a beautiful crystal found on the beach, earrings made from seeds, dried tobacco leaves, palo santo, a few coins, and essential oils. As I offer this heap of abundance to the small hole for Mother Earth, I pray with gratitude for all that she has offered me this past month. I thank her for the sunshine, the waves in the sea, the lush soil nourishing our vegetables, the fruit trees blossoming with guayaba, the vast skies, and include some prayers for what I would like to bring to my life in the coming weeks.
We hold sacred this practice of nurturing and acknowledging our Mother Earth, especially during the New Moon. This includes giving an offering to the tierra, the Earth, to sustain that familiar and love connection that we have with the Earth as a live being. The ritual is renewing for the Earth and for us. The idea is that we must help keep her alive, so we feed her and this connection between us. We open a wound, literally a hole in the ground, trying to always use the same one each month.
Maybe you are wondering, what could we possibly offer the Earth that she does not already have? Again, the idea is to bring her life and sustain our connection, so the act is as much symbolic as it is literal.
We save food from each meal that day, and also give her a bit of everything we have eaten during the month. The idea is not to give things you do not need anymore – the end of the candy jar, the last bit of leftovers, or the necklace you don’t wear anymore. Rather, it is important to offer things that have true worth for you, and even things you have been working with the whole month. The offering is like a summary of what we are grateful for from the past month. All of this we want to share with and give to Mother Earth.
For example, sometimes I even include in my offering Vitamin C or a certain type of tea that I have been using that month.
The Earth does everything that is in her power to keep us alive, so in turn, this is our way of nurturing this connection and showing our gratitude.
Indigenous people all around the world have been following the moon calendar since their existence, and also follow this ritual. New Moon is the time for planting and planning, and Full Moon is for harvesting.
We align with this by praying and giving on the New Moon. We give voice to what we want ot thank the Earth for, as well as what we want to receive in the weeks that follow. By giving and praying in this way, we can receive with humility and gratitude throughout the rest of the month.
During the Full Moon, we continue the offering, by giving liquid, milk, or plant medicine, to keep this offering of gratitude alive.
More on the Full Moon soon. For now, it is New Moon, and we are singing:
“Mother Earth, dear Mother Earth, we are here, we are here, hear our cry.”
