Those of you who are regulars to my classes and this blog know how much I like to talk about fire. I invoke the imagery in classes and I reflect on the element daily as my personal practice. I even have fire etched in my skin as a reminder to be conscious of it's energy in me and around me. To be fair I like the other elements too and think of them as well, but fire is for sure my work here and now.
I want to create space for myself and for you to be able to work consciously with this element in our classes and personal practices so that we can learn to be with intensity without trying to control it and stop it. I want to honor this element within us that is capable of creating so much space by burning what needs to be burned--whether it be aspects of ego that no longer serve us--bringing in more humility and surrender, or literally emotional and physical energy that is blocked within us that only fire can burn through. I know that water can move through tough spots too and create space; earth can ground, nurture and support; and air creates great space and freedom--but fire is what I am connecting to as my healer and teacher.
Fire is sometimes seen as too harsh or hard. Like in class if we stay connected to that fire element for a long time--the class gets hot, hard, intense, and really makes us have this choice of how much am I willing to burn? In fact some good questions might be what can I consciously burn and what can I surrender to. What can I make space for? Where can I let this fire energy travel within me?
Fire can be seen as the destroyer--but is that bad? I see fire, even in the sense of when it happens in nature, as a very natural cleansing act. It's not destruction--but the creation of space. In fact it creates space and in nature when there are wild fires it actually is like the phoenix. The aftermath of all the trees burning actually creates space for the new growth to be brought forth. It takes many years for that process but it happens. I am not saying that the destruction is not painful especially when tragic circumstances occur like the loss of lives and property. I am speaking to act in general. The act is very natural within nature, and it is in us as well.
That is why we need to cultivate an understanding of how it works within us, and maybe how we work against building the fire (also paying attention to how we build it--remembering that all good fires take time to build). Learning how to cultivate our strength within this element can go a long way in making us play with it without overcooking ourselves--and again--sometimes we need to get "well done" so there are no rules--only what is necessary and true to our experience and navigation if life. We can only learn from doing. One of my favorite quotes is "If your very very careful, nothing really good, or really bad will happen". Meaning if you never build a fire--sure you may not burn, but also you may never have new growth either. At the same time just as in nature sometimes we don't have a choice--sometimes a wildfire just happens. It's good to just know the element intimately either way.
I'm drawn to fire because naturally I tend to be more comfortable in air/water like movements. I know though that for my growth and evolution that I need more fire. I'm not naturally that way. I know that might be a surprise to some, but really being in the fire is work for me. It's challenging, hard, tough, etc--at all levels of my being. Teaching the fire then is equally hard--but I know it's what I am supposed to do because it's where I have gone and where I am going within my own life and practice.
I am inspired by Rumi who often refers to fire within his own spiritual practice-
Set your life on fire.
Seek those who fan your flames.
~Rumi
"Thinking gives off smoke to prove the existence of fire. A mystic sits inside the burning. There are wonderful shapes in rising smoke that imagination loves to watch. But it's a mistake to leave the fire for that filmy sight. Stay here at the flame's core."
If your knowledge of fire has been turned to certainty by words alone, then seek to be cooked by the fire itself. Don't abide in borrowed certainty. There is no real certainty until you burn; if you wish for this, sit down in the fire.
~ Mevlana Rumi Quotes from Rumi Daylight: A Daybook of Spiritual Guidance
May you all continue to burn and burn brightly seeking those who fan your flames. As I travel on into my next journey I hope that each of you continues to spread fire throughout the city here so that all of us burn through what separates us from being fully vibrant radiant expressions of grace and love to each other and the world around us.
Peace Peace Peace!
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