Earth: To attune to the element of earth, first breathe in through the nose and out through the nose. In this stage of the alchemical process of purification, you begin by imagining that, as you exhale, your electromagnetic force field drains through the bottom of your spine, or the soles of your feet, into Mother Earth. Through this out-breath go all the static gases that have congested your lungs, as well as those heavier elements in your psyche that you would like to be rid of. Just like water down a drain, imagine all your physical and psychological pollution being drawn downward by the powerful gravitational pull of the earth.
Kindly, Mother Earth accepts the dross of your negative energies through the filter of Her being and recycles it. Thus as you inhale through the nose, imagine that you are drawing in an abundance of fresh energy. Cleared of those things that block you, there is more space within you. A rising buoyancy gives you a sense of being freed of the ballast of those things that have held your spirit down. At the same time, you feel endowed with the positive qualities of the earth: strength, resilience, responsibility, and nurturing.
Next, inhale through the nose and exhale through your mouth. This is the baptism through the element of water. With your lips closed, force the air through your mouth as if you were whistling. This gives you a sense of coolness. As you exhale, it’s as if your breath is a shower of water penetrating the very cells of your body. Like an ablution of the Holy Spirit, this descending waterfall of energy washes away all your physical and psychological blocks and impurities. Then, as you inhale, imagine that a fountainhead of pure, artesian springwater is rising up, cleansing and purifying your being. Because water is malleable and flowing, it endows you with similar qualities of love, compassion, solidarity, and the willingness to cooperate and work with others.
Fire: In the purification through the element of fire, you breathe in through the mouth, then out through the nose. Rather than identify with your magnetic field, as in the previous concentrations, this practice highlights the bioluminescence of your aura. This is the light that you absorb and transmit back to the environment, so that the body glows like a lamp lit from within. So, as you inhale, imagine that there is a central axis rising like a flame in the spinal cord. You feel that the flame is sucking oxygen out of the environment in order to fuel itself. Through this process, heat is being transformed into light.
Then, as you exhale through the nose, feel as if your body has become an incandescent flame and that you are radiating pure light through your heart center. Feel as though you are in a shower of light. Your aura is thoroughly purified of any ambiguity or deviousness by the flame of truth, giving you the courage to stand by what you believe in.
Air: The last breathing practice is the baptism by air. Here, you breathe in a very refined breath through the mouth, then out through the mouth, and, light as a bird, experience the soaring feeling of unfettered freedom. If you suffer from an addiction of any kind, this is the opportunity to purify your spirit of that gnawing need, releasing it from the prison of desire. Likewise, the air breath emancipates you from those ways of thinking that restrain your soul from exulting in its true nature. Liberated from the prison of conditioning, you are free to connect with those ideals you once cherished. Indeed, the idealistic, celestial dimension within you suffers from the limitation of the earthly condition; it needs the nurturing space provided by meditation. Soaring on a cushion of air, you discover modes of thinking that are not based upon ordinary experience, but arise from the ground of Divine intelligence. Eventually, your limited ego is subsumed by the thinking of the Cosmos, restoring it to its relationship to the One and Only Spectator of which it is but an extension.