Earth, Wind, and Water are elements of nature and essential to our existence. The Sun's Fire, given off as radiant energy and UV light, helps all living things thrive*. Learning how to optimize these elements can make you healthier and more radiant. 

Earth 

The earth provides nutrients for vegetation and life. Its surface also shares energy that can improve our health. Direct body contact with the earth's energy is nature's way of strengthening your body's defenses and reducing the impact of stress. Over the last 50 years, we have literally "lost touch" with the earth's healing benefits. Science can bring us back to our roots to understand its benefits.

Grounding, a practice that involves direct contact with the earth's surface, allows us to absorb the earth's energy. This energy, when harnessed through grounding, can be medicinal by reducing harmful stress within our bodies. It also lowers blood pressure and improves blood flow to all body parts, essential for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 

A valuable measure of how grounding reduces stress is how it improves Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Your heart rate increases when emotions, medications, foods, and physical activity stress you. Heart rate slows with relaxation and sleeping. Chronic stress reduces the variability seen because the body has difficulty fully relaxing. (Poor HR variability is a more significant predictor of sudden cardiac death than a history of hypertension, diabetes, or smoking.) Now, smartwatch apps can give you the HRV parameter to help you tune into your body's stress level. 
Grounding is a simple practice that you can start when the outdoor weather is appropriate. Just walk barefoot or in leather-soled shoes on the ground for a recommended 10-30 minutes daily. Remember, the longer you contact the earth, the greater the benefit without adverse effects. Indoors, there are grounding mats you can purchase for use with yoga, while on the computer, when reading, or sleeping. It's a straightforward technique that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

Air

Air is a part of life for most living creatures. It is the breath that you inhale and exhale. It can be toxic or healing. Almost like a drug, the rate and amount of air in our breath can impact how we feel and our health. Regular short and/or shallow breaths are ominous signs of stress. Being aware of your breathing and changing its pattern can be a tool for managing stress and anxiety. It can also alert you to a person's degradation of health.

Stressful breathing can be linked to diabetes, obesity, heart disease, reduced quality of sleep, fatigue, mood disorders, and compromised immunity.

Proper breathing techniques reduce stress and improve workouts, including yoga, tai chi, running, biking, and resistance training. These techniques also improve defenses against disease.

Studies show that taking time each day to slow the rate and increase the depth of relaxation breathing for brief periods helps reduce stress. The recommended extended exhalation becomes easier when pursing your lips like breathing through a straw.

Nasal breathing can be helpful to your health. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth is preferred. Its benefits include nitric oxide absorption in your lungs, which increases oxygen absorption, and blood flow through your lungs, which benefits your entire body. It enhances your sexual experience, helps with exercise, and improves sleep.

Practice controlled breathing three times daily by taking six deep breaths per minute. Inhale for 5 seconds, then exhale for 5 seconds. Do this for five minutes. Breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. It is essential to focus on the breath itself during this exercise. Over time, you can increase the length of inhalation and exhalation. This breathing technique can be used when lying down, sitting, or walking in nature. Its goal is to reduce stress.

This breathing technique can be used when lying down, sitting, or walking in nature. Its goal is to reduce stress.

Water 

Water is used for transportation, sport, and life outside the body, but it also has many important functions within the body.

Water is not just for quenching your thirst, it plays a crucial role in your overall health. It carries nutrients, minerals, and vitamins through the body's blood circulatory system and is just as crucial for transporting waste out of the body through the circulatory and lymphatic systems. It also helps the brain and muscles eliminate toxins to reduce fatigue. It lubricates our joints to improve mobility. Adequate hydration makes your skin more supple and healthy.

Water can be slightly alkaline or acidic, depending on the source. Acidic drinks, such as carbonated and sugary ones, are harmful to teeth and oral health. Our body is slightly alkaline and performs better with slightly alkaline drinks. Green tea, for instance, is slightly alkaline.

There are several guidelines for how much water should be drunk every day. The minimum is 64 ounces (approximately 1.9 Liters). A good way to look at it is to drink 12 ounces when first getting up. Drink 12 ounces before every meal to assist with preparing the esophagus and stomach for food. Water also helps with digestion during the meal. Then, at night, preparing for bedtime, drinking a final 8-12 ounces can also help with gastric emptying to reduce nighttime heartburn. Anything beyond that is useful to quench your thirst.

So, what can be learned from the earth, wind, and water recommendations? Doing the right thing can help normalize stress, inflammation, and function within the body without drugs or chemicals. It's back to nature the way our creator intended good health. But most importantly, it's about your habits. Better health starts with you.

* The Sun's Fire will be covered separately since it is a comprehensive and significant topic.