The Water Element

When I think about the Water Element I think about flow - following the path of least resistance, formless, shapeshifting, fluid, receptive, cohesive, reflective, healing, feminine.  Water is dense as the molecules bind together very tightly yet it is not as dense as the earth, as it has a fluid quality.  It can be extremely powerful and destructive, like in a flood - carrying everything with it that it comes into contact with.

We all come from water - we grow within our mother's watery womb. We cannot function without water, it feeds all forms of life on this planet. Just as the tides are affected by the moon, so too are we (being made up of so much water). It is associated with purification, softening, nourishment. It is conductive, responsive, sensitive, connective. It can change form depending on different conditions. It is connected to the Sacral Chakra, and Feminine Energy,  to the season of Winter (some say Autumn - you'll find different variations around the world, but this sits well with me in the southern hemisphere and where I live) and to the elementals, Undines.  Read more about the Sacral Chakra on our website if you look for the Sacral Chakra Oil, and also about Feminine energy under our Divine Feminine Balm.

When thinking about Water being connected to the season of Winter, it is a time of retreating, a taking care of and connecting to those deeper layers of yourself, a time of reflection, what has brought you to where you are now. It can also be a time of dreaming of what is to come or what wants to be seeded for the coming spring.  Water requires you to rest, to float, to be in this Winter state, this deep and dark watery time - in fact we need it.

When I think of it in terms of personality traits, I think of someone who is in alignment, in their flow, creative, dreamy, gentle yet strong, empathetic, reflective, motherly, supportive, intuitive.  They are connected to their emotions, their sensuality and sexuality, their community, and they have healthy relationships.   

When it feels out of alignment within you, you may need to focus more on one of the other elements or you may need more of the water element.  You could feel any of the following :

• unable to trust in life
• unresponsive
• dehydrated, dryness
• tired and fatigued
• have joint pain
• fearful or insecure
• not feeling good enough
• emotionally overwhelmed or not in connection with your emotions or feelings
• inability to rest and be still, always on the go
• feeling creatively blocked
• disconnected to your family, your community
• you may be going with the flow too much, following another's path rather than your own, or another's expectation of you - wanting to please
• stagnant, rigid
• blocked, creatively, feelings or sexually
• overpowered or overpowering
• moody, depressed, anxious
• unyielding

How can you bring this element back into alignment within?

• feeling stagnant or unyielding - ask yourself where do I need to let go, become more flexible, adaptable, how can I soften and flow more 
• feeling disconnected to your feelings - sometimes we can be afraid of our feelings, and facing them might bring up within us.  I know for me, as a child, expressing emotion was looked down upon and I have had to work hard to overcome that within myself, to realise that emotion is only energy wanting to be expressed through me.  So remember feelings are just energy in motion - accept your tears, talk through your emotions with someone, sing and dance this can help move stored emotion move through your body
• create: draw, paint, write, play music - connect with your emotions through creativity - giving you a more healthy way to express them
• bring in more movement to your day, start to take action (remember water that is stagnant becomes undrinkable)
• feeling the need to cleanse yourself or just connect with the feeling of the water element - bathe in water, whether that be in a body of water or inside in the bath, feel negativity and/or emotion being washed away
• bring in more self-care into your day if you are used to always putting yourself last
• drink more water
• meditation is another useful tool to begin to come into connection with your emotions, especially those that you reject or project or feel ashamed of.  Stillness allows the space for these emotions to arise and flow through you, allowing you to integrate all parts of yourself.
• connect with your creativity within, what can you focus on creating in your life, everyone is creative in their own way, explore your way
• feeling overwhelmed emotionally - reconnect with the Earth, knowing that it is the earth that holds and supports water.  Spend time with your feet on the ground or your hands in the earth.  This will help you feel more supported.
• observe who or what is not supporting or nourishing you in your daily life and see what you can do to change it.  It may be coming from work, particular friends or family members, or it could be that you are not supporting yourself – you may need to make your own self-care a priority. 
• connect back in with your community, this could be in the form of volunteering or attending more community events, like weekly farmers markets, art shows, local theatre productions, local womens/mens circles for example - remember each of us is a tiny stream that flows into the bigger river and without connecting with others our stream does not flow anywhere.
• embodiment practices, womb connection practices and healings.
• explore walking in the rain or fog, or through the water.
• create an altar in your home dedicated to the Water Element.
• create an offering to the Water Element out in nature

Water calls you to swim in your own healing waters.  To dive deep and connect with your own emotional world, to understand why you feel what you feel, to connect in with those parts of you that you may suppress or hide from yourself and asks you to integrate them within you, to feel what you need to feel and to release what no longer serves.  She connects you to all times, past, present and future.   

Water holds memory and she can transmit that memory.  She asks you to slow down - one way I love to do this is to float in a body of water, and deeply connect into the water, the outside world quietens and you can tune into the sounds of the water moving all around you, the sunlight warming your face.  Laying like this is so nurturing and soothing on the body and the soul.  Did you know that sound travels 4 times faster in water than in air?  Researchers also found that water responds to human emotion much more quickly and powerfully than any other thing.   I love sending out blessings into the water when I swim.  Search out the work of Veda Austin from New Zealand, she has been doing some incredible work on water.  Also Mythic Living on Substack has some really interesting articles on Water, Waking the Wellsprings.

Water also asks you to work with it, to connect with it, to begin a relationship with it.  Just like the Earth and caring for the earth, water needs your care too.  Some suggestions could be to clean around the waterways near you, so rubbish doesn't enter and harm the quality of the water or the sea life within the waters.  Stop buying plastic bottled water, not only is it terrible for the environment it is also terrible for you, as the plastic seeps into the water and the chemical structure of plastic mimics oestrogen, and the body stores it in your fatty deposits - whether you are a male or female - and who wants to be storing plastic within their own body. 

Learn to listen, love and protect the water all around you.  Remember you are made up of so much water, so you will connect naturally.  Practice singing or playing music to her, give gratitude to the waters within and without.

I can sometimes have too much water, it is one the elements I can be out of alignment with.   It's great to work on building your knowledge about these so you can be aware of when something is out of balance and how you can bring them back to balance. 

I hope you enjoy exploring where the Water Element sits within you, whether it needs more of your focus or not and hopefully some of these suggestions may help. 

Next time, we will look at the Fire Element

Our Sacral Chakra Oil and our Divine Feminine Balm, both strongly associate with the Water Element.  You can see these in our shop and also I have done some writing on the Sacral Chakra in Musings

Offerings created for the Water Element and the Water Elementals, 2023, 2025.