The Fire Element: Ignite the Ferocity of Intent to Embrace Life’s Hurdles

Fire is the most powerful element for change. I call it the element of alchemical transformation. In yoga, Fire, or Agni in Sanskrit, is related to Tapas, which means heat or austerity. Tapas is the dedication it takes to prioritize a steady daily yoga and meditation practice.

Fire has the power to change your state from a slower vibration of complacency or stuckness, to a higher vibration of agency, appreciation, and joy. Fire transforms the earth element (as wood), into heat and light. Apply fire to the water element and it magically transforms the water into steam, the air element. 

Fire shows up in our life in many ways. Fire can be a measure for how well-woven or integrated we are with our values, nature, and the world. For instance, how would you answer these questions? Are you lit up in your life? Are you excited about something? Are you excited about someone? Are you motivated to pursue your dreams? Are you hot or cold about your life? 

Fire is both purifying and terrifying! And it can be ferocious! It takes a tremendous ferocity of intent to embrace the hurdles in life. 

Whenever you venture out to pursue your dreams, obstacles arise. That’s only natural. One of the most powerful ways to deal with obstacles is to surrender to them. By surrender, I don’t mean give up or quit. I mean surrender in the form of acceptance of what is as it is. Acceptance ignites the spark of any flame. Without it, the fire suffocates usually under a pile of resistance and negative narratives.

One way I like to tap into my fire, is to ask myself, “Am I living my dream?” “Have I tapped my potential?” Potential is unlimited and infinite. This is one reason why it’s so easy to become complacent in life. There is no finish line, there’s no real measure of the end. Life is a constant growth project. When you can accept life as a journey rather than a goal, you free yourself from needing or expecting it to be finished or done. This idea aligns with the beautiful Tantric teaching that we are all perfectly imperfect as we are because we live in a perfectly unfinished universe of becoming.

Although I’m living my dream and have created the Ashaya Yoga school and method, it wasn’t without challenges. The fire of transformation was sparked in my 20’s when I went to a 10-day yoga retreat at Kripalu and stayed for 13 years! The intensity of fire I experienced to transform my life and actually pick up and move from Miami, FL where I was a well-established jazz pianist, to join an intentional yoga community in PA was very, very hot. But I did it. Or rather it did me. 

Fire is necessary for us to make a choice. It’s what gets us up off our butt to do something. But actually doing something is risky business. You risk failing. You risk disappointing friends and loved ones. You risk falling flat on your face. I risked everything – my home, my family, friends, my own health, and my career. But it was all worth it. Since choosing yoga as a lifestyle, I’ve been living my dream. I’m so grateful.

And now with Ashaya going full steam ahead, I have an amazing and talented team of dedicated staff, a classroom of awesome practitioners who really understand the Tantra, what’s at stake in life, and the urgency of living fully. I’m in bliss!!!

And to top it off, (this is no secret to many of you), I met my beloved, the goddess, my life-partner, Hallie Bieber! I didn’t think it would ever happen. Since my divorce eight years ago, I was beginning to lose hope. But fate intervened. It became obvious to us both that all of the work we’ve done in our previous lives (previous marriages, relationships, personal growth, over 30 years of her yoga practice, my 45 years of practice) prepared us to be together. The universe conspired on our behalf!

Our relationship wouldn’t be complete without the ferocity of intent we both share to have a daily sadhana practice and explore the depths of an interdependent relationship. I’m very happy to be able to say that I now have a daily sadhana partner. Yay!

And Hallie even likes to roll the ball under her foot while sipping coffee and watching the bluebirds first thing in the morning like me! It’s such a joy to share so many practices together. I feel very uplifted, motivated, hopeful, and most of all, grateful. 

I believe that when we align body, mind, and heart with the five elements, especially the fire element, then whatever’s no longer needed will dissolve and turn to ash, allowing the most radiant crystal of divine love to arise, wrap, and comfort the longing of the soul as it forges ahead on the journey of the heart.

May we join together to uplift and support each other. May we ignite each other’s fire and offer to support one another when we’re feeling low. May we use fire to change our state and rise up. May we always aim for the highest while accepting our perfect imperfection. May we use fire to transform our shadow into light, pain into beauty, and our smallness into our immeasurable vastness. 

May we love and nurture ourselves, each other, and our family and friends, through the beauty of our practice. May we follow our hearts and flow in alignment with grace. 

Namaste,

Todd

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