3 • How To Practice Universal Love

Let the four classical elements guide your way.

Experiencing the joy and magic of Universal Love is wonderful, but it takes intentional practice to bring it into your life. Don’t forget: the universe is here to support you, but all of us humans are incredible at getting in our own way. So here are four practices that can help guide you to the magic, as well as course-correct whenever you drift astray. They correspond to the classical elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, as these are the elements of Love.

Share Your Story: The Earth Element

We are a storytelling animal. Stories are the backbone of our civilization; they allow us to live and learn from one another’s experiences, going on an emotional rollercoaster ride together as one. Stories connect and help us understand each other, offering color and texture to the people in our lives. Stories provide us with depth and meaning.

Similarly, sharing your story is a grounding experience: it roots you into your sense of self, your identity. There is great power in this, as sharing your story allows you to shape and cultivate who you are and how you see yourself. Yet as a practice, it is anything but insular—sharing your story is inherently a connective act, a way of letting yourself be seen by others.

Share Your Story to cultivate the grounding safety of Earth into your life, and connect with life and love around you.

Embrace Vulnerability: The Fire Element

What feels vulnerable to us is seen as courageous by others. Vulnerability and courage are two sides of the same mirror, but there is more power in being vulnerable than in being courageous. Courage strengthens us, but vulnerability allows us to feel—and in so doing, we can feel our inner strength better as well.

To truly practice being vulnerable, one must embrace vulnerability wholly and fully. It is the birthplace of your creativity and power—and thus, much like fire, it must be wielded with care.

Fire also represents transformation: change that is irreversible. When we embrace vulnerability, we open ourselves up for inner transformation, evolving ourselves to a higher level, forever beyond where we are today.

Be Truthful: The Water Element

Water flows with no agenda. It has no opinion on “right” or “wrong,” it only listens to that which is exactly what it is: the truth of reality.

The more water is clear and transparent, the more we can trust it. To be truthful, we must practice being open, honest, and transparent with ourselves: what is it that we truly desire, or need? Who is it that we really are, or want to be? Are we acting or reacting from a place of suppressed and unacknowledged pain?

To step into our authentic selves, we must heal the scars we’ve incurred from all the lies we told ourselves, the lies we have been told by society and others, and the hurt we’ve lived with for so long. Only then can we step into being truthful, speaking from a place of alignment with our true and fullest selves.

Believe In Possibility: The Air Element

Like air, we take possibility for granted. And like air, the moment it is taken away from us, we face existential dread.

Life often brings us challenges, doled out in uneven measure. When we are in safety, empowered with resources, it is easy to dream of a brighter tomorrow; to feel hopeful and optimistic about our prospects beyond today. But life is not always like that, and so we must remember to always believe in the possibility that better is possible. That even if things are dire today, and right now, this too shall pass. “Every storm runs out of rain,” as Maya Angelou would say.

We must, at all times, remember to breathe, to believe that there is always another way. Another option. Another choice.

Trust that the universe has your back, even if you can’t imagine how that works; especially if you can’t. Believe in the possibility that there is more to this awesome existence than what you know of it, and that Universal Love is here for you to tap into.

Dance with it. Sing to it. Hug it gently in your mind.

Take your first steps into alignment with Love. I’ll see you next week.

---