Fire Body Language

Especially during outrageous and unpredictable times, it’s important not to let the fire go out. One of the gifts of the Fire element is intuitive spontaneity, an ability to sync up with something greater than ourselves that allows us to have inspired insights and make inspired moves.

One important thing we can do to open our Fire element to these kinds of spontaneous Insights is to practice Fire body language and voice. See what happens. Does it change your openness to love in the midst of chaos? Does it reduce anxiety in favor of amazement? I find that it does.

Fire has a lively, engaged face and body posture, raised rib cage and arms, and a sense of lilt and movement like flames, but with a plumb line at the center keeping the fire rooted in its source.

Hand gestures tend to be upward and somewhat random, scattered and opening like flower petals. Voice has a lilting laughing sound, kind of like a female radio announcer: “There’s a five-car pile-up on I-91…”

Are your shoulders slumped forward, compressing your lungs, and not letting the fire get enough air? Fire needs breath! Are your ribs knitted inward and downward, as though they were stitched into your sternum? Double check on that please! Are your bottom ribs glued to the top of your iliac crests? They might be! Has your body become like a winter potato, instead of a summer flower?

Let your spine lengthen as you let your hips drop freely and your rib cage lift like a flower. Your spine is the stem, and you remain completely rooted, so this is not ungrounding. Practice walking around as a flower, rib cage lifted, and see how it changes your mood and outlook, even before you take Fire posture into your interactions.

Give equal attention to the balance and openness of the flower or rib cage and the rootedness of the hips and legs. Don’t be surprised if, in your Fire posture, your hips feel more liquid and movable. You’ll be walking more like a flame than like a truck, but it’s still safe. A healthy fire is rooted even as it moves spontaneously and freely.

Are your hands like birds in captivity, or do they fly freely, emphasizing and dramatizing your communications? Let your fingers be alive and move. Let your hands respond to what the other people are saying to you. Above all, do not cross your arms over your chest or shove your hands in your pockets or keep them meekly clasped in your lap.

Fire expresses a lot of movement in the face. Give up the poker face, but stay rooted like a lotus on a lake. Fire face is candid but not spilling out. One of the more powerful ways that you can support other people’s Fire is to be friendly, but cut any sense of performance from your demeanor, as an invitation for them to stop performing and drop into candidness instead.

Explore more Fire in your voice. Many people have voices that depress the hell out of them as they listen to themselves all day long without even realizing what’s bringing them down. Is your voice depressing even to you, or does it engage life with the question, “How can we find joy in this moment? No, really. How can we find joy in this moment?”

Don’t be a phony. Nothing kills real fire like false fire, even if your voice just holds the timid little question, “Would you like to play? How do you like to play?” That’s a fire voice, and it’s an honest invitation practice saying simple things like, “Excuse me, where’s the bathroom?” or “Ready to leave yet? Got your shoes and socks on?” or “Was our appointment at 3:00 or 3:30?” or, “How shall we topple the government?” Can we have some fun storming the castle,* with a hint of life’s whimsy and see what opens? Remember Emma Goldman saying, “If I can’t dance, then it’s not my revolution.”

There’s a lot to be serious about, and let’s take it seriously, but let’s also keep the lightness of spirit alive, so that we’re open to divine inspiration and inspired action.

See you at the revolution, maybe this summer—Fire!

*This is a reference to The Princess Bride, not the Jan 6th insurrection attempt

Would you like to join this year’s Fire seasonal mentorship? You can join the first hour for FREE.