vitalising
Written by Desmond Olubunmi · Founder of Sunya
Immersing the body and lungs in the living air of natural environments — particularly forests, mountains, and coastlines — to flush the inner system with concentrated life force and expand the energy body beyond its habitual contracted boundaries.
Indoor air is recycled, stale, and energetically depleted. The air in forests, mountains, and near the ocean is saturated with negative ions and the active life force of living organisms. Forest air, in particular, contains phytoncides — antimicrobial compounds released by trees that directly stimulate the immune system and the nervous system.
The geometric structure of nature itself is significant: organic forms — fractals, tree canopies, expansive horizons — carry no harsh artificial right angles. This is interpreted by the
nervous system as a signal of fundamental safety, producing an immediate deepening of the parasympathetic state. When the energy body is no longer confined by walls and ceilings, it naturally expands. The boundaries maintained by the separate self — “I end at my skin” — begin to soften.
The mind, occupied by the overwhelming richness of sensory input from a living environment, releases its habitual loops and grows quiet.
Air bathing (Vayu Snana). Walk slowly through a forest or natural space without a phone, without a destination, and without a goal. Allow your visual focus to soften and expand toward the horizon rather than fixing on a single point. Breathe deeply from the belly, letting each inhale fill the lungs completely. You are not trying to achieve anything.
You are simply allowing the intelligence of the living environment to do its work. The wind sweep. Find an exposed high place — a hill, a cliff, a beach during strong wind. Stand in the wind with the arms open, chin lifted, eyes closed. Do not brace against it. Soften the belly and allow the wind to hit you fully.
The brisk wind stimulates every surface receptor on the skin simultaneously, floods the nervous system with sensory input, and forcibly grounds awareness in the physical present. It acts as a natural energetic broom — stripping away the accumulated stagnant energy of the day. Deep breathing in nature.
Practise breathing exercises specifically outdoors in natural environments. The life force content of open forest or coastal air amplifies the effect of breathwork significantly. What you can achieve in an hour indoors can be approached more quickly when the air itself is alive.
When to prescribe Air: Mental fog, creative stagnation, a feeling of heaviness or containment. Air activates the upward-moving energy (Udana Vayu), creating lightness and buoyancy in the system.
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