you toss these pieces of paper, one by one, into the fire truly allow yourself to be freed and forgiven.

The fourth element which you can invoke for healing if the air element, which represents lightness and movement and is the most refined of the four elements. In some healing systems, such as the Chinese and Tibetan, air is referred to as "wind".

You may connect more deeply with the air element as follows: l) One ideal time to work specifically with the element of air is when you are feeling heavy, weighed down by the burdens of life, overburdened. Go outside, preferably in the breeze, perhaps sitting on a hill or mountain top. As you breathe in gently through your mouth, allow the air to be drawn inside your body and feel its lightening influence lifting you upwards. As you exhale, allow any feelings of weightiness to be wafted away with the wind. 2) Gaze at the clouds. See each one as a thought or circumstance, or even a lifetime, and observe their movement. As the clouds form and dissolve, come and go, experience the continual changing of every aspect of life. Allow your- self to release any need for your life to follow any particular, rigid pattern and open yourself fully to the eternal transformations of life as demonstrated by the cloud formations. 3) Imagine yourself as a bird, a kite, a balloon-as any object which is able to fly. Experience that sense of lightness and freedom. Let yourself soar to your ideal place where you feel totally free and healed on every level. As you continue to fly, visualize yourself manifesting your ideal self, free from limitations, expectations, gravity. Take the opportunity to let yourself soar to new heights you've never had the courage to explore.

There is a Sufi healing prayer which you may find of benefit: (Feel free to adapt "Lord" or "God" to whichever form of the Divine Source of Healing you most resonate.) Beloved Lord, Almighty God, Through the rays of the sun, Through the waves of the air, Through the all-pervading Life in space, Purify and revivify me, and I pray, Heal my body, heart, and soul.

Take the glorious opportunity, whenever you can, to heal yourself through the power of Nature. As Kahlil Gibran says, To Nature, all are alive and all are Free....

Nature reaches out to us with welcoming arms, and bids us enjoy her beauty...

Drs. Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Robert Ullman are naturopathic and homeopathic physicians and cofounders of the Northwest Center for Homeopathic Medicine in Edmonds, WA. They are coauthors of The Patient's Guide to Homeopathic Medicine and Beyond Ritalin: Homeopathic Treatment of ADD and Other Behavioral and Learning Problems. They can be reached at (206) 774-5599.