Huna Healing and the Elements

Moving into the World of Elements within Huna Healing

Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Ether
Makani, Ahi, Wai, Honua, I’o

Part of my Huna training is working with the Elements—learning how to flow these elemental energies through the body and to another person, assisting in healing and rebalancing. As someone who loves nature and has spent a great deal of time wandering, sitting, exploring, and being in nature, working with the Elements felt very welcoming and very natural. It brought another layer of energy and awareness to my Huna healing sessions.

So where does this relationship with the Elements begin?

Let me take you through the Elements as they are expressed through Huna Healing.

I will begin with an overview of each Element, and then share my own insights and experiences as I took time to work with each Element individually. Hopefully, just enough to awaken curiosity and inspire you on your own exploration with the Elements.

Makani : Air

Movement

• Ability to move (self-movement)

• Rules the mental plane

• Governs Kilokilo (Divination)

• Physical manifestation is always preceded by Air

• The first Element to learn

Imbalance:

• Too much: air hunger, restlessness

• Too little: lack of appetite

Correspondences:

• Shape: Circle

• Color: Pale blue

• Breath: Hold the inhale, exhale with Ha

Ahi : Fire

Expansion, electric energy, the Sun

Fire is our expressiveness, our passion, our assertiveness. It shakes up an existing condition and prepares it for change.

Imbalance:

• Too much: fever

Correspondences:

• Color: Red, yellow-gold

• Shape: Triangle

• Breath: Slow inhale, short exhale

Wai : Water

Contraction, nurturing, the Moon

Water governs our emotional nature. It is feminine (yin), nurturing, magnetic, and fluid. While water soothes, it also fluctuates. Fire and Water together can become powerful—sometimes violent—forces.

Imbalance:

• Too much: retention

Correspondences:

• Color: Deep ocean blue, silver

• Shape: Crescent moon facing upward

• Breath: Shorter inhale, longer exhale

• Sound: Mmmmmmm

Honua : Earth

The Basic Element — the Womb

Earth is the mother of all creation and rules the physical plane. It provides support, strength, nourishment, and growth. Earth creates density and gravity and is produced through the interaction of Fire, Air, and Water.

Correspondences:

• Color: Yellow, brown, grey

• Shape: Square

• Breath: Inhale, exhale, hold

I’o : Ether (Akasha)

Spirit, Truth, Space

I’o lies beyond physical consciousness. It is the unifying Element and the second balancing Element. In Hawaiian, I’o is Truth.

It is the quality of space, Spirit itself—nothingness, emptiness, stillness. I’o is also the trance Element, the vehicle for sending thought forms, pure cause and effect.

Correspondences:

• Color: Purple, black

• Shape: Oval (upward facing)

Working with the Elements

We work with the Elements by first connecting to them, then flowing their energy to another person. This is done through intention, visualization, and energetic awareness—visualizing the symbol of the Element while flowing the energy into the body.

Each Element is distinct, and the best way to experience them is to work with them individually.

Makani : Air (Personal Experience)

Air is a wonderful place to begin.

Air is the call to movement—the reminder that we have the ability to move and flow. It guides us out of stuck moments by creating space through motion. Air is active; it is where ideas are born.

When I feel tight in my body or my breathing becomes shallow, I take a moment to visualize the clear blue sky all around me. I imagine myself enveloped by that blue sky, becoming the blue sky. Everything softens. There is openness, ease, and a deep calming effect.

In that calm, my awareness sharpens. I feel present, focused, responsive. My mind clears, and there is suddenly space for new ideas to flow. Often a question arises: What is the question you are needing an answer for?

Air reminds me to pause, to breathe, and to listen. When there is a clear question, there is always an answer. Air is where inspiration begins, where clarity opens our world again.

This is the Element I turn to when I feel stuck and need guidance.

Ahi : Fire (Personal Experience)

Fire is expressiveness, desire, passion, expansiveness.

Fire calls in strength, attention, intention, conviction, and commitment. It demands to be attended to.

Fire requires oxygen, heat, fuel, and a chemical reaction—remove any one of these, and the fire cannot exist. The same is true within us.

Fire ignites change, and change requires our full presence. It asks us to release old patterns and beliefs, moving us out of trance and into wakefulness.

Fire is dreams and goals, action and movement, light and heat. It is alive and waiting for us—ready to clear the way toward transformation if we are willing to tend the flame.

Fire is fueled by joy, success, fulfillment. It reminds us of our own inner power—our light, our fire.

Wai : Water (Personal Experience)

Water (H₂O) is polar, magnetic, adaptable.

Working with Water brings a nurturing feminine energy—soft, fluid, soothing. Water teaches adaptability; it always fills the space it is given.

For me, Water speaks most clearly through stillness. On the surface, water may move and shift, but beneath there is always calm.

Water reminds me to sink into that stillness—not rigid or stagnant, but graceful, accepting, and powerful. When emotions are high and life feels overwhelming, Water offers reassurance: there is always a way forward.

Become the water. Let it teach you how to flow.

Honua : Earth (Personal Experience)

Earth is the Womb,

It is nourishment, rest, renewal, growth, support, strength, and balance. Earth is fertile energy—where anything is possible.

When the Elements feel out of balance—too much Air, Fire, or Water—Earth brings harmony. It grounds us.

Earth is where I turn when I am exhausted. I long to lie beneath a tree, wrapped in a blanket, surrendering to rest. It is deeply nourishing.

I’o : Ether (Personal Experience)

Spirit. Truth. Light.

I’o lies beyond physical consciousness, where Truth lives within all that is. In moments of complete stillness and emptiness, we become one with I’o.

When all the Elements come together under the right conditions, miracles happen.

Closing Reflection

Being with the Elements—learning about them, working with them, and writing about them—has been a deeply enriching experience for me. When we give our attention to something that awakens curiosity, we open ourselves to profound beauty and wisdom.

It is through our own experience that we receive the greatest gifts.

I hope this introduction to the Elements as expressed through Huna Healing becomes an invitation for you as well—to explore, connect, and experience.

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