On the surface of water there is light, and above that winds blow, that is the air element. According to Ayurveda, two-third of the diseases of the body, are caused by an imbalance in the vata dosha or the vayu. If you observe the air element in nature, you will notice that it moves swiftly traversing large distances in a matter of seconds. Of the three doshas of vata, pitta and kapha, vata is the most mobile. Diseases caused by it become severe in no time. That is why air element needs to be handled with care and should not be increased arbitrarily by sitting in Gyan mudra. If it goes out of control, then a disease will manifest in the body. After the atmosphere, there is sky or ether.

As one moves up the elements, lower elements merge with the higher elements. That is, the element above holds the capacity to include the elements below. Ether contains within it air, fire, water and earth, air contains fire, water and earth elements, fire contains water and earth elements, and water contains the earth element. To effect a change in any of the elements one need not go to the level of the individual element. The elements can be easily controlled and modified by accessing the element that lies above the five elements, the partattva or Shiv, under the sanidhya of Guru.

All the elements can be controlled from top. That is why it is said ‘Omkar bindu samyuktam...’ which means, everything is there in omkar, it is a bindu, the partattva, nothing else. ‘....Nityam dhayanti yoginam’, which means, a yogi’s dhyan is always on that partattva and not on the elements below. A yogi has an association with the lower elements also but he controls them from the Agya.