Reconnecting with the Elements

By Claire Winter.

This week, I’ve been called back once again to the water. Perhaps you’ve felt it too: that subtle pull toward the elements when life gets loud, when our minds brim with too many ideas, thoughts, and responsibilities. As female leaders, we often forget the simple truth that our greatest clarity doesn’t arrive at our desks; it comes when we return to nature.

For me, that return has always been through water.

Each week, I swim in my local lake, in the elements. Sometimes the golden sun illuminates the way, or the rain falls on my face and on the water. Each swim is different, and there’s a particular magic to gliding through cold, open water. The world quietens, the mind softens, and we connect to our inner knowing.

Water has been a constant companion throughout my life. Growing up near the Thames, I’ve swum in it, rowed on it, canoed with my friends, paddle boarded with my kids, and learned to navigate its ever-shifting moods. Its rhythm taught me something essential: we are fluid and we can ebb and flow the same way water does.

We forget sometimes that we are water, around 70 percent of our bodies, in fact. We begin suspended in it in the womb, bathed in its protection, and we rely on it every single day to survive. No wonder we feel steadier, clearer, and more connected when we return to it. Water is a home we never truly leave.

Lately, I’ve been revisiting the idea that water holds memory, that it responds to energy, intention, and emotion. Japanese scientist Dr Masaru Emoto explored this in The Hidden Messages in Water, where he revealed that water crystals exposed to words of love and compassion formed intricate, stunning patterns. Those exposed to anger, fear, or negativity became cloudy and chaotic.

Whether you take this literally or not, the metaphor is potent: the energy we embody shapes the world around us. Our thoughts ripple outward. We are always imprinting on our environment, just as water imprints the land it flows through.

As I swam this week, I wondered about the journey of the water around me. Could this same water once have been part of a distant ocean? A mountain stream? A rain cloud drifting across a sky thousands of years ago? I love the way water reminds us of connection, how it moves freely through the world, refusing boundaries and always finding its way back to source.

What would it mean for us, as women in business, to lead with that same fluidity? To trust our intuition not as something soft or secondary, but as something elemental? To allow our creativity to move through us like a current?

When we reconnect with the elements water, earth, fire, and air, we reconnect with the most powerful parts of ourselves. The parts that know, the parts that remember, the parts that lead from truth and our inner knowing.

Elemental Practices for Rewilding 

These simple daily rituals help you reconnect with nature and your inner wisdom, no matter where you live or how busy your schedule is.

Water - Returning to Flow
Use when you feel overwhelmed or stuck.
    •    Take a mindful bath or shower, imagining the water cleansing your mind and body..
    •    Drink water with intention, whispering a word of focus into the glass.
    •    Visit a body of water and watch its natural pace.

Journaling prompt: Where can I soften and flow rather than push?

Earth - Rooting Into Stability
Use when you need grounding and clarity.
    •    Walk barefoot on grass or soil to reconnect with your body.
    •    Touch a tree and match your breath to its steady presence.
    •    Visualise roots extending from your feet before you begin work.

Journaling prompt: What support do I need to feel steady right now?

Fire - Igniting Creativity and Passion
Use when you need some inspiration.
    •    Light a candle to mark the start of a creative session.
    •    Spend a moment watching the flame dance and rise.
    •    Allow the flames to help you connect with your inner knowing.

Journaling prompt: What desire is ready to ignite within me?

Air - Clearing Mental Fog
Use when you need perspective or fresh ideas.
    •    Step outside and take conscious breaths in the open air.
    •    Open windows before working to refresh energy and thoughts.
    •    Practice a simple breath cycle (in for five, hold for five, release for five)  to reset your nervous system.

Journaling prompt: What thought-pattern am I ready to release?

Leading With the Elements

In our fast-paced, hyperconnected world, the elements offer a gentle but powerful reminder: we are seasonal. We are not meant to operate like a machine; we are cyclical, intuitive, and deeply connected to the natural world.

Water shows us how to flow, earth shows us how to root, fire shows us how to rise, and air shows us how to release. When we lead from this place of presence, embodiment, and connection, our decisions become clearer, our creativity becomes bolder, and our leadership becomes more authentic.

Nature is always calling us back to ourselves. All we have to do is listen.

If this resonates, feel free to sign up for my free creative  writing guide.

Claire Winter is a trainer, creativity and writing coach, and award-winning podcaster. Claire uses a blended coaching and mentoring approach to ignite her clients' creativity so they can share their authentic voice and story.  She is a trained NCTJ journalist and began her career at ITN, working across radio and television.

She’s also a qualified ICF Coach, founder of the Creatrix Journey and co-founder of the podcast production agency, Winter Audio.

She loves to share her knowledge about storytelling, nature connection, walking, and creative writing. She’s passionate about sharing the medicine of walking and writing, and how to create more meaningful connections with your audience through the power of storytelling.

Follow the Creatrix Journey on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecreatrixjourney/ or go to creatrixjourney.com