Practically Spiritual - The Earth Element
Ahhhh, late summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Buffalo, NY specifically.
The cicadas are thrumming their song, urban gardeners harvest more tomatoes or zucchini than seems possible, and the steamy haze is abundant.
While WNY is infamous for snow, most people neglect to realize just how hot and humid it can get here. Whether our summers increasing in heat index is turning our big-small towns into paradise overtime is yet to be determined.
As August lazes to a close in a pool of sweat, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) notes that this brief late summer season is one of relaxation and transition as we begin to prepare our soils, homes and minds for the inevitable colder months.
The full-on summer surge of energy is waning. The food is ripe and so are most of us. This is a time of less vim everywhere so be gentle with yourself and how much you expect to “accomplish” in a day.
While that sounds nice enough, realistically our worlds to-do lists do not slow with the waning seasons.
So! Let’s explore some TCM and other ideas on how can we best support ourselves, especially when we act out of season. Chinese theory encompasses the spiritual essence of the organs as well as their primary functions.
The internal organs are much more than physical structures in the TCM view. They are complex systems also involving aspects of the mind, emotions and spirit. Not only does each organ have a physiological function, it has functions at the invisible level of vital energy, or Qi. Each organ is uniquely related to a body tissue, a sense organ, emotion, taste, sound, climate, and a direction. These qualities are organized in the Theory of Five Elements. This ancient system provides TCM practitioners with a framework to understand, diagnose and treat health problems.
In TCM, the organs associated with late summer are the Stomach (yang) and Spleen/Pancreas (yin).
The Stomach breaks down and digests food, and information.
The Spleen/Pancreas transports nourishment throughout the body and ideas throughout the community. It also transforms our food into chi (energy) and blood, and mediates blood sugar metabolism.
Some other characteristics of TCM’s Earth element are:
The color Yellow: leaves begin to turn, angry yellow jackets abound.
The taste of sweet and enjoying the sweet things in life: mmm, treats - go for the ripe berries, melons and summer squashes! The beach hours, the easy hikes, the summer teas!
Emotions can get focused on worry or pensiveness. However, in a healthy Earth element expression sympathy, empathy and compassion arise: gotta gather, harvest, hunt, buckle down, got no energy, hot and humid, ugh, how am I going to…? What’s going to happen when school starts up? When does alternate parking seriously go back into effect? Breathe.
Atmospheric & internal energies begin moving from expansive Yang to contractive Yin: gathering resources of all kinds, bringing thinking internal, getting back to home base; literally and figuratively.
The direction of the Earth element is Center, the core, the home of you.
These days are great for making time to do things that put a smile on your face - whatever will reduce your stress levels without super stressful consequences. It’s a good time to start a better sleep routine, or get more rest when you can. Exercise is most beneficial at this time when it is gentle. This is a time of abundance and with all the fresh fruit and vegetables around we have an opportunity to store the best nutrients in our freezers and in our bodies for the months to come.
So, if you’re :
finding that your emotions are sulking in obsessive worry or sympathy,
feeling cloistered in insecurity and self-centeredness,
having a hard time giving or receiving care and help from others,
feeling a general lack of abundance (you don’t have enough of something)
and physically experiencing some digestive problems, headaches, and a difficulty in weight gain or loss,
then here are some ideas to get your Earth element moving toward balance!
Give: Lend a hand when you see someone in need (with permission), get a friend a random gift that speaks to you of them, volunteer, hug someone who loves you (again, with permission).
Gratitude: Thank someone, anyone, just start there. Work gratitude like a muscle; have it for your food, your vitamins, etc. How many resources and hours of labor went into getting those things to you? As we take in nourishment, where is the promise that we will use that nourishment to replenish what was lost in our being fed and supplemented? It starts with gratitude.
When I remember to do this as I take my vitamins (life is practice), I say something like, “ thank you to all that brought me this nourishment, may I use it to replenish the world in a positive way”.
I visualize the food growing, the hands harvesting and packaging, the driver driving the food, the lab preparing everything into pill form, the factory and it’s workers packaging the pills, the driver driving the packages, the grocer stocking the pill bottles on a shelf, the clerk ringing them out at the store. I think on these plants and people and I thank them.
Then I viualize all that energy entering my body and I see my body transforming that energy and sending it out to the world, perhaps a little more whole or blessed or reiki’d; certainly changed.
It sounds like a lot, and the first few times I did it, it was. Now when I practice this it is super fast, I say thank you and flash through that sequence in about 30 seconds. That last part is where I take my time - I’m also drinking a lot of water with these vitamins and losing focus is a bad idea at that point.Receive: Take life in, consciously accept gifts you truly enjoy receiving. Take your time - savor the moments of thank yous, hugs, hand shakes, and gifts by reflecting on what they make you feel.
“Digest” your experiences, both the positive and those that bring up negative feelings. Note your initial feelings and take a moment to think through these moments - this creates an opportunity for you to respond instead of react to them.Chew. Your. Food. Slowly, reverently, take a break between bites. Mmmm, fooood.
Be. Where are you anyways? Here. So be here - on purpose. Take a breath. Maybe get your bare feet into some dirt or sand, it’ll help your “gotta-do-all-the-things-all-the-time”-brain chill out and get some perspective. Some people refer to this as “grounding”; as if it’s a new trend. Call it whatever you want, as long as the new perspective is genuine!
There is only one you, please be present for and nice to that person.
Live full!
Emily Ball LMT RMT
*Disclaimer: the blog Big Magic, Fun Wisdom, Healing Touch by Emily Ball is meant to be uplifting, educational and fun, and is in no way intended to replace any medical advice from your primary care physician, acupuncturist, physical therapist, psychotherapist, psychologist, counselor or any other qualified medical specialist in whose care you are under. If you’ve read this blog and have questions, contact me.
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