Your Seasonal Wellbeing

In Five Elements Theory, there are five seasons whose nature is related to the Five Elements.  Late summer goes from Mid-August to the September Equinox.  It correlates to the element EARTH.

This period is mainly associated with the element of Earth and is a turning point for the hot, active, Yang energy of the spring and summer into the cooler, storing, Yin energy of the fall and winter.  Late summer often starts out quite hot, but calms into cool.

It is a time for slowing down and gathering in.  A time to stop and observe the abundance we’ve created in our lives, and in our harvest.  It is a time to prepare to move forward again in our lives, but with awareness.

In this season of the EARTH ELEMENT we must consume the Earth, its vegetables, its animals, its water, for what we consume becomes who we are.  The process of nourishing, absorbing and converting the food into our body, is what the EARTH ELEMENT represents.

If you have ongoing / occasional digestive troubles, this time of the year is particularly important for you, as it is when the digestive organs, the Stomach and Spleen, are most active.  The stomach absorbs nutrition and the spleen transports it around the body.

Too much cold and sweet at this time of year can impair your digestive system, leaving you feeling even more lethargic and foggy headed.  Try something lightly sweet with lots of moisture, like melon and other fruits and vegetables that are locally, seasonally available, like peaches, cherries, apples, apricots, plums, cucumber, corn and courgettes.

As the weather cools, you might want to incorporate some warming foods that support the Earth elements.  Foods like ginger, squash, pumpkin and fennel will help your digestive system.

The Earth element relates to our physicality, our soft tissue, our mouth (particularly gums) and how we maintain the earth of our bodies by meeting our own needs.  We can see that, just like the earth we can become depleted by overharvesting, overuse and lack of care so that we become depleted and exhausted from overwork, overthinking and overeating.  It is all about BALANCE.

The Stomach relates to our appetite and begins the digestive process by breaking down food with the use of acid.  The Spleen is an organ that acts to filter blood and lymph as well as acting as a reservoir of red blood cells.  In TCM the Spleen is said to transform the food and thoughts we ingest into useable fluids and then distribute them throughout the body.

When the Spleen doesn’t transform fluids efficiently, according to TCM it creates damp in the body.  The result is swelling, sore joints, thirst, urinary tract infections (UTI), weight gain, phlegm.  Foods that create damp are, dairy (including ice cream), wheat, bananas, fried food, peanuts, pork, sugar and processed foods (so sorry bacon gets a double minus).

Each of the Five Elements has an EMOTION attached to it, and for the Earth element that is Empathy / Worry.

When balanced, the Earth reflects itself in the ability to be ‘empathic’, to our own needs as well as others. If someone is in pain, a healthy Earth response would be to support the other but not lose themselves in the process.  When we lose ourselves in the other and take on their pain, ‘sympathy’, this reflects an imbalance in Earth.  When out of balance Earth becomes consumed with worry and often obsessive-compulsive thinking.  The alternative imbalance is the incapacity for empathy, aloofness and the inability to connect.

When your earth element is in balance you will know what you need and be able to seek that out, accept it and process it.  You will be able to show empathy, kindness and listen well.  BUT you will also know your own limits and not over give.  Maintaining your own wellbeing will be central.

An integral Earth quality is the idea of safety and stability, and you will feel this in yourself and when in the company or someone whose earth element is in balance.  You will feel nourished by their company.

If your Earth element is out of balance, you will worry a lot and have difficulty processing information and offer suffer from mental fatigue and brain fog.  You can easily be swayed by other people’s beliefs or ideas.  Overeating, over doing and over working are all signs that your earth element is out of balance.

The Spleen likes warm food.  When we eat cold or raw food our stomachs have to work hard to heat it up before it can be broken down.   By having warm food (room temperature for salads) and well-cooked food our stomach and spleen have more energy to digest it.

The flavour of the Earth Element is SWEET.  This does not mean sugar but things such as sweet potato, parsnips, carrots and squash.

Enjoy what you eat, let go of ideas of good and bad food, slow down and chew your food, don’t eat until you are completely full, don’t drink lots of fluid with your meal, don’t eat cold food.  Eat your evening meal a bit earlier if you can.  Make sure to focus on eating when you are eating rather than multitasking work, TV, or deep emotional conversations with mealtimes.

Check in with yourself- are you eating this food because you need it or is it habit; does it make you feel good afterward or do you feel tired.  Does it make you feel bloated?  Does it give you energy or deplete you?

The Muscle associated with the stomach meridian is PECTORALIS MAJOR CLAVICULAR This chest muscle helps bend and turn the arm at the shoulder.  Contracting this muscle also elevates and opens the chest. Feel this muscle contracting at the top of your chest between the shoulder and the area below the collarbone.  In relation to your goal, do you need to hold your chest up and be prouder or are you too proud?

The muscle associated with the Spleen meridian is LATISSIMUS DORSI.  This muscle extends from the back from the hip to the spine and to the shoulder and is involved in all the movements of the arm across the front of the body.  When it is out of balance posture is affected from the shoulders to the pelvis. Feel this muscle contracting at the side of the back when the elbow is held tightly against the body, arm straight, with the thumb pointing to the back.

SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH IMBALANCE IN THE EARTH ELEMENT: 

• Excessive mucous, in nose throat and mouth
• Heavy feelings in body, with achy arms, legs and head
• Craving sweets
• Bloating and indigestion, often with bowel irregularities
• Metabolic problems including hypoglycaemia and diabetes
• thyroid problems
• lethargy and lack of energy
• low self esteem
• Chronic worry
• Craving of love and affection

The sound that resonates with the Earth element is singing- so a good time to sing in the shower!

Don’t forget to thank your Spleen and your stomach for working so hard.