“Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.” —Eckhart Tolle
Welcome to late summer! All of my senses have been filled up and nourished with the beauty of the food and plants and flowers that are harvested at this time of year. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) recognizes Late Summer as an independent season with its own unique energy. This fifth season begins around the third week of August and runs through the Fall Equinox. Late Summer bridges the gap between the expansive growth and activity of spring/summer (Yang energy) and the more inward and still energies of fall/winter (Yin energy). Late Summer is associated with the element of Earth, which rules the Spleen and Stomach. The Earth element represents stability and encourages activities that keep us centered and grounded.
The organs related to the Earth Element are responsible for transforming everything we eat and drink into the nutrients and energy needed to sustain our entire body. We also digest emotions and life experiences, what we see and read, what we hear, what we touch. All of our senses need to digest our experiences so we can integrate them into our awareness and let go of what is not serving us or what feels harmful. Just like we can experience indigestion from eating something that does not sit well with us, we can also experience a sort of “emotional indigestion” and when we recognize this, we are better able to process and let go of the emotions we are ready to release. The emotion associated with an imbalanced earth element is that of WORRY. When we are experiencing emotional balance, which can be manifested by practices such as Qi gong, yoga, and breathing, being in nature, we can come into a sense of being able to TRUST ourselves and others as well.
In its central position the Earth is the pivot for all the other Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire)which encircle and spin around it. It is a place of stability within the body, mind, and spirit. From this stable anchor, change and growth can take place. The earth element offers us many gifts in addition to the bountiful harvest we are seeing in nature.
The earth element teaches us how to stay firmly grounded in our own authentic selves even when we may begin to feel swayed and uprooted by the swirling energy of the chaos surrounding us. When the earth element is strong within us , we can enjoy more stability as well as expansiveness. Mother earth helps us to stabilize when in transition and return to our center. When we rush transitions of the seasons of our lives, we can miss out on the rich nourishment of these experiences.
- When we lead from our center, our source of abundance and having enough, we are then able to share with others more freely and generously. Do you tend to lead with a sense of abundance or a sense of scarcity/ “not enoughness”?
- What nourishes you? What types of foods help to support your energy vs. deplete you? Are you nourished by the beauty of nature, by being in community with others or by being quiet and still in solitude? Imagine making space in your life to increase your capacity to be nourished.
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