Staying Healthy Through The Winds of Change
In Chinese 5 Element Theory, we are at the end of the fifth season of late summer. The days are cooler, daylight is shortening, and we feel a difference in the energies since August. During this period where the Earth element is strongest, we need to focus on strengthening the correlating organs of the spleen, pancreas and stomach. Focusing on healing the gut and our “mother earth” will be the priority in order to strengthen our immunity for the fall season.
The fall is ruled by the lungs and colon, and when the earth element is weak, we are prone to illness such as viruses and colds. There are several ways to assist building our earth element including shifting food habits, mental patterns, moving the body, and getting assistance with Amma. We will want to use all of these tools to heal and strengthen our organs of the lung and colon in this season before, to have optimal health.
If you are out of balance with your earth element it could be harder to engage your will and you could have more inability to come to a decision, a tendency towards worry, obsessive thinking, resistance to change, nervousness, or forgetfulness. Equally, if you are struggling to have compassion, or desire a lot of sympathy from others, these are signs of an imbalance. Write things out in a notebook when you find yourself looping or are in a place with these mental patterns that aren’t serving you and writing will allow you to let it go!
Low energy and brain fog are other ways this can present and show us we have a clogged lymph system. Be sure and get your walking in, get on a rebounder, or some other enjoyable movement such as dancing, biking or hiking will help move the lymph and support these organs to shift the mental patterns.
Nutritionally at this time we want to focus on reducing artificial sweets, as too much of this impairs the spleen and pancreas’ ability to do their job. The body shows us physically when we have an imbalance in these organs with sagging muscles, menstrual issues, low or high blood sugar, sugar cravings, weight gain, digestive issues, and skin issues.
The spleen also governs our ability to absorb the nutrients from our food, so looking at these tendencies, and finding ways to love yourself despite what’s coming up or frustrating old patterns that aren’t serving you will help assist you with keeping the spleen, digestion and immunity strong. To mitigate sugar cravings, move into adding in the full sweet flavor of brown rice, pears, apples, dates, grapes, squash, or other whole foods of this season.
Prioritizing Amma Therapy as a preventative tool is the best measure to keep yourself in balance, as each session boosts your immunity. We all deal with stress, and need assistance to keep our organs in balance. My sessions of Amma work to move the stagnant energy, and with individualized coaching to gain insight into how to shift the underlying emotional issues, tools with mindset, and adding in the right foods or plant allies for you to create optimal change.
Other things to keep in mind to support you during this time are to focus on mindful eating, and taking time to meditate and slow down. In what ways can you nourish your body, spirit, and mind? Is this incorporating something creative? Getting out of your comfort with something new, or doing something mundane in a new way will be a good way to balance yourself.
Most of what I seem to be learning is to surrender to what my soul wants, which isn’t always what I had planned. As you find time to be still, especially in nature, and listen to your inner needs, you will open up more to flow and to the shifting winds; finding peace. Life will always take you higher, even though uncomfortability and pain may be at the forefront of change.
To Consciously Nourishing, Allowing & Surrendering,
Korenna
