Shen Garden Acupuncture : North Kingstown, Rhode Island

The season associated with the Earth Element is late Summer/early Autumn. The time of year when the harvest is collected from the fields. Everything we need to know about the Earth Element can be observed in nature during this time of year. After the joy and excitement of Summer, the season of Earth brings us back around to the fundamentals of caring for the needs of our community as well as tending to our own basic needs.

We all have needs. How we go about satisfying our needs and the needs of others depends largely on our Earth Element.

Are we able to acknowledge our needs? Are we able to ask for help without feeling guilty? Can we take our place in community knowing that “community” means shared responsibilities, shared burdens and shared accomplishments? Can we see that when one hand feeds the other, then we all get fed? For such a community there needs to be an equal and free flowing exchange of giving and receiving.

The whole movement of the Earth Element is a never ending cycle of receiving, digesting and offering back. In order to “receive” we must first acknowledge that “I have needs!” On a physical level it is about how we meet our basic needs of home and hearth, ecology. On a mental level it is about thoughtfulness, the ability to perceive and respond to our communities needs. On a spirit level it is about our ability to receive nourishment from, and be in communion with the whole of existence. If we are able to feel satisfied on all three levels then most likely owe it to our well functioning Earth Element.

When our Earth Element gets out of balance, our minds can get stuck in obsessive worrying. The famous teacher of Chinese medicine, Elizabeth Rochat, once said “Any thinking which does not lead to constructive resolution, is pathological.” Obsessive worry damages the Spleen causing fatigue and digestive issues.

The theme of Earth is “don’t worry, be satisfied”. Take in the free teachings being offered by nature during this time of year. Take some time to evaluate your relationship to needs and neediness. Acknowledge your own needs and practice asking and receiving? Acknowledge the needs of others and practice offering and giving. A healthy life consists of equal amounts of both giving and receiving.

May you all find peace and satisfaction in all your Earthly endeavors. May your harvest be bountiful and all your needs be met. May your Hearts be open to receive the ocean of Love from the Divine. May you be deeply fed and nourished by this Love and further share this Love with all beings.

Growing up on a small farm in Maine, there would come a time in spring when the cows would be let out of the barn, back to the open pasture. So much running and kicking up of heels, freedom from the confinement of winter. For them, the transformation from Winter in to Spring happened in one day.

No time of year is more volatile then Spring. The transformation from frozen tundra to luscious green gardens, how does that happen? The emerging from our long winter slumber, facing head first into a new year. This is not an easy transition for many people. What will be our theme this year? What seeds do we need to plant now? Physical or otherwise. What potential deep rooted transformation is rumbling in your soil?

Spring is the season of hope, a time to dream, explore, create, grow, and set intentions of what we want from this new year. Be aware that Spring tends to bare strong emotions. Frustration and irritability are common as we shake off the dead branches of Winter. Take it as a clear reminder of the need grow. What kind of growth spurts are building in you? Can you find a creative direction to focus that energy?

“Being”, requires no planning. We can all just be here in this moment and be present to the mysterious beauty all around us. But if there is a part of you that is aching for change, aware of the need to grow, or heal, then you will need a strong and agile Wood Element. One that is capable of seeing the way forward and executing the correct actions to achieve that way. Save your basking in the warmth of the present moment for Summer. Now is the time to start a movement, grow, surge! It is through our ability to adapt and change that we will find our deliverance from pain and suffering.

But beware to those who’s growth is not anchored by the deep will of the Heart; for such growth will bare bitter fruit.

As the trees are letting go of their leaves, Autumn also is encouraging us to let go of what ever is no longer serving us. To let fall away all that is not essential as we prepare for this coming winter. This is the time of year associated with the Metal Element.

For me, this time of year, Metal time, is the time for internal house cleaning. A time to reassess where I am in my life. Is the outer world that I have shaped a true reflection of my personal values and belief structure? Am I living a life that is authentically me? Am I walking my talk? Am I living a life that has purpose and deep meaning? If not then what do I need to do in order to bring my life back in to alignment? Read the rest of this entry »

Can you feel what is happening out there? Here in Rhode Island it feels like consolidation, a great gathering, home coming. Throughout the Summer we were all scattered outward in all directions, vacations, the beach, barbecues. Frenzy, excitement, joy as if it were to never end. Then it did end, so slowly that we almost did not see it happening. The season of the Earth Element came to call it’s children back home again. Playtime was over, time to settle into a routine again, to reform all that scattered energy. Come back to the circle. Read the rest of this entry »