Earth Element - The Season of Late Summer - How Does it Affect You and Tips For Support

Nourishment and Digestion to feel grounded, safe, secure, comforted and satisfied.

It's easy to feel nourished in the season of Late Summer, the golden September light infused with the warmth of summer sun, radiates the ripening fruits, berries and seeds. It's a time of harvest, a time to fill our stocks and larders to see us through to the end of the year.

Home and Family

The Earth element is all about home and family and our ability to give and receive nourishment. The kitchen is an area of the home we are all pulled towards frequently throughout the day.  Our act of preparing food is the first intention to nourish ourselves and those we love, we create a meal, to share around a table with family and friends.  The preparation, sharing and receiving of food creates groundedness, comfort and satisfaction.

Our Connection to Nourishment

The Spleen and Stomach are the organs related to the Earth element. The physical energetics of these organs are all about processing food, from the moment it enters our mouth to the transformation of nutrients delivered to every part of the body. We recognise our early connection to Earth as a baby feeding directly from our mothers, the feeling of being, held, supported, loved and comforted as we receive the nourishment that is so vital to our survival. Our physical connection to the Earth element is with nourishment and digestion and starts from the moment we are born.

How Does the Earth Element Affect Our Physical Health?

Healthy:
We are energised, and noticeably refreshed in the mornings, enjoy a good appetite, with regular meals, feel warm and clear headed.

Unhealthy:
We could feel a variety of symptoms from feeling tired, heavy and weak, poor appetite, pain or bloating after eating, nausea, vomiting, loose stools, fluid retention, muzzy head, poor sleep and loss of taste.

Mentally and Emotionally

The feeling of the Earth element is the circling arms of our nurturing mother. She is able to feed us, hold us, comfort, support, listen and understand us when we feel, insecure, unsettled, worried and dissatisfied with life. Our mother is our support system and is our center that gives us the ground to survive our harshest of winters and the toughest of times. Our Mothers soothe and nourish us, providing a feeling of stability and calm.  As we grow older we learn to mother ourselves, taking good care, nurturing and tending to our own needs to feel secure, comforted and grounded. In nature, Mother Earth supports us, as we connect to her fertile soil and release our worries and concerns, here we can feel really rooted and safe. As we harvest our vegetables, fruits and berries we connect again to receiving nourishment from the Earth, as it provides endlessly and constantly.

Digestion of Thought

The energy of the Spleen and Stomach in the Earth element provides our capability to process and digest information and thought. We are aware of the power of this element during a time or learning and study as we take in information, chew it over until completely digested.  Assimilation creates an indelible imprint, as what is taken in becomes a part of us.  Our ability to easily digest our experiences and impressions can help us not to overthink and worry. It's this same digestion that allows us to see what we need to nourish ourselves.

Clear Intentions

When we are clear with thought we are able to create clear intentions which we can commit to and take action.  For every thought we have, we need a corresponding action. Non-action ties our psychic Qi into knots and leads us to become overwhelmed with circular thinking as thoughts move around and around in our heads.

How Does the Earth Element Affect our Mental and Emotional Health?

Healthy:
Clarity of thought, good memory, able to take concrete action and commit to a task or project, healthy cognition.
Asking for help, able to balance your needs and those of others around you, able to nourish with self care.
Ability to empathise and give sympathy when needed, caring, welcoming, creating community with family and friends.
Feeling of stability, security and satisfaction.

Unhealthy:
Foggy, muzzy head, unclear muddled thought, unable to digest your experiences and impressions.
Obsessive, overthinking, worry, rumination, anxiety, insecure and unsettled.
Can be stubborn, (a stick in the mud) unable to change mind, or selfish
Neediness: over complaining and explaining a need to be understood, heard and supported.
Martyrdom: ignoring own needs, unable to nourish with self care or ask for help.  
Both Neediness and Martyrdom can be seen as the equivalent of standing at your Larder, full of wholesome, nourishing food and unable to open the cupboard doo

What to do?

We might notice a difference in our health and wellbeing in Late Summer. The Earth's energetic resonance of this season might chime harmonically with our minds and bodies, as may feel nourished, settled and satisfied in our home and in life.
If our Earth organs are energetically depleted, we might notice feeling jarred or out of tune in Late Summer, maybe unsettled, complaining, feeling misunderstood, with digestive ailments. This is a sign that we are in need of energetic realignment. Five Element Acupuncture can provide relief and balance quickly and effectively

How to support your Earth Element

Below I have written some top tips that can provide nourishing support to help in Late Summer. enjoy!

Physically with Food:

Balanced regular meals. Three times a day. They say it's not what you eat but how regular you eat it.
Staying away from processed sugar. Natural sugars in moderation. A weak Spleen, craves sugar.
Whole foods and seasonal foods. Chime with our Earth energy, building strength.
Reduce Dairy, raw or cold foods. These foods take a lot of energy to breakdown, reducing these helps with already weakened Earth organs.
The power of soups and stews. Cooking mechanically breaks down food and makes for easy digestion for the depleted Earth organs.

Mentally with Movement:

Motion quiets the mind. This is a powerful quote to have.  Our sedentary, social media, computer playing, tv watching world creates further weakness to our Earth organs.
Trying Meditation, Walking, Dancing, swimming, jogging, these can be small or big but make it regular moments of movement.
The Spleen loves to stretch - Tai chi, Yoga, Pilates, stretching at home, whatever feels good.
Writing down worries. Creating a worry journal, for all those thoughts that go around and around in the head. Deposit them into your “Worry Journal”
Mindful movement. Pay attention as you walk, step by step, notice every part of your foot as it touches the floor. Try at home or on a short walk outside.
Barefoot walking meditation. In the garden or a park, connect with the earth and soil, feel the variety of sensations under your feet. Notice how your feet feel after too.

Emotionally with Self Care:

Practice asking for support or help when needed. This will really reasonate with those who suffer with an imbalanced Earth element. Start small, start simple but start.
Practice listening into what your heart really wants. Quiet the mind, tune in to the area of your chest that connects to your heart energy and ask. Then act on it!
Nourishing small practices at home regularly. Maybe having a bath, eating your favorite meal, seeing nurturing friends, or simply lighting a candle and reading a book.
Nourishing with bigger practices once in a while. Maybe a massage, haircut at a salon, going out for a meal, a weekend away, a retreat, book in an acupuncture treatment?  The action of feeding our hearts desires can be a challenging exercise. Go slow.

Spirit of Earth with Homemaking:

Buying something new for your home. See what resonates, what is it that will make you feel homely, comforted and calm
Moving furniture. Changing an area of a room or house to make you feel cosy and secure.
Houseplants. To keep your connection to the Earth element.
Cooking and baking. With so many delicious offerings from the season of Late Summer, it’s hard not to create a wholesome satisfying dish.
Gardening. Hands in earth, connecting with the soil and plants, the ripening fruits, whilst tending, pruning. Being with your small or large patch of nature can be very satisfying.
Foraging and harvesting. At home or on nature trails. pick, pluck and dig up those delights, feel the rewarding sense of been given the Earth’s gifts for your nourishment
Sharing a meal with loved ones. Eating around a table with family or friends is a core aspect of Earth. Small or big, sharing and loving with nourishing food.
Being with family. Family can be viewed in a variety of ways, maybe just you and the dog or spending time with close friends, parents or children. In this season you can delight in them all, feel their loving support as you regroup after the summer.