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Tag: Kinesiology in Bendigo

Winter

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winterAs we enter Winter life slows down and nature rests.  Animals go into hibernation and seeds lie dormant, but beneath the surface is hidden activity that will bring renewal in Spring.  In Winter, if we live according to the seasons, we should go to bed early and reduce our activity.  By slowing down we preserve and conserve our Qi so that it is there when we become active again in Spring.

Winter brings us into the Water Element, the most Yin of all the Elements.  This is the realm of the personal and collective unconscious.  “It is the primeval ooze out of which form materialises as life.  It links our past and future, ancestor and descendant, and is the source of our inherited intelligence.”(Beinfield & Korngold, Between Heaven & Earth) Water is also the most prevalent Element in the human body.

The Water Element corresponds to the colour blue, the taste is salty, the sound is groaning and the emotion is fear.  While fear is mostly seen as a negative emotion it’s positive side is the caution and also the motivation that allows our survival.  Fear protects us from predators by keeping us aware and our fear of not being able to survive drives us to work and find ways to support ourselves.  Out of balance we may suppress our fears or become overly fearful.

The Kidney and Bladder meridians belong to the Water Element.  The Kidney meridian holds our essence or Jing, the source of reproduction, development and maturation.  Jing enables conception and growth to maturity.  It declines as we age.  The Kidneys sort fluids into clean and turbid, the clear part is sent upwards to the Lungs, while the impure goes to the Bladder and is excreted.

The archetype for the Water Element is the Philosopher.  The Philosopher is on a search for truth and meaning, looking underneath the surface for hidden gems, dispelling ignorance.  The Philosopher is able to see what is possible and so may be disappointed with what is.  “The Philosopher yearns for meaning that transcends the rudderless  meandering of human affairs.”(Beinfield & Korngold, Between Heaven & Earth)

Nutrition for the Water Element includes salty, purple,black and blue foods. Vegies such as kale, mushrooms and seaweed; buckwheat; aduki, black and kidney beans; black sesame seeds, walnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds; pomegranate, blueberry and mulberry to name a few.

This Winter try to find some time for sitting by the fire, going to bed early and just slowing down a little.  This will enable the Qi to be ready for the Spring.

 

 

Autumn

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Autumn leaves Autumn is the time of withering and decomposition, the life cycle is completed here.  Leaves fall, decompose and return to the earth, rotting down to fertilise the soil for crops the following year.  In Autumn we gather what we have grown, putting food aside for the coming Winter.  As we move into Autumn we enter the Metal Element.

The Metal Element corresponds to the colour white,  the taste is pungent,  the sound is weeping, the emotion is grief and also letting go.  If grief becomes stuck we may end up in a joyless, even anxious state. Too much control may need to be balanced with a little passion and spontaneity.

The Lung and Large Intestine meridians belong to the Metal Element.  These organs take in and let go – the Lung sucks in Qi and pushes it down through the body spreading nutrients, and on each out breath there is a release of toxins.  The Large Intestine lets go of waste from the body it is known as the “drainer of the dregs” extracting any remaining nourishment and then excreting the waste.

The Chinese character for the Metal Element “…suggests something small in quantity, but of great value, buried deep within the earth.” (Hicks, Hicks & Mole, Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture)  If we look at the action of breathing as inspiration – breathing in spirit we can have a different view of this element.  It is here that we may be able to uncover our own “nugget of gold,” our inspiration.

The archetype for Autumn is the Alchemist whose guiding principle is transmutation.  The Alchemist “seeks the perfection of form and function.  Through his power of discernment, he distills what is good and pure from what is coarse and primitive… providing the structure that enables people to apply the metaphysical to the mundane.” (Beinfield and Korngold, Between Heaven & Earth)

Nutirition for the Metal Element includes vitamin c rich foods for the Lung meridian and yoghurt, buttermilk, honey and carbohydrates for the Large Intestine meridian.  Pungent foods such as garlic, cinnamon and ginger can move energy in the lungs when “invaded”and can produce sweating to shift any pathogens present.

Autumn is also a good time for any sort of breathwork – getting the energy of the lungs moving, taking in a deep breath of spirit and perhaps finding that nugget of gold.

Late Summer

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late summer

After the peak of Summer and before Autumn sets in there is a space where time seems to stand still, a sort of suspension where crops ripen for harvest and we can savour the fruits of our labour.  This is Late Summer and here we move into the Earth Element.

“Earth is the pivot for all the other elements…it is a place of stability within the body, mind and spirit.  From this stable anchor, change and growth can take place.”(Hicks, Hicks & Mole, Five Element Constitutional  Acupuncture)

The Earth Element corresponds to the colour yellow, the taste is sweet, the  the sound is singing, the emotion is sympathy and it’s flip side is worry, over-thinking or obsessive rumination.

The Stomach and Spleen meridians sit in the Earth Element.  The stomach receives and ripens food and fluids.  Food begins to decompose in the stomach and sends part of this to the spleen for transformation into Qi and blood.  The rest is sent to the small intestine for further sorting.  An imbalanced Earth Element can result in digestive issues, nausea, or feeling heavy, tired and listless.  Nutrition for the Earth Element includes vitamin B as found in wheat germ, whole grains, liver, tripe and brewers yeast.  We should chew food well and avoid sugars and sweets.

The archetype is the Peacemaker, the guiding principle here is Unification.  “Through her power to establish and sustain relationships, she nurtures and promotes our connectedness with each other and our world…negotiating peace for its own sake, she tirelessly serves humanity as the great balancer and equaliser, the preserver of families and societies. ” (Beinfield and Korngold, Between Heaven and Earth)

Let yourself be sustained be the energy of the earth and sustain each other through acceptance and support.

Summer

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It’s Summer and this means we have moved into the Fire Element.  In Chinese medicine all elements have a sound, a taste, an emotion, a season and a colour.  The Fire Element colour is red, the taste is bitter, the sound is laughter, the emotion is joy and of course the season is Summer.

The Heart and Small Intestine meridians sit here in Fire, which is the most Yang and expansive time of year.  I’m sure we’ve all noticed more people out and about, as the weather warms up we begin to socialise more, chat with friends  – all indicators of the emotion that relates to the Fire Element, Joy.  When the Fire Element is in balance we feel able to reach out and be nourished by others, when the Fire Element is out of balance we feel like we can’t reach out to others and we may move into isolation and loneliness.

The heart governs every other organ in the body, it is the emperor and if it is well and balanced then all the other officials do their job effectively.  Our spirit sits in the heart and when our heart is healthy the spirit can rest peacefully within it.

The small intestine sorts food for absorption or elimination, nutrients move into the blood and waste into the large intestine.  Food nourishes our mind and spirit and a well nourished being is able to sort the pure from the impure not only in terms of food, but also in terms of decision making and relationships.  It can help with fuzzy thinking and moving between closeness and distance in our relationships.

The archetype that relates to fire is the Wizard, who through the organising principle “seeks to imbue the mundane with the extraordinary, merging human aspirations with divine purpose.  Just as the Fire of love unites male and female to form new life, so the Wizard wields a miraculous power to overcome separation by welding divergent elements into one.”(Beinfield & Korngold, Between Heaven and Earth)

So let’s warm our spirit in the sun and nourish it by having joyous times with our friends and family.

Daylight Saving – it’s time to reset the body clock

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With the onset of daylight saving I have been struggling to get up to walk the dog at our usual time.  Today I did a time of day balance to bring the body clock in line with the change of time.  The meridians relate to different times of the day so if we bring ourselves into the right meridian time we can function normally again.  This adjustment of the body clock is also good for jet lag or for anyone doing shift work.

Meridian Clock

Finally it’s Spring and I can replenish my flower essence stock.

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Carefree Essence

Carefree Essence soaking up the sunshine

  • Freedom from Fear
  • Stream of Life

The Carefree essence helps to set free the core of the self when expression has been stunted, stifled or suppressed.  The feeling is one of being frozen, the flow of self into the stream of life is held back.  Strangely, once this frozen feeling is released, we do not quite know what to do with our new found freedom.  The sense of being carefree is so unfamiliar that we feel empty.  No longer weighed down by our fears we don’t quite recognise the new reality as a positive.  Actually our ease of movement through life now will allow us to move to new depths of being and understanding, as fear is no longer blocking our way.  We are no longer held captive to attitudes, beliefs or any of the other fear-based limitations that have held us back in the past.  This change takes time to assimilate.  Give it time, time to settle and diffuse, time to relax into the sensation of flow.  Because this is what being carefree is – relaxing into the self.