How to live better, by following the wisdom of late summer
How to harness nourishment, gratitude and abundance
And so it is, we make our way into the harvest season.
This is the corresponding season to Earth in five element philosophy.
Summer splits into a game of two halves in five element. The first half, early summer is dedicated to Fire season. It’s a virile, nubile, full-energy first half. Like the first half of a football match, where we’re bursting with energy and keen to get on it. The second half (to follow the same football analogy) we start to run out of energy, we’ve exerted ourselves in the first half, and now looking toward the end of the game and hoping, praying that we’ll reap the fruits of our labours (a win)!
We know it’s Earth time because nature shows us that the crops (tendered and attended to in our high energy spring and summer months) are ready to be sown. We are nearing harvest time. The brambles start to show their fruit. The tomatoes, courgettes, and beans we’ve been growing in our gardens start to flower. And following the flower the fruit appears.
It’s that time of year, that the full green gardens and lush green lawns start to look a little tired. Branches wilt and hang either with the weight of fruit or the dryness of the summer months and inclement weather.
Earth in five element is represented by the chinese symbol tu. It stands for nourishment and stability. If the seeds are of good quality, the soil well prepared and the weather favourable, the earth can bear many fruits. The same can be said of humans. If we’ve sown good life plans, tended to the ground we walk on and our wellbeing and the conditions have been favourable, we can reap the rewards of a hearty harvest season.
The opposite of harvest and abundance is in fact famine. Unable to transform food into nourishment. This famine can live on a physical, mental, emotional level. “Can we bring the projects of our life into harvest? Can we concentrate enough to remember and understand what we’ve read or heard. Can we give and receive support from others and raise our children well ?” (Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture, Hicks, Hicks and Mole, 2004)
The wisdom Earth offers toward a better life, is one of nurture and nourishment.
How do you know if your primary element is Earth?
The colour of Earth is yellow (you’ll see a warm yellowy glow around the edge and under the eyes and corners of the mouth)
The sound of Earth is singing (a voice which goes up and down and sounds almost lyrical)
The smell of Earth is fragrant (think freshly baked cake.. a sweet sickly cloying smell)
And the core emotion is over thinking, worrying and sympathy. They have a melancholic nature to them and may appear more martyrdom and on the pessimistic side of life. Their heads usually tilt to one side (think Princess Diana, Eeyore).
Earthly types usually need to be recognised through sympathy and empathy. They crave support but are often unable (or unwilling) to ask for it (it gets in the way of their martyrdom story). So even if you offer it, they’re likely to reject it. They’re usually deeply feeling beings and offer sympathy but seemingly untouched by others distress. They make for fabulous nurses coaches and carers. Their caring nature without taking on other people’s stuff makes their super power a gift, Especially useful when caring for people in difficult.
And of course we all have a bit of earth within us because we are all made of all five elements. Utilising the wisdom of each season we can start to look within to take better care of ourselves.
So what attention do we need to give ourselves in these next few months of harvest? How can we nourish ourselves and care for ourselves like the best mother in the world would?
Life lessons from harvest time
Stability
Finding a safe platform for your feet. Earth thrives on stability. A solid ground offers reliability, and regularity. We’e just lived through a pandemic and all of our routines have had to shift, shift and shift again. Finding a regular routine that works for you will help to increase your sense of stability at this time. Even if your work world is all over the place, why not make sure your morning routine or your dinner time or bed time routine is consistent?
How much stability and regularity do you experience in your life? What would it take for you to feel more stable?
Abundance
Do you have an abundant mindset or a scarcity mindset? Are you focussing on there not being enough, you not being enough, not getting paid enough, not having enough work? Or are you focussed on just how much there is? Abundance does not equate to wealth. Some of the wealthiest people are the most unhappiest. Research shows that beyond an income of £70k people don’t incrementally get happier or more content. It's amazing that for so many we believe more and more will make us happy. In reality most people who pursue wealth discover that wealth doesn't make them any happier, doing the inner work does. Abundance equates to a mindset. A recognition of the bounty and beauty of nature and all that it has to offer.
What gets in the way of feeling more satisfied with your life? How can you notice more abundance in your life? What do you already have plenty of within you?
Giving and Receiving
Living in harmony with the earth requires us to be good at giving AND receiving. We are able to receive what we give. We have to cultivate a sustainable relationship with giving and receiving. When in balance, giving is appropriate and given when it is needed. We do not force gifts on to others, or offer with strings attached. Nor do we give out of a sense of obligation or responsibility. We must also learn to receive (FYI most people are rubbish at receiving). Receiving requires gratitude. It is open and gracious. We receive without feeling entitled, guilty or unworthy. We do not need to give back.
I find this aspect of earth fascinating and have had a long and difficult relationship with getting this right. I still get it wrong alot (perhaps because my earth is so often physically out of balance).
What are the limits to your giving? What’s your relationship to giving and receiving? Can you do one more easily than the other? How can you extend yourself to better balance ?
Nourishment
Now I need to warn you that this aspect probably deserves a blog all of it’s own. Nourishment for humans starts with our relationship to our mothers. When we are born, we are literally dependent on them to feed us, bathe us, keep us safe, and ensure we feel loved. We are helpless to their resourcefulness. We are not separate when we are born, we are still one. A child's sense of separation from their mother usually begins to realise around age 7. So for all the mothers, you are literally OWNED by your children for those first seven years. So much of our capacity to be nourished and nurtured comes from those early seven years. A positive relationship creates a good foundation for healthy nourished adult. Under nourished or over nourished can create issues that need unpicking but most certainly surmountable.
At a physical level, this translates as; a persons capacity to support a healthy digestive system (nourishing foods), emotionally to form connections with others which are rich and rewarding, to receive love, caring, affection. On a mental level to feel fulfilled and fuelled by learning and pursuing intellectual growth. And finally, to be spiritually nourished by art, music, nature and connection to something bigger than you.
To what extend are you nourished by the different elements of your life?
How does this all relate to our relationship to Mother Earth?
So it would seem that Earth really is important to our sense of wellbeing but also our connection to Mother Earth. If we looked at Earth through the lense of our mother, we might ask, how has she nurtured us and nourished us and continued to do so as we age through her resources? She literally gives us air to breathe into our lungs, food to sustain and energise, water to hydrate, nature to be in awe of and love and connection is all around (if only we choose to see it).
I'll leave you with these questions to ponder about Earth and our relationship with it.
How much have we taken and how much have we given back?
Has this been a nourishing relationship that's benefited both sides equally ?
Are we in harmony and balance with our relationship with mother earth?
Do we have an adult relationship or are we still behaving like unseparated children to mother earth's teet?
What might we do different to give back and nourish Mother earth in gratitude of all that she's done for us?
Until next time Jx