This is one of the amazing ways:

Mandala ~ Create sacred space. Choose 5-8 cards. Arrange them in a circle within concentric rings of found or precious materials like seasonal fruits/vegetables, flowers, leaves, shells, stones, sticks, feathers, etc. Choose an elemental center piece: an earthenware filled with soil/clay, a transparent vase of water, a bell, a wooden bowl, an incense burner. Cards and objects may also be arranged by cardinal directions.

Purchase Element Wisdom Card Decks here

Did you know you can search the card titles on the Cultivating Wellness Blog? 

Our real time project for 2022 and 2023 is adding musing about the cards. 

Send us your favorite ways to play and images for 10% off any card deck or the entire collection!

albertaorchard@gmail.com

Sweetness is associated with the Earth Element.

Although a touch of sweetness can stimulate the spleen and pancreas, indulging in too much sweet food and drink can cause digestive issues and decrease energy levels. The primary dietary tip for this transitional time of year is to avoid sugars and sugary foods; however, local (raw) honey in small amounts nourishes the spleen, emanating the golden color of the season. 

All vegetables and fruits in earth tone colors benefit the Earth element.

Supplement the diet with squash, carrots, dates, figs, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes as alternatives to unhealthy refined sugars and sweets. Picking fruit and vegetables perfectly ripe from the tree, vine, bush or ground gifts our bodies the most perfect form for consumption.  So grow your own fruits and vegetables or frequent your local farmer’s markets!  Consider shopping for smaller quantities more frequently during this season of abundance.

It is important to avoid foods that cause dampness in the body like dairy and fried foods. I know we Southerners love our iced sweet tea, but cold foods and beverages, especially putting ice in drinks and ice cream, shock the spleen causing digestive issues. Room temperature water is best or constitutionally corrective herbal teas or infused waters cooled in the refrigerator if you must. Remember to chew your food well and eat slowly to support the spleen!

More thorough chewing releases and magnifies the taste of the season, sweet.

This is the ideal time to nurture your Earth energy with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. Also try yoga postures for your spleen and stomach as demonstrated here.  

What does the phrase ‘down to earth’ mean to you?

Earth Writing Exercise

Take a moment.

Find pen and paper.

Transcribe the phrase Down to Earth. 

Place both feet on the ground.

Take three deep breaths, expanding your ribs.

Write free associations of what ‘down to earth’ means to you for 90 seconds.

Wake the spleen, an earth organ with the exercise below. 

Repeat the automatic writing exercise.

Wake the Spleen

With both feet on the ground, raise your left arm.

Wake the spleen organ by tapping on your left side, one hand width below the arm pit.

Vocalize the sound of the spleen: whooooo (like the wise owl calling)- gutteral and brethless

Repeat eight times.

Shanren kan wo xinshi?  Wo xin shi!

Do I posses the earth attributes of integrity and deep trust?  Yes I do!

The phrase down to earth can refer to an approachable person.  Someone that is practical, plain spoken, honest, realistic, trustworthy, unassuming, unpretentious.

What did your list reveal? Which of those qualities do you posses? Which qualities would you like to strengthen?

If there is a quality you would like to embody or strengthen in yourself?

Try replacing the sound of the spleen with the quality that you wish to strengthen.  For example, tap ‘trust’ into your spleen.

Don’t worry, be happy.

How to soothe your nervous system:

• Take a cold shower or plunge
• Splash cold water on face & neck
• Sing, laugh, chant, hum, & hug
• Restore the microbe of the gut
• Relax jaw tension
• Meditate on loving kindness
• Positive Social Connect
  

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Stimulation of the vagus nerve plays an important role in the management of anxiety and mental health issues. The vagus nerve is the longest running cranial nerve in your body. It is one of ten paired cranial nerves and runs from the stem of your brain all the way down to your gut. The word “vagus” translates to “wandering” in Latin, and the vagus nerve certainly does that. As the longest and most complex of all the cranial nerves, it starts at the stem of the brain, behind the ears before it meanders down the sides of the neck, through the chest, and eventually ends in the abdomen linking the brain to the heart, lungs, throat, and gut.

When we are in parasympathetic dominance we are able to rest and digest, rest and heal.

Vagus Nerve Connects the Brain and Gut

The vegas nerve is the sensory network that informs the brain of what’s going on in our organs, most specially the digestive tract (stomach and intestines), lungs and heart, spleen, liver, and kidneys.

People with good vagal tone can relax faster after a stress and are more capable of regulating blood glucose levels, reducing chances of diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Poor vagal tone, however, is associated with chronic inflammation and basket load of subsequent health issues. Recent research presented by the European League Against Rheumatism indicate that vagus nerve stimulation significantly reduces symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Significant and important research has been making the news about a microbiota-gut-brain axis. Read up on this fascinating subject here. Also this article discusses the science behind gut microbiota, brain function and stress related disorders.

Relevant to Earth element health, I’ve collected these research links for you:

• Vagal mechanisms as neuromodulatory targets for the treatment of metabolic disease.
• Impact of blood glucose control on sympathetic and vagus nerve functional status in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
• Vagal afferents contribute to sympathoexcitation–driven metabolic dysfunctions.
• Role of the vagus nerve in the development and treatment of diet-induced diabetes.

The digestive organs are injured by stagnation.  Desk or remote virtual jobs, long hours of studying, research and writing keep us seated.  Relaxing and decompressing may also become habituated to screen time, gaming or media binging. Fatigue sets in from lack of activity; a sedentary life is injurious. Frankly, it is killing us slowly. The combination of oversitting and overthinking is a harmful combination for the earth organs,  particularly the spleen.  The lack of healthy circulation settles dampness deep into our systems. If you are prone to oversitting, please build in healthy habits. 

Set a timer at the desk for 30 minutes to take a 5 minute movement break out of the chair.

Shake away any accumulated worries, negative postures.

Take a few stretches or yoga poses.

Walk to the water station and hydrate.

Walk a few flights of stairs.

Take a walk around the block.

Learn and practice Heaven & Earth Rotation Daily

Heaven & Earth Rotation: Qi Gong Earth Exercise

1. Open the gates of heaven (top of head ~ meeting of ten thousand things) and earth (bottom of feet ~ bubbling spring) again. 
2. Pivot from the lower back with smooth and continuous action. The left palm, facing earth, pushes downward while the right palm, faces heaven, pulls upward. 
3. At the end of the pivot, alternate hand positions. 
4. Repeat 40 times while imagining healing, golden light internally healing and balancing your spleen, stomach and pancreas.

Purchase your element wisdom card deck to support your daily health & wellness journey

Cultivate wellness this Earth season by practicing exercises for healing the spleen with Qigong support. 

The earth element, is involved with digestion and transformation of food. It can get bogged down with overthinking, oversitting, worry, anxiety. This can result in weight gain or indigestion.

When the earth element is weak we may say ‘yes’ when we mean ‘no’ or ‘can I get back to you on that? In this way, we create imbalance within by giving ourselves away to be liked or approved of, to avoid conflict, to fit into social norms or to get something from the other party. The earth season holds the energy of center, return, wholeness.

Many of us were raised to value external validation of self.  We formed a weak connection to our true self, our divine nature, our core, our internal earth. We slowly and repeatedly began to see ourselves as good when our parents or bosses said so and successful when we achieved society’s standards. In this method, our shadow side was punished, discouraged or banished. Conversely, we may have developed a personality that commands attention and gains success from being uncompromising, naughty, contrary, shocking.  What would inviting the opposite feel like?

The Earth receives everything equally. What would it look like if our Earth welcomed the darker, less encouraged parts of ourselves that have been split off? What would it look like if our edgy became smooth? What would it look like if our hard became soft? What does it feel like when we start to check in with our whole self first?

To balance the earth element within, send golden light to your spleen, stomach and pancreas area and vocalize a breathless, guttural “who” now. Tap the spleen and stomach channels.

Repeat five times, sending love to your spleen, pancreas and stomach area, releasing all the air from your lungs.

Ask yourself, if your ‘yes’ serves the balance. Listen to your organs for the answer.

The healing sounds are one of the most effective medical qigong practices. They clear heat and toxins, cool the body, release unfavorable energy and emotional qi, and build the connection to the natural virtue of the shen. The healing sounds are a powerful emotional transforming qi gong.

Sound is a powerful way to heal!  

Find a routine which invites healing vibration and sound into your world.  

What would it be like to play background sound as you get ready for work in the mornings or when you are preparing dinner?  

Maybe to celebrate the weekend upon waking? Find a healing sound routine!

SOUNDS OF EARTH FROM SPACE 

Earth time is gut time. Did you know that the estimated number of gut microbiota exceeds 10 x 14th power? This superorganism holds 100 times more information than our DNA code. Pretty Wild Wonderment! These bacteria, archaea and eukarya strengthen gut integrity, shape intestinal epithelium, harvest energy, protect against pathogens and regulate host immunity.

I invite you to feed your gut with ferments: miso, kimchee, tempeh, raw sauerkrauts and pickles, kavass, jun, etc!

I invite you to feed your soul. Find your wildest, most exquisitely free self. Roam the woods, sing to the plants, listen to the rocks, dance with the wind, talk with the birds, play with light and shadow, hug the trees.

For best practices to support your seasonal wellness journey, draw from or purchase an Eath/Transition Element Wisdom Card Deck. See link in bio for more information
#earth #equinox #dna #microbiota #elementwidsomcards #wild #ferments #southernwoods #healthcoach #naturopathicdoctor

While the more widely know organs of the earth element are the spleen & stomach, the lesser recognized earth element is the pancreas. So what does that mean for your seasonal wellness? The 18 days around the solstice invite us to become aware of, in tune with and balance our blood glucose levels. Besides the sugary treats that raise our levels, did you know that stress in the form of cortisol (particularly long term stress) can be a cause of high glucose and A1C levels? A common symptom is persistent elevated glucose levels in the morning. I also clinically observe that difficulty falling asleep can be a symptom of elevated levels. One thing you can do to help balance your pancreas and other earth organs is to start shining golden light within. Qi gong often uses color and sounds to help heal the organs. The sound that heals the earth organs is whoooooo; the color is gold. Practice internal alchemy at this pivotal time between the solar and lunar eclipses. Love your pancreas a little extra today by sending it golden light. It does so much for you – give a little back.
To learn more fun & easy ways to harmonize with the seasonal influences & re-wild yourself back to source visit www.element-wisdom.com