Seasonal Influences: Wood Element

Today's topic is Wood Element, the influence of Spring.

Spring has arrived for most of us.  She seems to rise up out of the ground, up through the trunks of trees and through the soles of our feet.

She tiptoes in tentatively in her green and floral garments with the freshness of new life.  Speaking the language of birdsong, buzzing bee, and wind.  Her influences over the land are obvious as seeds burst through the ground, birds break free of eggs, and new life begins. 

There is a lot of movement this time of year and expansion as Spring stretches herself, spreading her influence and permeating the land.

And we feel this too, and our bodies respond, as the consciousness of Spring awakens in each of us.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Spring is associated with the Element of Wood, which is linked to Wind, movement, expansion, birth and growth.  Those qualities express themselves within the human body in the form of the Liver, the Gallbladder, and the Eyes.  The consciousness of Wood relates to the Soul and to the storage of all experiences.

So what does that mean to you?  The Five Chinese Elements are concepts used to help us relate to what’s going on within the body.  The balance of Elements is a way of maintaining the delicate balance of energies within the body-mind complex.

In the cycle of energy associated with the 5 Elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wood feeds Fire Energy and controls Earth Energy, which would relate to feeding your spirit, your joy, the deep wisdom of your heart,  while keeping you from too much worry and confusion.

Wood Energy in turn,  is fed by the Element of Water, but it is controlled by the Metal Element.

To give an example, let’s just say you have an imbalance of not enough Wood Energy.  This might affect your ability to expand your perception, or it may affect your ability to make decisions, etc.  One way to balance that might be with more Water Energy because Water feeds and nourishes Wood.  Or maybe it’s a matter of too much Metal cutting off your Wood Energy.

These imbalances can be addressed in a BodyTalk session, where your body reveals what type of an imbalance it has, in other words, whether it's a matter of too much or not enough of said Wood Element, and how we will proceed within the session.

With BodyTalk we use consciousness to find the story behind the imbalance and to shift perceptions within the body-mind, which in turn causes the body to reset itself and to make the adjustments it needs to re-establish balance.