Constantly Worrying? Experiencing Digestive Issues? Chinese Medicine offers some guidance!
What Is The Earth Element?
If we ascribed each of the 5 Elements onto a compass, the Earth Element would be smack dab in the middle. This element is all about stability, nourishment, and HOME. It makes sense that the organs associated with it, the Spleen and Stomach, are also at the middle core of the body. They are responsible for churning, digesting, and dividing up what we take into our bodies, separating the "clear" and nourishing parts from the waste that needs to be let go.
Signs of an Imbalance of Earth
If you have digestive issues, your Earth Element might be considered "out of balance". These symptoms could include:
nausea
indigestion
irregular bowel movements, could be loose or dry consistency
increased gas/belching/bloating
lower appetite, lower energy
fatigue after meals
These symptoms often stem from "dampness" which we can think of as an "internal humidity" that can develop because of diet, external environment, or weakened digestion. Additional symptoms associated with dampness can include congestion, clogged ears, brain fog, swelling, headaches that wrap around the forehead like a headband, general inflammation, and fatigue.
Learn more specifics about dampness, its stubborn symptoms, and how to help it out of the body here!
Earth's Relationship to Worry and Processing Emotions
In Chinese Medicine, Earth encompasses more than just digestive processes, but also feelings of belonging, security, and our ability to process life's events in a healthy way, allowing us to move forward. If your sense of home and security were disrupted in life, the Earth Element could've been affected as well.
Additional signs of an imbalanced Earth Element might include:
overthinking and excessive rumination, always feeling "worried"
feeling stuck in the same behavioral cycles/relationship patterns
lacking a sense of grounding in body and mind, feeling a lack of "emotional armor" and fortitude
addictions (especially food-related or substances we ingest by mouth)
The Earth Element is associated with Late Summer, so while this energy can get stagnated year round, it's not uncommon to feel these symptoms more intensely during this season.
Sound like you? You're not alone!
We see these symptoms all of the time in clinic. If you think about it, your body is the most homiest of homes you'll ever have! It's worth putting in time and energy into helping it function at its best.
How can we do that? Let's dive into ways we can help nourish our Earth Element on mental, physical, and energetic levels.
How to Nourish The Earth Element
1- Eat Warm Foods and Say YES to Sweet
From a Chinese Medicine perspective, we think of the gut as a "digestive fire". Like tending to a good campfire, we should eat warm, cooked, easy-to-break-down food so that this "fire" can easily and efficiently assimilate the vitamins, minerals, and energy from our food. When we have a healthy digestive system, we make abundant qi and blood, and our body functions with ease.
What's the fastest way to put out a fire? Throw cold water on it! That's why we advise against ice, smoothies made with frozen fruit, food eaten right out of the refrigerator, and excessive intake of raw fruits and veggies (which are considered "cold" natured and require a lot of our own energy to "cook" them before they can be digested). Do a deep dive into this topic at our post How to Feed Your Body Well: a Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective.
OK, let's get to what we mean about SWEET. Just like medicinal herbs, flavors in food and drink have different effects inside the body. For example, they might nourish or purge, "lift up" energy or calm. Sweet flavors can specifically help with low energy, easing tension, and in small amounts can "harmonize" the Spleen and Stomach, our Earth Element organs. Sweet foods include whole grains like millet and rice, root vegetables such as winter squashes, yams, sweet potatoes and carrots. Enjoy fruits that are available in the late summer harvest like apples, cranberries, figs, grapes, pears, pomegranates, and citrus fruits, too!
2 - Don't Forget Breakfast!
In Chinese Medicine, every organ has a 2 hour window of the day where it is at its most active. The Stomach functions best for digestion from 7-9am, so it is recommended to have a hearty and nourishing meal during this time. A nutritious breakfast helps boost the stomach and spleen qi to support you throughout the day and ideally includes energetically warming foods, like breakfast congee, which is a deeply nourishing!
"At the center of your being you have the answers."
- Lao Tzu
3 - Come Home to Your Body and Get Grounded.
Like we've mentioned, the Earth Element represents stability, security, nourishment and abundance. Earth is where we've all come from (the womb center) and where we all end up.
Ways to "come back home" to your body can include activities that help you stay balanced and rooted, like journaling and meditation, therapy or deep talks with friends, exploring your ancestry and hearing old family stories, and gentle movement where the breath and awareness of your body is emphasized, like yoga, qi gong or tai chi. Getting your hands literally in the earth like gardening or playing with sand or clay can help ground us and nourish the Earth element, too!
Just like each element has associated organs and seasons, they also have an associated sound. The sound of the Earth element is "singing"... so if you get that musical urge, belt it out! Singing gets vibrations moving all throughout the body, harmonizing your Earth Element organs from the inside-out.
4- What You "Feed Your Mind" Matters.
We've focused a lot on what we're feeding our Spleen and Stomach organ systems, but what about what we mentally ingest? This is a perfect time of year to think about our relationship with screens, sensationalized news and social media. It's important to have clear boundaries with ourselves about what, when, and how many minutes/hours a day we ingest this ever-present information overload.
Sometimes, overfeeding our mind causes it to turn incessantly. When we're prone to worry, anxiety, and overthinking, Spleen Qi deficiency symptoms arise, like digestive weakness, IBS, and fatigue. It is important to get off of the "hamster wheel" of worry and give the mind purposeful time and space to feel calm.... or even bored! We love to recommend you take yourself out for a "date night". Start by eating something nourishing and warm, take a technology break for the night, set yourself up in a comforting bath or with a journal and see what your body might share with you when you give yourself the time and space to listen.
5 -Acupuncture and Herbs Can Help!
Acupuncture can be great for helping our Earthy organs find a more balanced state. There are also many time-tested herbal formulas that can be great partners along this journey as you seek solutions for digestive distress, depression, fatigue, and other forms a deficient Earth Element might take!
Make an appointment today with us at Hidden Root Acupuncture in New Orleans, Louisiana to learn more about how we might be able to help.
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