Happy New Year! Wishing you an abundance of blessings in 2010.
On the Winter Solstice (December 21), we shifted into the Water phase of the year. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, where our health is influenced by our deep connection to nature and its rhythms, this is the time of year to dive deeply inward. The trees have dropped their leaves, withdrawing energy from their limbs and sinking it back into their roots. We should follow this example by spending more time in quiet stillness and introspection. However, with our typical holiday season rush and mile-long list of New Year’s resolutions, we are often busy and scattered at year’s end.
We could learn from water’s example. Water literally goes with the flow. It can be tossed about by wind and storm, but it always returns to balance. It yields into any container you put it in. Water is soft, yet drop by drop, persevering over eons, it can carve great canyons. The Water element is associated with the colors blue and black, energy yielding, the direction north, and the emotion of fear. The meridians (the body’s energy pathways) associated with the Water phase are the kidney and bladder channels. The kidney meridian runs along the front of the body, from the sole of each foot to the top of the breastbone. The bladder channel runs from the eyes, over the head, down the back and the backs of the legs to the little toes.
When our life force energy (qi) flows freely along these circuits, we feel in touch with our inner spirit, creativity, and imagination. We know intuitively when to surge forward and when to pool and yield. If you are a Water element personality type, you continually seek the deeper answers to life, crave tranquil solitude, and are usually viewed as wise and serene. Yet when your Water element is out of balance, you may become overpowering or eccentric (excessive water) or withdrawn and fearful (deficient water).
To keep our Water element in balance, it is important to remember to balance toughness with tenderness and detachment with openness. Weight-bearing exercises are helpful for boosting overall vitality, which is closely linked with Kidney Qi and the Water element. And most importantly, it is tremendously healing to clear a few moments each day to pause and reflect. How about now?
