I hope you’re staying warm this winter. I’ve just returned from a 3 day solo retreat in a tiny yurt near Ellenborough, with just a bed and a small pot belly stove. I’ve included some photos below. It was the perfect thing to do for my own Water element – a real drawing in – to silence, stillness, meditation and simply being. That’s what winter and the Water element is about…
Winter is a time of hibernation and rest. The days are shorter and the sunlight more sparse. All of nature hunkers down against the cold and there is little activity or growth. In winter we rely on the stores and reserves we built at harvest time, while nature rests and rejuvenates. For many creatures winter is about survival, and survival is a key theme for the Water element – hence its resonant emotion being fear. The Water element has a lot to do with our balance of rest and activity, and how we use our energy reserves.
But the Water element, like water itself, is not so easy to pin down. Water can manifest as relentless flooding rains, or a stagnant pond without flow. It may be the overwhelming power of a tsunami, or the dark and icy depths of the deepest ocean. Water is changeable and takes many forms and shapes. It has a relentless drive and always finds a way – over, under, around or through.
Water and the Body
The associated organs for the Water element are the Bladder and Kidney. These organs work together to maintain the water supply for the body.The Bladder disposes of impurities and acts as a reservoir, while the Kidney is responsible for the cleansing and proper distribution of water throughout the body. The Kidney also has the crucial role of storing our “Jing”. “Jing” is also known as ancestral energy – it is our deepest essence, inherited at conception, which underpins our major life cycles.
Water and the Mind
When water is in abundance and appropriately distributed, the mind can be at rest, and things flow smoothly and evenly. If we are not balanced in our activity and rest but are constantly overdrawing on our reserves, fear will arise.
For some Water people, fear is a constant companion – sometimes so constant they may not even recognise it as fear. A mind in fear is a busy mind. It is a mind looking to find security. How does the fearful mind try to find security? It wants to know things, to understand things, for it can control that which it knows and understands.
Nothing is as scary as the unknown.
Water and the Spirit
Perhaps Water has the most urgent or pressing invitation to spirit of all the elements. Fear drives us away from itself, into the mind, thinking, thinking, desperately seeking solutions through knowledge and control. The invitation for Water is not to knowledge, but to Wisdom. Wisdom does not arise through the accumulation of data and information. True Wisdom is the spontaneous knowing that arises from the stillness of being truly present – and thus connected to spirit. True Wisdom is spacious enough to include “not knowing”. How does a Water person get there? Through the fear. By facing into, opening to, fully feeling, befriending and being deeply present with the fear in our bodies. Not resisting it, not moving away from it. No thinking required! Just feeling and being present to ourselves.
Winter is a great time for people with a Water constitution to get some treatment. But let’s be honest, there’s no time like the present to get tuned up with 5 Element acupuncture, no matter what your element is! Maybe you don’t know what Element is your core imbalance? Come and find out!
Call 0425 328 209 to book an appointment today.
