THE TRANQUILITY OF WATER
“…I pray this winter be gentle and kind – a season of rest from the wheel of the mind…” ~ John Geddes
Do you make time to rest, recharge, and dream?
As we move into winter, we dive deep into the cool ocean of Yin energy. We are entering the “Water Element”, the first element of the Five Rhythms cycle. Its qualities emulate our nature at this time of year. In the shortened darker days of winter, nature is telling us it’s time to rest more, slow down, conserve and nurture our own inner resources. It’s a time when we need to contemplate, dream, imagine and visualize new outlooks and mindsets. Taking some time to focus on yourself can be a powerful time of introspection and renewal. We all need “Water” time to find balance in our lives.
The wisdom of water is to flow. Think of “Water energy” as your very own well of potential. When we make time and space in our lives to reflect, we have time to rethink our purpose from a place of clarity, awareness, and vision. Consider this Water practice by spending a brief period of doing nothing each day. Sit still, with a soft gaze and imagine gathering back all the energy you’ve expended in the last year. Even if you do this for just a few minutes each day, you'll realize how vital it is to your well-being, and to your ability to maintain and sustain your energy. By centring and collecting ourselves in this way we conserve, preserve, and regenerate our energy. This is particularly important in the winter, when we are prone to get sick, to overextend ourselves, to indulge, and engage with family and friends in ways we don't all year long.
When we look how water affects the earth, we notice it can change the landscape without force. Water energy is gentle but strong and can carve itself through rock and stone. Water's fluid energy enables us to respond to the ebbs and flows of life from a quiet place of graceful strength.
Water is essential to life. When we are born, we are made up of 70% water. Interestingly the earth is also covered 70% in water. We must remember that like the earth this is how our body interconnects and communicates within its micro and macro biome self. When we lack enough water our energy systems become imbalanced and disorganized.
If the water element is in balance, we may:
· have faith in the flow of life
· feel more energetic
· experience more motivation
· be undeterred by life's obstacles
· embrace uncertainty more easily
If the water element is out of balance, we may experience:
· fear
· panic
· anxiety
· overwhelm
· fatigue or exhaustion
Here are some tips to clear your mind and support your water element.
Stay hydrated and nourish yourself well
When you hear an Energy Medicine practitioner refer to Yin, we are often observing the moisture, hydration, and fluid balance of the body. Nourish yourself with warm food and drink lots of water. The winter sucks the moisture out of our bodies. It is very important to hydrate by drinking at least 8 to 10 glasses of fresh water daily. Eat warming foods such as root vegetables, whole grains, and small amounts of meat or fish protein. If you are a vegetarian, eat more beans, nuts, and fermented gut supporting foods.
Spend time near or in water
Water emanates the essence of Yin – which is a calming, grounding, fluid-like energy. In other words, the feelings we experience when we spend time near water help your body shift from “fight or flight” into the healing state of “rest and digest.” This state is essential for restoration, healing, and increased happiness. Take more long candle lit baths and cleanse yourself of all the tensions that can block your energies from flowing.
Practice self-acceptance
We all have fears. Fears freeze us so that we feel stuck and hopeless. Try observing your fears without judging them so you can free yourself from the stagnation that fear spreads. Learning the gentle art of “witnessing” yourself without judging. Rather than attempting to overcome our fears, we can learn to recognize and accept them. Self-awareness and self-acceptance burns and thaws our fears so that we become “unstuck” and can move forward in a healthier way. Try tapping 1” down and 1” out on either side of your center bone just below your throat notch for a minute. These points are the end of the Kidney Meridian and can help encourage our energies to flow giving us the motivation to face what we are afraid of.
Take time to listen and recharge
Listen to your body and take time to replenish your reserves. Winter is the time where we are supposed to hibernate to recharge. Learn to slow down and take the time to listen to what others have to say and listen to your own heart speaking to you. This is a time of receiving, not doing. Another supportive technique for your water element is to work with your kidney organs directly to stimulate the flow of your kidney energy. Start by placing your hands on your kidneys (lower back behind your navel area) and rub up and down and towards and away from the spine. I sometime just hold both sides of my lower back and make a jiggling rocking type motion that helps to create a little friction and warmth in this area. You can also make a soft fist and gently tap up and down the lower spine to stimulate the kidneys. Be sure to include your sacrum (lower part of the spine towards your tailbone) by rubbing with your fingertips in circular and up and down motion. Do this for as long as you like to generate more flow in this area, which will greatly help to recharge your batteries.
Keep a journal
As winter is a time to go within, your inner being comes closer to the surface. Keep a journal and record your feelings, thoughts, and dreams. Try not to analyze them right away and just record them. Look at them again later and see if the images convey an inner message to you.
Get more rest
This is nature’s season for rest, repair, and regeneration. Try going to bed early and rising late after it has become light. Enjoy a daytime nap where you rest and restore. If you over-extend or over-work yourself in winter, you risk becoming ill.
Keep warm
Dress appropriately for the cooler weather. Traditional Chinese Medicine theory says that the top of the head, our necks, shoulders, hands, and feet contain “Wind” points through which pathogens can enter. Our mothers were right to tell us to wear a hat to keep our ears covered, a scarf to protect our neck, gloves to protect our hands and warm socks to protect our feet.
Schedule more time for your inner life
Use the energy of the season to discover more about yourself through reflection, reading books that “restore the spirit.” Pay attention to your senses by imagining what it would feel like to have, or experience, what you most hope for. Envision your ideas and images are being planted and are germinating within you, like in a garden, where they will begin to sprout in the spring. Nurture these images of hope by allowing them to grow and develop within you quietly and naturally, just as plants grow.
Meditate
The winter season is an especially good time to begin the practice of meditation. This is a great way to remove the blockages to your energy flow and support your water element. You could try the basic form of sitting comfortably and simply watching your breath. Let it flow in through the nose and out through the mouth cultivating calm and relaxation. If you find that too challenging because of a busy mind and body, try a more active form of meditation called moving meditation. Put on a piece of music that has no words and let yourself simply flow to the music. Let your body flow with the rhythms and harmonies created by the music as it stimulates your body. I sometimes put on a mask to allow senses to become more acute. The important thing is to let the body lead and the mind follow.
Gather with people who mean the most to you
Winter evenings are an especially good time to rejuvenate and deepen relationships with those closest to you. Keep gatherings simple, relaxed, and safe.
A full and balanced water element brings cleansing energy to purify your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels of your body with an invitation for transformation to occur in your life. You can be in the flow and move into the changes you desire and strive for. Signs that your water element is flowing beautifully are, you have a sense of calm about you, you are determined and creative in your endeavours and you have a gentle, soft approach to life with all its limitless possibilities.