Embodied Elements Series: The Earth Element & Nourishing Our Dark Centers

The migrating birds know. The slowing, dying bumble bees know. The gnarled, wild pear tree knows, its fruit thumping to the earth. Something has been released, a heaviness is settling into our limbs, the tree’s limbs, the earth’s limbs. The cosmic axis has shifted, moving us into what is potentially one of the most challenging transitions of the seasonal wheel. In this episode we explore all things Earth Element: in our bodies, in our minds, how have we been digesting our world? 

We also wonder...

• What do our animal bodies know about this time of year. How does the Earth element live in us? How can we take our cues on how to live from the more-than-human beings around us?
• How might we be more discerning about our digestion and what is truly nourishing?
• How does looping, excessive thinking, or worry act as a psychological knottniness, not only in our minds but also within our bodies?
• How does the Earth element help us better know how to love, nourish, and mother ourselves? What does soul soaked deep nourishment feels like, and how do we really get ourselves full?

Mentioned Book:

Braiding Sweetgrass (for Young Adults) by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Monique Gray Smith, Nicole Neidhardt

Five Element Resources:

Rhythms of Change by Mary Saunders

Five Spirits by Lorie Dechar

In Our Element by Lindsay Fauntleroy

Earth Element Resources:

Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays

Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh

Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and the World with the Practice of RAIN by Tara Brach

Fire Spirit Question:

The spirit question of the Earth element asks: What does it mean to nourish ourselves well?