The Wood Element in Spring

 

 

The wood element in Traditional Chinese Medicine represents the growth we experience in spring. Lately it has felt more like summer than spring in Essex and in April we had higher temperatures than our friends in the Mediterranean. But we mustn’t forget:  

“ne’re cast a clout til May is out”

As in a flash this weather can return to its typical English spring cycles of cloud-wind-sun-rain! 

But on a dull day, if you want a sign of spring, you can find it in the blossom on the trees, the tall naturally growing grasses and nettles, the insects and even in the warmth beneath the cool wind. And on a hayfever-ish day you might find that mindfulness can help too*.

This spring I have been growing thanks to a true master of tai chi, Lu Yu at the Colchester Chinese Association. Her grace, precision and care have inspired me to move through the tai chi steps with a deeper understanding of yin and yang inside my body and out, where the boundaries of the spaces lie within and between my body and the world around me.

This is quite appropriate for menopause or post-menopause as I pass from the mother archetype to what lies beyond… the stage of life that is not much celebrated and too often dismissed or feared. But for many women I have been able to connect with over the last few years during my own menopause, and even earlier, when I was studying with Uma and Suzanne, this is a time for newness.

As my friend and colleague Kate Codrington wrote in Second Spring, menopause is a reckoning of who we are and what we need from what may be the second half of our lives. This goes hand in hand with rest and withdrawal from what we no longer need to hold onto.

So the yang, the outward movement of growth, is dependent and ever transforming from and back into the yin, the restoration that supports endeavour. While life hums along gently, sleep and relaxation become less important. But in times of great change, just as the Wood or Spring energy can jolt us into life, unblocking and clearing stagnation, we need space and time to integrate and absorb that change.

Spring is an inspiring balance of yin and yang, the cold and the hot, the stillness and the action, the inward and the outward. A special time of hope and delight when we can see young lambs learning to walk and fresh green leaves exploding from the trees as if for the first time.

So don’t waste this fresh energy by rushing out to do a billion things in our instant gratification world. Indulge in rest and let the newness find its place within you.

*If hayfever is bothering you, try your second toe - a massage, a meditation as you stand, walk or sit, letting the Stomach energy empty the excess of energy and then refill from the energy of the earth. The Qi Gong practice of emptying and filling the legs may help too.

If you would like to find out more about my mobile shiatsu for women in Colchester, please visit my website: Ta Ke Shiatsu