unsettled season
how Chinese medicine has helped me through Covid-19
In the ancient Chinese philosophy, there are five elements - wood, fire, earth, metal, and water - that are believed to be the foundational elements of everything else in the universe. These elements also correspond to the five seasons in Chinese medicine: spring, summer, late summer, fall, and winter. The Japanese call this late summer season dojo season, and it also occurs during the transition times - the ten-ish days before and after each equinox or solstice.
The earth element is associated with dojo season, so, according to Chinese medicine, we should try to focus on grounding and balancing during this time - spending extra time with our grounding practices and avoiding the extremes. Chinese medicine says that dojo season can be very unsettling, a transitory time when things can feel shifty and like it is difficult to find your footing.
Sound familiar?
I think that all of #covid19season as I’ve been calling it has been a sort of prolonged dojo season. There are so many unknowns. As soon as we think we have some firm footing, something seems to change. It has been difficult to find a rhythm, let alone stick to one with all of the uncertainly.
But one small thing that has helped me is to simply remind myself:
It is normal to feel this way. It is Covid19 season, and Covid19 season, like dojo season, is an unsettling season. That is just the nature of things right now. You’re doing the best you can.
Naming things helps. Try it for yourself and see! Some other things that I typically do during dojo season that I’ve been trying to add in to this longer Covid19 season:
Avoiding the extremes whether it is food, movement, scheduling activities, time on my phone, etc. I’ve been trying to live a little more in the middle of things - and often failing. But I do notice a difference when I can limit living in the extremes.
Eat the harvest. I (obviously!) think it is a good idea to eat in tune with the seasons all year long, but earth season is an especially good time to eat what’s in season. There isn’t an easier time in Indiana to eat what is in season than the late summer season, and your body will thank you for consuming what the earth is naturally producing.
Chinese medicine says that these transition times require more rest. So I’ve been trying to go to bed before I’m actually tired. Kind of like stopping eating before you’re stuffed (what the Japanese call hara hachi bu), if I can make myself go to bed before I’m really yawning, I feel better the next morning.
Cold showers are grounding.
Getting my bare toes on the earth and sitting on the earth at least once a day.
Journaling. Dumping my feelings, frustrations, gratitude lists, whatever feels right depending on the day helps me to get it out on paper so that I can either deal with it further or let it go.
Here’s what I thought was worth sharing this week:
The Great Climate Migration that scientists have been warning us about has already began. Read about and witness to it here. (And vote accordingly in November)
Selfishly, my August what I’m learning and loving list. I took a loooong break on this practice, but it was good to get back to it.
These Tweets said in a few words what I’ve been trying to say in far too many.
The best thing I read this week - largely because it made me feel less crazy.
Sitting With
Sitting there on my porch that first Sabbath morning, I understood what Native Americans mean when they speak of “medicine.” In the strictest sense, they are speaking of how a little yellow root can help with indigestion or a tea brewed with chamomile can help you sleep. In the broadest sense, they are speaking of the curative power of creation. Sitting there in the healing presence of the mountains, the waters, the birds, and the beasts, I could not recall why I had so often neglected this medicine, though it was lying all around me. What had led me to choose aspirin over purple flowers or Tums over wood ducks? Was it because I could chew them on the go, without having to sit down so they could minister to me? Or was it because I feared what might bubble up if I sat down?
From the beautiful Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor that I finished last week and loved every bit of.
Seasonal Pic of the Week
Pretty much how we spent our Labor Day weekend…
Cheers to embracing dojo season!
Sara