In Chinese Medicine, the end-of-summer “season” (as well as all the “end-of” seasons) is associated with the Earth Element. It’s the time when some things come to a close, while other things begin.
At such a time of transition, the Earth Element reminds us to be grounded; think about healthy roots that help weather the uncertainties of transitions. The Earth Element is also about being centered; after all, the earth is the center of the other elements: metal, water, wood and fire.
Here are some ideas to support you in being more grounded and centered at summer’s end, and on any day.
Natural Sweetness
Do you find yourself at times craving sweets more than usual? When I feel stressed or wanting some “comfort”, I’m mightily tempted to indulge in my favorite almond croissant. The flavor associated with the Earth Element is sweetness, so that sugar craving can signal a state of being uncentered. The problem is that sugar can add fuel to the fire, by throwing you off balance even more with spikes in blood sugar and energy. Consider some natural sweetness: add honey, instead of sugar, to sweeten your tea; treat yourself to the natural and healthier sweetness of dried dates.
Acu Point: Hara
This point is a couple of fingers’ width below your bellybutton. This is your “energy center”, the place from where you have greatest balance. If you have lots of thoughts and ideas flying around in your head, you might feel light, ungrounded. If you’re dragging your feet, heavy on the ground and sluggish, your energy needs some uplifting, to be centered. Next time you feel uncentered, take a seat with your feel on the floor, or stand with your weight evenly on both feet, and rest one or both hands gently on your belly, under your navel. Take a few long deep and slow breaths. Learn more about this.
Grounding Through Routine
In Chinese Medicine, routine is associated with the Earth element and the idea of “home”. Do you have a daily routine that feels “homey” to you? A daily morning walk, afternoon yoga practice, or bedtime reading… I talked about this earlier in terms of the benefits of routine for healthy travel, but consider that every day of your life is a journey.
WakoWa Salon: Everyday Wellness 
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September 6, 2007 at 6:23 am
Tony Brown
Nice post Wako. I am just getting over a sweet craving period – everything has been off centre lately. It is strange that even when you know what is happening it still takes time and effort to pull yourself back to the centre. But everything has its natural cycle I suppose and it is better not to force the energy back but just encourage it.
September 11, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Lisa
Thanks again, Wako, for the info about dates. Dates have saved me as I struggle to reduce refined sugar from my diet. I finally got around to calling the Date People today but they won’t have dates until end of Sept., early Oct. I will keep trying. In the meantime, our local produce market has a big box of medjool dates from which I can purchase!
Have you come across anything in your studies that talks about people being especially prone to headaches during this late Summer season? I often have to cope with a spate of headaches during September and then they stop.
September 13, 2007 at 11:30 am
wakowa
Isn’t it interesting how that sweet craving comes and goes?
Regarding your headaches, Lisa, I wonder what kind of headache you typically get in September? Is it a sinus congestion kind of headache? If that’s the case, we can think of it as an “earth”-y headache, and an acu-point that could help is Stomach 3 (St3). I’ll make a post on this separately, but take a look at this page.
http://trueanduseful.eponym.com/blog/SelfCareWellbeing/_archives/2006/10/31/2460515.html
September 16, 2007 at 6:52 am
Lisa
Hi Wako – Somehow my response didn’t get posted on Friday. Trying again.
I rarely get sinus headaches unless I have a cold. Instintually, my Late Summer headaches feel “weather” related to me. Like something is going on with the barometric pressure, something in the atmosphere, in the weather is messing with the “weather in my head.” Have you come across any material in your studies that speaks to this?
October 22, 2007 at 5:17 pm
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[…] Create routine, especially since I’ve had to adjust and adapt so much of the way I normally do things. I wrote about this, plus other tips in a post related to the Earth element. […]