Welcome to the Wood Element

Spring energies connect us to the wood element, which is association to the feelings of anger, frustration and positive feelings of patience, kindness and altruism.  The element of wood relates to a person’s benevolence and gratitude and their capacity to anchor to a good heart, and a positive outlook on life, which allows us to be progressive in nature. This guide will explore all of the depth and dynamic of this wood element, its associated energies, and how you can begin to embrace seasonal living with day to day practices lifestyle medicine.

The “Deep Dive” educational podcasts presented this season will connect you in the the science and philosophy of the wood energies and help you along with this guide of practices and presses curated for spring, create a simple and powerful framework for living with the rhyme of this season.

We associate the wood element to its relationship with the liver Yin energies and the gallbladder Yang energies. These two organ systems work together to take care of planning, organizing, and catalyzing our energy forward for growth and development throughout the year.

The liver is such an important organ in the body, it is responsible for the movement of qi, and blood. It stores the blood, works to filter the blood and has a dynamic relationship on how to move the blood while composing all these functions to set the tone of the energetics of the blood which help nourish our movement and direction in our daily lives, and on our life path. It has a big job of detoxifying, and is very sensitive to the energy of stress. Our livers tend to be pushed into excess and are working on overdrive due to our western cultures of stress and the toxicity we are exposed to on a daily basis. It is important in the season of spring that we invite in gentle detoxification processes and proper rest to set the tone of the livers health for the year to come.

The liver produces bile which helps us to support digestion and synthesizing of the day to day energies we come in contact with. And it is responsible for storing up energy, that becomes the potential for movement and direction in our life.

The Liver needs to have a freedom and openness and flexibility to help circulate the qi and blood in the 12 meridians so that it can do the job of processing planning and organizing all of the biophysical processes of the body. In Chinese medicine, it is known as the general and is the one in charge of giving direction and moving forward.

In this seasonal health guide we will explore different practices, physically and energetically as well as through food and tool that will help support the energetics of the liver and set a healthy framework for the year.

The gallbladder energy is related to the yang system of the wood element and works to take the bile that the liver stores and hold it until we are ready to release and begin synthesizing and processing to the support of digestion of nutrients and experiences. The gallbladder in a sense, is responsible for catalyzing the directed movement of the liver, helping us to make decisions and create change in our lives.

It is dynamically affected by patterns of overindulgence, and when it gets blocked we have a difficult time making clear decisions and moving the abundant energy of chi towards proper direction. We can help support this energy by learning to live with frustration and weeding out the things that are stifling our growth. These two organs work together in harmony and are highlighted in the spring season, but are working year round to support the daily biophysical processes and supporting digestion and direction of the body.

The wood element is associated to the emotional state of anger, which brings us in contact with our ability to stand up for ourselves and stay on our path and move forward. Wood rules the sense of sight, which helps us to have vision, so that we can see our path forward, and is connected to the consciousness of the ethereal soul, which exists through the actions of us embodying our karmic connection to our deepest levels of expression and the transmutation of our creative potential generations past and generations to come.

We look forward to moving through the journey of wellbeing, purpose and direction with you through this Wood Element Seasonal health guide. Please enjoy and share these practice with you friends in the spirit of the virtue of kindness and spring growth.