It's not just about getting dirty

Our family is putting a vegetable garden in our backyard. This is something we've wanted to do for a long time now and it just didn't ever seem to happen. We're super excited about it and look forward to our bounty! We're going to keep it simple this year - plants that pretty much grow like weeds - tomatoes, zucchini, beans, etc.

I'm not sure which part of it I'm most excited about.

Our backyard had been destroyed by the dogs, so we're really getting it put back together this year. That makes the organizer in me pleased. This is the metal in me.

I'm excited to get my hands in the dirt and to connect with the soil directly. I love being in the dirt. Being soild. This is the earth in me.

I look forward to watching all of our little plants change daily and to watch them reach for the sky. They're so adventurous! This is the wood in me.

The sun beating down on my back while I tend to my garden, absorbing that heat, that warmth - can't wait to bask in it! To let it empower me! This is the fire in me.

To water my little plantlings and watch the water snake its way around the garden, to watch it soak down through the earth, finding resistance, finding a way around, a way through - whatever it takes to make it to the roots of those little plants. This is the water in me.

Gardening can fulfill so many needs - exercise, sustenance, a breath of fresh air. Who knew it could also fulfill so many elemental needs as well?

Anger Management

A friend asked today when anger was useful. This got me to thinking. Every emotion exists for a reason. So what is the purpose of anger?

In Chinese medicine, each organ has an emotion, much like each organ has an element associated with it. For anger, the organ association is with the Liver. I discussed some aspects of the Liver and the element of Wood in I'm a Proud Tree Hugger, so we'll be building on those concepts here. Remember that the Liver is associated with Wood. Wood likes to grow and change. Wood so much likes to grow and change that it will grow THROUGH rocks, breaking them in half. Wood will push up sidewalks. Wood is very persistent. It is very driven.

We have these same desires in ourselves. We always strive to better ourselves. We want to get things done, to get that new car, to buy that new house, to get that promotion. So what happens when our aspirations are blocked? We get angry. According to Chinese medicine, the reason we get angry is because our Wood element is unable to do something. It's frustrated.

Think back on all of the times you were angry. Didn't it all lead back to being frustrated because you were blocked? You couldn't have that toy at the store. You didn't get that promotion, but the "undeserving idiot" did. You got cut off in traffic. Interesting, don't you think?

So back to the question "When is anger useful?" Anger is useful, the same as any other emotion. As long as we don't get stuck in any one emotion - it's a part of a healthy experience. Anger (or frustration) can lead to creativity and problem solving. Think about it - some of the world's greatest inventions probably stemmed from frustrations with the current technologies!

Anger or frustration should also help us to better ourselves. The next time you find yourself cussing someone or something out, ask yourself, "Why does this bother me?" And remember that when Wood can't figure out a way to get THROUGH something, it goes AROUND.


photo courtesy of: http://www.woudenburcht.nl/usa_east/index.htm

I'm a proud tree-hugger! (But not for the reason you might expect!)

I've done a lot of hiking. When I was in acupuncture school, a friend of mine and I used to go hiking in the Columbia River Gorge whenever we had a long enough break between classes. Sure, all of our classmates thought we were slacking off. We let them think that. What they didn't know was that we had found the ultimate way to de-stress and allow our energy to flow smoothly so that we could study more efficiently.

What we found was that there was an interesting exchange taking place between us and the trees. Much like the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) that occurs between animals and plants, we discovered the existence of an energy exchange.

In Chinese medicine, the Liver is the main organ that is involved when we feel "stressed out." Stress causes our energy to clump together so that it doesn't move properly. One of the Liver's jobs is to assist in the smooth flow of Qi. In order to compensate for our energy not moving correctly, our Liver beefs itself up to try to handle the bigger load. What we end up with is too much Liver energy, creating an imbalance. The Liver is associated with the element of wood, and so a stressed-out person may be described as "having too much wood energy."

What we found is that when we went hiking, our stress simply disappeared. The trees, because they ARE wood, were taking all of our extra wood energy and using it to become bigger and stronger trees. They need that wood energy, we need to get rid of any extra wood energy. Pretty neat, huh?

So the next time you're feeling stressed out, go for a walk in a wooded area. And if no one's around, or if you're like me and don't care what other people think, give a tree a hug. You'll both feel better for it!