(Episode 82) Shamanic Healing for the Five Elements

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Welcome to our latest episode, where we delve into the pursuit of balance through elemental practices. When we discuss the elements, we are referring to the five Chinese elements: Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire, and Water. Join us as we explore how these practices can enhance our well-being, harmony, and balance in today’s fast-paced world.

Key Themes:

  • Balance and Harmony: We discuss the crucial role of achieving balance in our lives and how connecting with the five Chinese elements can lead to mental, physical, and emotional harmony.

  • Shamanic Traditions: We encourage listeners to engage with shamanic practices to balance the five elements.

  • Connecting with the Elements:

    • Earth: Learn how drumming and preparing food can help you connect with the earth element.

    • Wood: We talk about hugging trees and listening to the wind to strengthen your wood energy.

    • Metal: Discover how wind chimes, singing bowls, and crystals can help you align with metal energy.

    • Water and Fire: Understand the importance of balancing these opposing forces through moon and solar gazing, and why spending time near water can cultivate Ying energy.

  • Leadership and Organization: We delve into how wood energy is associated with leadership and metal with organization, offering insights for those looking to improve in these areas.

  • Creative and Calming Practices: The episode covers how to stimulate creativity with Fire and calm the mind with Water, as well as safe alternatives to direct sun gazing.

Even if you just have 5 minutes, fast forward to one of these key moments, then bookmark this episode for later to learn:

  • [00:00] Introduction to the concept of balance and harmony through elemental energies for overall well-being.

  • [04:30] Discussion on the significance of grounding in the year of the Yang Wood Dragon.

  • [06:50] Importance of integrating shamanic traditions to balance the five Chinese elements for personal harmony.

  • [08:40] The role of astrology in self-awareness and its limitations without the addition of personal growth and free will.

  • [10:20] Practices to connect with the Earth element: drumming and cooking.

  • [12:05] Techniques for connecting with Wood energy: tree hugging and listening to the wind.

  • [14:00] Using wind chimes, singing bowls, and crystals to align with the metal element.

  • [15:35] Leadership and wood energy, organization and metal energy: exploring their interconnections.

  • [17:20] Engaging with Water and Fire energies through moon and solar gazing.

  • [19:10] Recommendations for inviting more Water energy into one’s life for Ying energy and balance.

  • [21:00] Calming the mind with Water practices and stimulating creativity with Fire practices.

  • [22:45] Advice on safe sun gazing.

  • [24:30] The healing benefits of altering old patterns and enhancing consciousness through these elemental practices.

  • [26:10] Emphasizing the role of nature in achieving relaxation and deepening awareness.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Download the Microcosmic & Macrocosmic Orbit Meditations at  ⁠acenterfornaturalhealing.com/shop⁠⁠⁠.

Strengthen your immune system, restore your gut health, and improve joint mobility and circulation with our unique line of expertly formulated probiotics, digestive enzymes and proteolytic enzymes at www.aharabotanics.com. Use promo code HEALTHY10 for 10% off your first order!

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(Episode 22) 2 Must-Dos During this Change of Seasons

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below —which of these takeaways will you implement during this seasonal transition?

As the Northern hemisphere welcomes the hottest season of the year, we enter the season of the Fire element.

Positively associated with nourishment of the Earth and transformation, an imbalanced Fire, on the other hand, is notorious for digestive problems. In today’s podcast we discuss the importance of gut health and ways to keep you healthy as we embrace the upcoming season. 

Living with the seasons means being aware of the changes in your surroundings and environment. As we transition into a new season on June 20th, we’re again reminded to adjust our lifestyle to accommodate change of seasons.

In Chinese Medicine, the transitional period between each seasonal change, called Doyo, is greatly emphasized. Mentioned in one of the Classical Chinese Medicine texts, Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, the 18 day period (Doyo) is considered a delicate period for the Spleen energy and the associated Earth element. Therefore it’s important to take special care of the Earth organs—the Spleen and Stomach. 

Supporting Your Earth through Hydration

We need to tend to our Earth element. Using the analogy of a garden as our Earth element, we realize the importance of water in keeping plants healthy.

Too much water can create dampness and kill plants while too little water will dry out plants and result in a similar fate. In the body, excessive sugar intake can cause dampness to accumulate and stagnate the energy of the Earth organ systems.

Living in California and being surrounded by the abundance of fruits all year round – whether imported or locally grown – can encourage a diet enriched with fruits, which supports hydration. However, fruits should eaten in moderation to prevent excessive accumulation of dampness internally. 

Spleen Qi 

The Spleen’s function is interconnected with the pancreas, and helps with the transformation and transportation of food into Qi in Chinese Medicine. 

We can think of Spleen Qi’s function as the enzymes produced by the pancreas — helping with the breakdown of food particles and essential in digestion. 

Spleen also helps transform and transport our thoughts and is closely associated with the Yi, or the aspect of the mind. Processing information by our mind relied heavily on Spleen Qi therefore it becomes even more important to strengthen your Spleen Qi to support mental clarity. 

Strong Earth energy supports healthy boundaries

The Earth organs are the Stomach and the Spleen. Stomach Fire is a natural aspect of the digestive system and is related to the hydrochloric acid that helps break down proteins. Pathological fire, on the other hand, is related to toxicity in the stomach — such as an infection from H. pylori bacteria.

It’s fundamental to keep Stomach Fire in balance to support digestion but also help keep unhealthy bacteria in check. 

In order to keep the concentration of hydrochloric acid in our stomach balanced and combat a mild case H. pylori infection, a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar can supplement a protein enriched meal and support digestion. 

Small Intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is also caused by excessive gut Fire. SIBO requires careful attention to your diet so the overgrowth of bacteria is not further encouraged.

Since the excess Fire will also damage the Spleen Qi, physiological boundaries are also compromised — resulting in a common condition called leaky gut syndrome. 

When the Spleen is not able to maintain boundaries internally, you’ll also have trouble maintaining social boundaries.

If you find it difficult to say “no” or feeling as if all your energy is leaking into other people’s issues, it’s a good idea to examine the status or health of your gut. When you’re able to strengthen your gut, you’ll find your relationships flourishing as well!

2 key takeaways to help support your Earth energy:

  1. Don’t overeat — overeating will cause the Spleen and Stomach energy to stagnate and make you feel lethargic and bloated. 

  2. Avoid cold foods and beverages — since Cold damages the Spleen causing dampness and digestive issues, it should be avoided or at least lessened. 


Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below —which of these takeaways will you implement during this seasonal transition?

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(Episode 11) 3 tips to Have a Healthy Transition Into Spring

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what’s the biggest insight you took away from this episode?

The transition between each season is known in Japanese as the Doyo period. According to one of the foremost classical texts of Chinese Medicine, Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, this 18-day period leading up to each Solstice or Equinox is one of the most important times to make dietary and lifestyle adjustments to support your health.

In Five Element theory this period is governed by the Earth element, which is why the Earth element organs — the Spleen, Stomach and Pancreas — are most vulnerable to imbalance and disease, and therefore especially need protection and support during this time.

People who already have Earth element-related problem need to take extra care as cases such as diabetes, ulcers and gastrointestinal issues in general can all worsen during this time if their lifestyle is not supported.

During the Doyo period in particular it's important to eat meals at regular times and without distractions. Staying away from too much sweet food and other damp-producing foods like dairy and fried foods is also important to keep the Spleen and Stomach energies in healthy balance.

The Spleen, as the largest lymphatic organ in the body, indicates this is a good time for acupuncture and massage to support lymphatic circulation. If you only get these treatments a few times a year, it's best to do them during the Doyo periods.

The Spleen is especially important as it supports your immune system.

It’s also an organ that assists in the transformation of food into energy and thoughts into purpose, so a healthy Spleen will support you to stay focused on your goals and be able to transform your dreams into reality.

Weakness in the Spleen can result in problems with digestion and elimination and cause the body to accumulate dampness. Dampness is a fungal terrain, often resulting from a diet heavy in carbohydrates, fried foods, dairy and sugar (even in the form of fruits).  A fungal terrain can also develop from using various drugs such as antibiotics, sulfa drugs, chemotherapy, birth control pills, corticosteroids, antacids and acid blocking medications.

Dampness is reflected in our lives through the feeling of being stuck or lacking clarity.  Dampness is also associated with psychological imbalances such as Obsessive Compulsiveness Disorder and hoarding.

The Earth element organs thrive on a simple diet based on warm unprocessed foods, a calm mind, and a regular daily rhythm with meals, exercise and rest.  

3 Tips to Support Your Earth for a Healthy Spring Transition

With the transition into Spring, it’s important to reduce the burden on the Spleen and Stomach organs systems, strengthen your digestion and cool the heat in the Liver in order to prevent irritability and allergies. Here are three tips that can support a healthy transition during this Doyo period:

  1. Reduce or avoid sugar and other damp-producing foods. Foods like cheese, nuts (especially peanuts and cashews) and especially sugar can produce a fungal terrain in the body which impairs your digestion and immunity and therefore should be avoided as much as possible during this time.

  2. Avoid eating cold foods. Too much cold food compromises the strength of your Spleen Qi, which is essential for transforming the food you eat into nutrients. Click here to learn why this tip is especially important in episode 10.

  3. Get Acupuncture treatment. This is the ideal time to support your core Earth energy and immunity with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. (If you're in our area, you can schedule yourself online here).

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what’s the biggest insight you took away from this episode?

Loved this episode?

Please subscribe and consider rating & reviewing our podcast on Apple Podcasts. Five star reviews help us reach & support more listeners like you. You can also follow us on Spotify to be the first to hear about new & bonus episodes!

Thank you!