Archive for April, 2011

Spring is in the air! Everything is seething with life and energy! Limbs are filling up with vibrant green leaves, flowers are poking their heads out of long empty stalks, and the birds’ squawking is like a new year’s celebration. Spring is the season of Wood. The Wood Element belongs to the Liver and Gallbladder. Its color is green, taste sour, sound shouting, direction East, it feeds the tendons and moistens the eyes. The Liver represents planning. The Gallbladder houses decision making. Together this Yin/Yang pair propels us forward; as does the Spring bring forth the shoots, buds and flowers.

Spring is the birth of Yang energy, the reawakening after Winter. Wood energy is forceful, vigorous, warming and expansive. It is the activating energy that overcomes inertia. Its movement is upwards and outwards. The Wood element brings a sense of hope, renewal, transformation, new beginnings, rebirth and reanimation. When Wood energy is healthy you are patient, forgiving, insightful and relaxed.

You’ll know when your Wood energy is out of balance when you have one sided headaches, stiff neck and shoulders, heartburn, muscle twitches or joints that feel out of place. If you are feeling overwhelmed by time constraints, pressure to complete your list, or angry because things aren’t going as planned, sit on a park bench, take 10 deep breathes, counting each inhale and exhale with your eyes closed. Open your eyes and soak in the colors around you, the noises of nature and the scent of spring. Tell yourself that all is as it should be and there is plenty of time to accomplish everything. Do this as often as necessary.

Wood energy is healthiest when there is balance between today’s decision making and tomorrow’s vision. Visualize yourself in 5 years, laying out a broad course of action to get there and making decisions each day to bring those ideas to life which is the secret of Wood energy. The power of Wood energy is the ability to manifest your dreams. See yourself as you want to be, be creative, plan, and the energy of Wood will carry you towards your destiny.

We had our first spring rain today. The month of March was exceptionally dry in the Tampa Bay area. Today’s rain has washed away the pollen that has stained the cars, the tree buds that have draped the windows and the dirt that has coated everything for the last 30 days. It makes me think about the element Wood and what Spring has to teach us.

The emotion of Wood energy is hostility. Hostility is expressed as impatience, cynicism, competitiveness, self-centeredness or an exaggerated response to challenging situations. However, anger and depression are the most common emotions attributed to the Wood element. Hostility, anger, and depression are the most harmful emotions to the body, the organs, and related systems. Impatience, expressing anger or getting upset about uncontrollable circumstances activates the flight or fight response and release cortisol into the body. Prolonged excess cortisol levels weaken the body’s ability to regulate itself. Research involving patients with various autoimmune diseases is showing that cortisol dysregulation just may be the beginning of the autoimmune response. Healing these emotions begins with managing your control issues and releasing your attachment to outcomes.

The lesson of Wood is patience. If you learn to lessen the pressure of time constraints, develop empathy for others, practice smiling and even laugh at yourself, you help your body control cortisol levels, promoting a healthier you.

So, next time you find yourself tapping your foot, losing your temper, about to yell at the person behind the counter that doesn’t care about the last 10 minutes of your lunch hour, take a breath, smile and laugh, just a little, at yourself, let the person behind you go first and trust that everything will be okay. Not only will you feel better, but your body will be healthier!

Reuse. Reduce. Recycle. OK, we get it. We buy local and organic. We walk, ride our bikes, or take public transportation, and always carry our own shopping bags.  How else can a yogi honor Mother Earth? How can we cultivate a harmonious environment within our yoga practice?  And how can we utilize the tools of our practice to help change the world around us?

We begin within ourselves.  Try turning everything off, including the chatter of the mind.  We de-frag our computers and sync our iPhones, try doing the same for yourself.  When we meditate, our blood pressure and heart rate lowers.  We decrease our stress levels which helps to balance hormones and decrease insomnia–so right there we’re happier and healthier.    Meditation is for everyone, it’s just harder for some of us.  It may require more practice and patience if you are the person whose brain screams “Get up! We’ve got stuff to do!” during Savasana.  Mantra meditation gives the mind a mantram (word or phrase) to concentrate on, helping to channel your focus.  For Earth Day, try Om Sri Gaia Ma, Purnatva Gaia Ma.  Beautiful, Abundant, Benevolent Earth Mother, You are the Fullest Perfection, Divine Earth Mother, as sung beautifully by Katrina Ariel at  http://www.youtube.com/embed/Gh64Ii8iY2k

Another technique yogis use to honor our commitment to creating a peaceful world is pratyahara.  When we go within and learn to practice Pratyahara, the of withdrawl of the senses, we can change any space we inhibit. We create our own nirvana, our own place of peace.  This Earth Day, take your yoga mat outside.  Sit quietly.  Close your eyes and feel the sun on your face.  Quiet your thoughts and hear the neighbors’ dog, smell the freshly mown grass and cultivate a sense of peace within. Practice radiating this energy around you.  Work on expanding your peaceful area everywhere you go.   A yogi creates their own harmonious environment and  honors Mother Earth by learning to find stillness, peace and beauty, in the chaos.  Remembering to honor ourselves as a manifestation of the Divine, as we honor Mother Earth, as we honor each other is a true yogic practice that can only empower, heal, and grant us all peace.

Happy Earth Day!

Blessing of Love and Light–

Terra Kula