The pause between the rising Elements of Wood and Fire and the descending Elements of Metal and Water is the energy of Earth.

The Earth is about our feelings of stability. Think of the archetype of an Earth Mother – giving nourishing milk, having an abundance of compassion and care for its young, helping its young feel safe and protected, and giving them space to grow.
You can always tell when Late Summer arrives because people usually say, with sadness, that Summer is over, yet the temperature stays the same! The height of Summer has given way to the pause of Late Summer.

The Spleen and Stomach organs are connected with the element of Earth. Thus, when the Spleen (the main Earth organ) is out of balance, the person can be very anxious and pensive.

This is when you can also see that Spleen disease will start to set in if they don’t change and learn to develop and heal their Spleen.

When someone has Spleen blockages and/or weakness, they can develop mouth problems, muscle problems, dampness due to a lack of fluid transformation, digestion problems, and they will generally experience heaviness and slowness in their lives.

In older times, doctors described people who were anxious as ‘spleenic,’ so you can see that not just Eastern people were clued into these observations. Still, it was there that they developed such a deep and complex understanding that helps us today through energy healing, massage, relaxation, and other such natural healing methods to cure our ills and bad character deficits.

Earth represents a balance of both yin and yang, the feminine and masculine together. Its motion is inward and centering, and its energy is stabilizing and conserving. It is associated with the turn of each season and with damp. In Chinese teachings, Earth is associated with qualities such as patience, thoughtfulness, practicality, hard work, and stability. The Earth element is also nurturing and seeks to draw all things into itself, bringing harmony, rootedness, and stability. Other attributes of the Earth element include ambition, stubbornness, responsibility, and long-term planning.

On the shadow side, the Earth element can represent selfishness and self-centeredness. Earth-type people are usually warm, kind, and supportive. They can be overprotective and tend to merge with their environment, making it difficult for them to set boundaries. The negative emotion of the Earth element is worry, and its positive emotion is empathy.

The Earth element also represents trustworthiness. Excessive or insufficient Earth elements can affect a person’s stability.

The following lifestyle, sports/activities, foods, and careers are recommended to strengthen your Earth element. If your Earth is already intense, excessive, or dominant, we would suggest avoiding these activities.