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FIVE TREES PLANTED IN HONOR OF YOUR PURCHASE
THE ELEMENTS of WHOLENESS
Holistic wellness begins with a balance of the elements.
Not one more important than the next. As each element is brought to the forefront, the others c0me into focus with more clarity. Their intrinsic value builds upon one another as we begin to see the foundation of well being is supported and held by its building blocks and cannot exist without a deeply interwoven connection, weaving together the threads of wholeness.
Read on to learn how each element influences and guides our overall well being.
FIRE FUELED
BY CREATIVITY
[ Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames. – Rumi ]
Fire flames purpose. Heat rises to bring the energy necessary to move forward in whatever capacity we desire. Our digestive fire transmits nourishment from the external world into fuel for our cells tirelessly at work. Those cells then protect us each and every day by firing off signals to the immune system and quite literally sounding the alarm when any danger may be present. An injury may swell and inflame to protect the tissues and joints, all the while bringing direct resources to the site to allow for rapid healing to occur.
Our creative fire fuels our abilities, our growth, our imagination, and allows for full expression of our most authentic being in relation to others. We may become ignited with passion in our creative endeavors and find driving force to carry us in the presence of knowledge and curiosity.
Fire also enables us to see in the dark of the night. Illuminating our world and connecting us to the heavens above. Our circadian rhythm relies on the fiery force that is the sun and we are guided throughout history by the kinetic light of the stars above.
WATERS WITH FREEDOM
TO FLOW
[ When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone
before and the first of what is still to come. – Leonardo da Vinci ]
Water is life. Mostly because both our cosmic home and our human forms are comprised of 70% water. Perfectly in harmony so that we can honor the collective as we honor the individual. Our internal waters must flow freely and with ease to satiate and restore our organs, allow for mental clarity, and release the pollutants that we have come to live amongst. These tasks are carried out by the lymphatic system, where flow is vital to our health and overall well being. Going hand-in-hand is the vital life force that is carried and pulses through our veins ongoingly to bring nourishment and resource to all of our systems.
The waters within us also dictate and represent our emotional bodies. As the tides of our earth rise and fall, so too do the tides within us. Our emotions must have freedom to move through us with ease. Allowing for a continuous cycle of our somatic experience. Without this free flowing movement, these emotions can stagnate within our physical and mental forms, creating limiting beliefs, poor habits, and even mental illness, while also manifesting as physical ailments that plague us without resolve.
As a stream flows continuously, we are reminded of the limitless cycle of giving and receiving, always finding replenishment and restoration through trust in the constant motion of life and the universe. While also allowing ourselves to release and let go what no longer serves us because we know that more, and often better, is to come.
EARTH SEEDED
FOR ENRICHMENT
[ And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and
the winds long to play with your hair. – Khalil Gibran ]
What seeds will we plant? Both for the greater good and our personal enrichment. It's no secret that our connection to the earth greatly resembles our own connection to our bodies and the flora and fauna we both feed it and tend to as keepers of this sacred earth we call home. As we develop and rebuild our sensory awareness to the soils, earthly beings of all kinds, and our relationship with food, we tend to our own inner gardens and better the land in which we inhabit for all to enjoy. Our physical bodies delight in the literal connection we form when digging in the soil and working with the land as our microbial population and diversity is in direct relation to our health and vital life force within us. In this way, we are also carriers and protectors of the most essential population on the planet – bacteria. For without these microscopic living forms, quite nothing would survive.
The earth also defines and represents what we each individually call home. It connects us to our ancestors and the lineage before us. It carries our rich and diverse history and informs our unique constitution, which Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to as the distinct needs, balance, and genetic composition of an individual. Often that very history is alive within the soils around us as we honor the end of life by burying our loved ones in the ground so they may return to the earth at rest.
Finally, we ground ourselves in order to find safety and security both in ourselves and amongst the external world. While change and adventure are precious pieces of a life's journey, we root to find solace, gain resource from our community and land, and form
ever-nourishing relationship with outhers.
AIR PURIFIED
FOR CLARITY
[ Unexpected change is like a breath of fresh air -- a little brisk at first,
but magic for the body and soul. – Susan Wiggs ]
Air dictates the motion of our life. It can be still and quieting or forceful and quick to carry. It carries change as we often refer to the "winds of change" passing through the chapters of our lives. It allows for movement and the shifting of energies within our minds and hearts. Bringing new endeavors, relationships, and mentalities into our reality. For without this flexibility and motion, we become fixated and stagnate in spaces that may not always serve us as we grow.
The air we breath can provide a temperate platform for health or adversely intoxicate our senses. This life sustaining vapor enters and exits our bodies automatically, as one of the many functions that our bodies perform for us to keep our human forms filled with life. In this way we can place faith in our bodies to care for us continuously, just as we find faith in all things greater than us are like the air we breath – impossible to see, yet we may in all certainty know and feel its presence.
Our reliance on the air of our atmosphere also puts us in direct relationship with the plants and natural world which surrounds us. The rain forests of our earth carry fresh oxygen across the globe, filling our lungs and energizing our bodies. Just as the house plant potted on the windowsill purifies our indoor environments each and every day. We are most definitely in direct communion with nature even without noticing the role it has in life on this planet. And our lives are a continuous conversation of give and take between
our green allies.
ETHER IN STILLNESS
FOR POTENTIAL
[ Soar, eat ether, see what has never been seen; depart,
be lost, but climb. – Edna St. Vincent Millay ]
Ether holds space for all others. It is the negative space, the void, in which all things exist. If stillness and absence of matter do not exist, there is little to no room for new possibilities and evolution. We can embody ether through meditation and mindfulness practices as well as breath work, holding space for ourselves to reach our potential as well as emptying out the thoughts of the day. In this stillness and absence of stimulation, we invite the space and develop the capacity to invoke clarity amongst the chaos of our realities. We also allow for the emergence of our own understandings, viewpoints, and values within the pause of outward influence and opinion.
Our bodies and minds invite ether as we sleep, allowing for vital processes to play out, even without our conscious awareness. Our brains and systems detox and rid themselves of build up and unnecessary nutrients and thoughts as we kick into the para sympathetic nervous system and "rest and digest" processes begin to occur. Our dreams create space for the
sub-conscious to decipher and sort through information and emotions that may be lingering. For without this very active time of rest, our bodies would be unable to carry on.
Are you open to the elements?
How do you find wholeness?
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