The Earth Element In & Out of Balance

In Chinese medicine, the Spleen and Stomach are associated with the Earth element. These play a major role in our digestive health, from our sense of taste to the health of our bowel movements. Once the Stomach has received the raw material of food, the Spleen transforms and transports the qi we receive from it, providing us daily energy and a healthy balance of fat and muscle. In addition to digesting food, the Stomach and Spleen are responsible for receiving information and processing it, respectively. A healthy Earth element provides a strong mind for study, analysis, and comprehension, but too much study (or internet scrolling, or news consumption) without replenishing our resources depletes the Spleen in particular. Likewise, malnutrition—which includes a low-quality or imbalanced diet—results in Spleen qi deficiency.

In Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford writes about the qualities of people with their Earth element in and out of balance—see excerpts below. (Pitchford refers to the Spleen as the spleen-pancreas because, as he writes, “‘Spleen’ is a misnomer of early translators; when the term ‘spleen-pancreas’ is used, it refers solely to the pancreas and its constellation of activities in both Chinese and modern physiology.”)

Balanced Earth: generally hard-working, practical, and responsible. They like to nurture themselves and others and are strong, active, and stable. They have endurance and good appetites and digestion; their limbs have strength; they tend to be orderly and careful, and often excel at some creative activity. They have fertile imaginations.

Imbalanced Earth: characterized by chronic tiredness, physical and mental stagnation, and compulsive, “stuck” behavior that prevents them from creatively developing their personalities. They typically have weak digestion, often accompanied by nausea, poor appetite, dull sense of taste, abdominal bloating, hard lumps in the abdomen, and loose stools. Blood-sugar imbalances may be part of this picture. When they have weight problems, they tend to be overweight without overeating, or thin and unable to gain weight. They tend to have sallow complexions and often sloppy in appearance, live in disorder, and accumulate useless possessions.

The elements within us exist on a spectrum—it is not unusual to see qualities of yourself in both the imbalanced and balanced descriptions! Stay tuned for next week’s post on how to support the Spleen & Stomach.

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