Similar to the medicine wheel in north american indigenous teachings, chinese medicine has a circular system which describes psycho-emotional processes and relates to nature’s cycles. I invite you to not only read these short summaries below, but to also spend time outside, especially at times when the seasons are changing, and reflect on the sensations in your body that are influenced by the miraculous changes in the sky, the birdsongs, the trees and other plants.

Water 水 / Winter 冬天 / Kidneys 肾 / Urinary Bladder 膀胱
Connects us to our inner knowing and wisdom; connects us to our ancestral lineages - both past and future. Ancestral gifts and ancestral wounds.
Depth. Intuition. Fear of going inwards and working on our inner shadow work. Courage to face ourselves in darker times, in the depths of winter.

Wood 木 / Spring 春天 / Liver 肝 / Gall Bladder 胆

Hope for the future. Vision, Inspiration, goals and aspirations. Do you have plans in your life that feel inspiring and aligned with your authentic self? Are you able to set goals and work towards them? What is the quality of your dreams? Both daydreams and nighttime.
Springtime represents an abundance of opportunities and possibilities. A renewal of energies, starting fresh. It can also bring up a sensation of feeling stuck and not being able to move forward in our lives in a positive way.

Fire 火 / Summer 夏天 / Heart 心 / Small Intestine 小肠 / Pericardium 心包 / San Jiao 三焦

Connection, Community, Celebration,
Truth, Light, Warmth, Passion, Blooming.
The vulnerability it requires to be in relationship, to be honest and open and expressing the truth of who you are.
The desire to be seen and understood. The desire to be part of something.

Metal 金 / Autumn 秋天 / Lungs 肺 / Large Instestine 大肠

Surrendering to change. Letting go of people, places, ideas. Loss, Grief, Change. Offering respect to a higher power; offering up personal will to divine will. Death, decay, aging. Accepting aging, stages of life, and death as inevitable parts of life.
Understanding that change is necessary and all things must come to an end in their own right time.
Gathering and condensing. Preparation for the season ahead.
Letting go of addictive patterns or behaviours that are not serving you.

Earth 土 / Late Summer / Spleen 脾 / Stomach 胃

Clear thinking, Intention. Bringing our inspirations into being through focused intent and action.

Security. A grounded connection to Source. An ability to create from this place of abundance, generosity and love. Bringing forth your creativity into the world in a tangible way.

Feeling scattered, unable to focus. Chronic worrying and over thinking.