Morning Spring Rituals
Author: Gabrielle Besser Date Posted:1 September 2019
How you start your day may predict what lays ahead of you!
If you wake up late, you rush to get ready and then you run out the door in order to make it to work on time, you will most likely be spending the rest of your day feeling rushed and stressed. If, on the other hand, you wake up early and take care of your own needs as you mindfully prepare yourself for your day, then this is more likely to follow you throughout the day.
It's spring now, and many people automatically associate it with windy days, flowering plants, the irritation of hay fever and short tempers! The frustrations of springtime pollens are enough to put a handbrake on anyone’s day! Something you may not know about the season of spring, wind, pollens, frustration, short temperedness, irritation and hay fever is that they all have something in common - they belong to what traditional Chinese medicine five-element theory refers to as the ‘wood element’.
What can we learn from this ancient wisdom? How to maintain balance in accordance with the elements and the seasons. They knew that emotional stress was a major contributor to element imbalances and that seasons may contribute to emotional stress. This is something that modern science now validates; the negative impact of stress on your health and SAD (seasonal affective disorder) is now well understood.
Here are five simple steps for a healthy spring morning ritual
1. Hydrate with Pro.E.Emo Essence Calm
Start your day by drinking a glass of room temperature water and add 3 drops of pro·m·emo Essence Calm. By doing this you balance your ‘wood element’.
2. Centre Your Mind
Plan your day. Observe how your day will look like and what you will achieve in your day.
3. Move Your Body
Moving your body connects the body and mind, stimulates your metabolism and activates your brain, thus preparing for the day.
4. Practice Gratitude
Expressing gratitude creates space for greater positivity and joy to flow into your life.
5. Nourish your body with a ‘wood element’ breakfast
Eating to support the ‘wood element’ means ‘clean’ eating, with a focus on foods related to the ‘wood element’ and reducing fat, sugar, alcohol, coffee and processed foods (such as breakfast cereals).
‘Wood element’ foods are those that are associated with nourishing the ‘wood element organs (the Liver and Gall Bladder – such as egg, tomato, spinach, rye, peppermint), have a sour flavour (such as lemons, plums, grapes, kiwifruit and cheese), have upward and expansive energies (for example; young, green sprouting above-ground vegetables; sweet tasting foods – such as grains, legumes, seeds, sweet starch vegetables – such as beetroot, carrots, sweet potato; and pungent cooking herbs – such as basil, fennel, rosemary, onion and garlic). A favourite ‘wood element’ breakfast is grilled tomato on rye toast, a poached egg sprinkled with rosemary and blanched spinach, with a piece of kiwi fruit and peppermint tea.
Once completing steps 1 to 4, taking time to eat your ‘wood element’ balancing breakfast without rushing is equally important to eating something healthy and nourishing.
Now, you’re ready to spring into your day. Enjoy!
Thank you to the lovely Gabrielle from pro.e.emo for this wonderful post. You can find the whole range of these transformative essences here