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When Lauren first told me to go into the woods, allow the trees to hold space for me and to scream - I thought she was crazy. Why would my beloved teacher and mentor recommend screaming in the woods?
One of the foundational energy systems for healing that Lauren Walker teaches in Energy Medicine Yoga is the Five Elements. This system provides guidance on how to understand your personality, emotions, dis-ease patterns and the essence that makes you, you. The 5 Elements are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal; each falling into a different season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Solstice/Equinox and Fall; each with primary emotional responses. In Lauren’s most recent book, The Energy Medicine Yoga Prescription, she provides an in-depth look at the 5 elements and how imbalances can bring out different ailments of the mind, physical body or one’s emotional well-being. There is an easy quiz in her book to find your element. We all have each of the 5 elements within us, but typically there are one or two that are strongest.
When I first took the 5 Element quiz in one of Lauren’s EMYOGA Teacher Trainings, I discovered I am predominantly Fire, with Metal as my
secondary element. What does this mean? Fire elements are typically people who are very passionate, known to be the life of the party and their first response to stress is anxiety. This was a perfect description for me, specifically anxiety as my stress response. Metal element types are very detail-oriented, organized and have difficulty letting things go. The combination of Fire and Metal in my energy system made it very clear to me why I suffered from anxiety from a young age, it took me a long time to recover and I was full of grief over stressful events. Further, in my quiz, it was very clear that I was deficient in Wood energy, which meant that I was lacking confidence, assertiveness and the ability to express anger in a healthy way. When I get mad, I internalize this feeling, become anxious (fire) and typically cry (metal). This is a clear demonstration of how my fire and metal energy were excessive and my wood energy was lacking. Hence why my “prescription” was to scream, but specifically in the woods, with trees around to help support my release. The healing power of nature is not a new concept. “Earthing” has become another buzzword, like mindfulness, and now the quest to get grounded has begun. Lauren teaches the ancient wisdom of energy medicine, integrated with yoga, to inspire us to look within. One the results of EMYOGA is deep love, appreciation and acceptance of yourself just as you are now, as you continue on your path toward your
Lauren Walker
best self. During the healing process and as you learn to fully and unconditionally love yourself, Lauren always recommends spending time in nature. And, there’s no trick to earthing! Getting your bare feet on the ground is all that is required. In a bustling city, this might seem difficult, but any patch of grass will do or just placing your hands on a tree. EMYOGA gives you permission to be a literal tree hugger, but it’s for a greater purpose than you might think.
Nature is healing. There was a time when every woman in the world had a menstrual cycle that synchronized with the moon’s cycle; this is why our period is deemed our “Moon.” However, due to technological advancements and the overall progression of our society many of us have lost our connection to nature. Generally, as a society, we no longer hunt or gather, instead we go to a store and pick up everything in a pretty package or even order groceries online. We drive, take trains and even fly where we need to go and the idea that a person walks in order to get somewhere seems foreign. Perhaps walking is still a regular habit for people, but even then we have concrete sidewalks to pave our path and grass is no longer our typical landscape. Lauren also teaches how rubber-soled shoes block our connection with the earth. At the bottom of our feet is the start of one of our primary energy pathways, so a rubber-soled shoe, high-heels or anything other than barefeet or leather soled shoes, restricts the energy flow between the Earth and our
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