by Dominique Arciero, Certified Ma Yoga® Instructor
When I was a child, my mom went back to school to practice Five Element Acupuncture. Since then, she was basically the family doctor and just about any ailment we had, we could heal ourselves. Needless to say I learned so much about traditional Chinese medicine and the five elements (fire, earth, metal, water, wood) from her, and how our bodies contain all of these and our goal is to balance them by supporting our organs which are always moving toward homeostasis. I’ve gotten to know deeply the intelligence of the “nature” in our miraculous bodies.
After years of practicing yoga off and on, I finally had the opportunity to learn about the five elements of ancient Indian philosophy and medicine when I took the Ma Yoga teacher training. After birthing my daughter at home and receiving care from a postpartum doula, I felt drawn even more towards childbirth education and traditional postpartum care as it is directed by our original design, or blueprint. This was another step in my studies and, really, my own healing.
The elements of Ayurveda were all new to me but instantly made so much sense when learning to embody them in a pose on the mat. My wrists could hold plank longer, my hips stretched easier, my lung capacity became deeper. Then, I quickly began to notice the “nature” of these elements in my body and my every day life supporting and walking with me in every choice I made, whether it was how I responded to my trantruming toddler or what to ingest first thing in the morning — and the ripple effect those choices had. When we start living Ayurveda, we notice how we have the gift/option of riding the waves of the day… seasons of the year… accompanied by the energies of these universal elements (ether, earth, water, fire, air) and if we act in harmony with them, we may be guided through our healing, our evolution, our grief, more grounded, more spacious, more flexible, more supported.
I was often told growing up that the element I embody or my “constitution” leans towards the Wood element (in TCM) which carries with it the energy of Spring, growth/expansion, anger, and governs the liver and gall bladder organs. If my “wood” became “out of control” I would tend to turn towards meditating on compassion, slowing down on intense exercise, avoiding alcohol, and of course needle liver and gall bladder and stomach and spleen (earth) points. When I began incorporating daily Ayurveda anchor practices like oil pulling, tongue scraping, and hot water first thing in the morning, I noticed a difference within a few weeks in my self-compassion, my capacity to make the “better for me/us” choice, with so much less effort/inner struggle. What my constitution needed, as a new mom anyway, were short and simple self-care rituals that bolster my nervous system for the day, and then this was a reminder to my whole system that it can rely on this, which calmed and centered me to make more supportive choices throughout the day. The very, very long days sometimes!
I’m grateful to be able to pull from both of these ancient sources of wisdom to resource myself as a mom, a yoga teacher, and as a woman walking with other women through the seasons of maternity and our collective re-learning of mothering the mother.
