WATER
Last month we explored the nature and importance of the earth’s energies as they relate to our bodies and emotions. This month we are exploring the element of water, a very important part of the function of the human body—without it the body dies. Water can be beautiful to look at in a mountain stream, the ocean, a lake, or in a cold tall glass on a hot summer day. Moving water such as rain or waterfalls emits negative ions that help us to feel lighter and happier. But water can also be stagnated, unclean and even harmful. Ordinary tap water, especially in large cities, can be harmful due to chemicals used in processing.
The nature of water is movement, allowing itself to pass through and around obstacles along its path. That too is the play of water in our bodies and emotions—movement—the act of nonresistance.
Energetically, when water stops flowing in and out like the tide, it becomes stagnant and putrefied. We equate water to our emotions that stem from our reactions to life: When we hold on to our emotional reactions, we become stagnant and can create emotional and physical health problems. It is through our responses to our experiences in life that we establish either allowing or resistance that then can become part of our emotional conditioning. When we allow life to be as it is, we can at the same time look toward making positive changes. When we resist life as it is, we cause our own suffering, due to our reaction of wanting it to be more, better, or different. Resistance to what is stops the flow of energy, and stagnation sets in. So, when we think of water as it moves, it holds to nothing, it is not attached to anything. Our emotions are the same. When we allow what is, we are free to flow with life. When we resist what is, we become stuck. If we flow like water, we learn to adapt and adjust and to take the path of least resistance.
Water is also a symbol of Love. And when our emotional/water element is balanced, we experience a true expression of deep feelings, natural grace, and flexibility—an ability to nurture others with touch, warmth, understanding and love. When our emotional/water element is out of balance, we will ignore the needs of others and their boundaries. We experience a frozen lack of emotion, warmth, understanding, and love.
Our bodies will not function for long without water. In fact, the amount of water we drink in a day should be paramount in our daily lives as it is a lifeline to better health. When the body is dehydrated, we can experience several symptoms. Among them are fatigue, dizziness, headaches, brain fog, irritability, spiked blood pressure, dry skin, joint pain, weight gain, kidney bladder disorders and confusion, and damage to organs and systems of the body. There are varied ideas on the amount of water our bodies need in a day.
It will obviously depend on each individual and their daily activities. A good rule of thumb to start with is to take your average body weight, divide it in two and equate the answer into ounces.
Open to the flow of life, and do your own investigation into the water element—the quality of the water, the amount of water you need, the various forms of water, such as hydrogenated or alkaline. Treat your emotions and body to the gifts of water with a bath, a cup of tea, a steam bath, or a hot springs soak. Above all, drink a healthy amount of nature’s gift: WATER.
