06 - Seasonal Changes, the Five Elements, and Your Body’s Natural Cycles

As the seasons shift, so do we. In this workshop, Emma Jones Phillips explores the deep connection between seasonal changes, the five elements of Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic wisdom, and naturopathic nutrition.

Recorded just before the autumn equinox, this episode reveals why symptoms often flare during seasonal transitions - and how these moments of imbalance are actually powerful opportunities for healing. Discover which organs, emotions, and body systems are linked with each season:

 🍂 Autumn (metal/vata) - colon, skin, lungs, and the mind
 ❄️ Winter (water/kapha) - kidneys and bladder
 🌱 Spring (wood/pitta) - liver and gallbladder
 ☀️ Summer (fire/pitta) - heart and small intestine
 🌾 Late summer (earth/kapha) - stomach, spleen, thyroid, and self-nurturing

Emma shares how colour, flavour, diet, and lifestyle choices can bring balance in each phase - from warming spices in autumn to seaweed and salty foods in winter, to green detox foods in spring and fire-boosting foods in summer. She also explains how emotions like worry, grief, fear, anger, and joy are tied to these elemental cycles, and how awareness can transform the way we live and heal.

This is a fascinating exploration of how aligning with the rhythm of nature can help you understand your body more deeply, support your health year-round, and reconnect with your own natural flow.

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Transcript

Okay, so welcome to the naturopathic nutrition workshop this evening, and we're looking at seasonal changes. So we're on the cusp, the 1st of September today of the autumn equinox in the UK. The autumn equinox is the 21st of September. 

So it's interesting as naturopaths, I know that when seasonal changes come about, actually the couple of weeks before seasonal change and a couple of weeks after, so for a whole month, there's usually a rise in symptoms of people because the body goes through a natural detox. So that's a natural thing that happens every season. But autumn equinox has a focus on particular organs as do every other seasonal change.

So to start, I'm just going to take you through when those seasonal changes happen and which systems get affected. And then we're going to have a focus on what to do around this autumn equinox in the UK. So the focus for the autumn equinox is actually what we call the metal element in the Chinese element system, which relates to air. 

And this is vata, if you're looking at the Ayurvedic body type in. And the colour is white and the organs and systems related to this are the colon, skin, lungs, and the mind. So what that means is when we get into the equinox, suddenly the couple of weeks leading into it now, there might be a flare-up of skin conditions, IBS. 

Suddenly someone might feel more depressed than usual. There might be a flare-up of that system that needs some help at that time. So actually when we have clearings naturopathically, the detox starts to happen. 

You might start to get loose bowels or maybe have a temporary flare-up of skin, but that should only be short-lived between three and 10 days, usually if it's a cleanse. If it isn't a cleanse, if that person's lifestyle isn't supporting them, it goes deeper. So it becomes a chronic issue. 

So that might be a time potentially where if someone's prone to depression, they might get a crisis of mental health or they particularly get a flare-up of eczema, psoriasis, et cetera, if they're not supporting themselves. If they're supporting themselves, it's a time for change. It's time for healing for that particular system.

So we know as naturopaths, you can see that if you've been working with someone and you've been working on that system, potentially they might have a healing during that time or if they're not doing the right things for their body, they might start to see those symptoms reappear. So the equinoxes are very powerful because it's that change when nature changes, we change on a deeper level. We're going through a cellular awakening during a seasonal change. 

It's a time where the energies are more potent and therefore there's an influence on how the body cleanses. So this equinox is an interesting and more powerful one because we have some eclipses either side of it. So on Sunday, we have a lunar eclipse of the full moon. 

And then on the new moon, we have a solar eclipse. So either side of this equinox, we have an eclipse window, which we describe naturopathically as a great potential for healing, but also a great potential for chaos if the person's not supporting themselves. And so things come up for healing. 

It might be emotions are coming up to heal. You might have temporary feelings of releasing and that's all okay. But the more we do for ourselves in this window now, feeding into the equinox, the more powerful that feeling will be of feeling good for the whole of the season. 

So generally we say in the Chinese system, how you treat yourself around the equinox will govern how you feel the whole year round. So the equinox this autumn is the focus on the metal element. We also have spring equinox, which is March 21st. 

Again, a big change in season, big change in weather, energetically changing. And that is a focus on the liver and gallbladder. So there's the two equinoxes. 

The solstices happen. The one that we have closest to us now is December 21st, winter solstice. That's described as the water element and is kidneys and bladder focus. 

And then we have the June solstice, which is a focus on the heart, small intestine, circulation, et cetera. So I'm going to take you through all these systems before we finish this evening and look at, okay, what happens for you individually? Which season gives you a feeling of feeling great and which season may be a weakness for you and actually understanding why, what are the things that are out of balance in your body? What can you do to heal it? And some of that can be inherited from family history. And some of it can be, maybe for example, something happens, you alternate equinox previously and you suppress the feeling and it could revisit.

So things can revisit if they happen at certain times of the year. We can also look at the closest your birth date is to whichever seasonal changes, the one when you'll get the biggest cleanse or the biggest potential change in your system. So if you note down your birthday and the equinox or the solstice date, and that will be the time where you'll get the big shift for yourself usually. 

And so we have a fifth season as well, which we're in at the moment, which is the earth season. And it's generally overlooked in the Chinese system, but more so covered in Ayurveda and what I call Celtic nutrition, where we look at late summer, which is the earth season. And this correlates Ayurvedically with the body type Kapha, which is earth and water. 

So look at your birth date, look at the season that you feel that you're best and look at the season where you feel maybe you've got a little bit of a weak spot there. And then that will be the time to put more supportive techniques in to get used to that season so that it lessens the effect when it comes around the following year. So you have this sort of natural clearing effect, which means it strengthens you and also strengthens you for the season, that whole of the season. 

So let's look at starting with where we're at now with the elements, the body type earth, which relates to Kapha Ayurvedically. So we started that 1st August and that relates to the stomach, spleen, pancreas, thyroid and lymphatic system. And it relates to the emotion of nurturing yourself or looking after yourself. 

If this system is out of balance, it affects blood sugar, ability to absorb iron, thyroid function, the ability to feel grounded, the ability to look after yourself. The people who have maybe sabotaged themselves, they don't necessarily spend time taking care of themselves, that could indicate an earth imbalance. It also governs fertility, it governs the womb and the sexual organs, the adrenal glands.

It's our connection with our own mothers and the earth. And so it's a very interesting element, and it's a time where we're in transition. You can feel it with the weather in the UK, there's a transition in the season. 

And so therefore there's a transition in the body. So in theory, what we're doing really is choosing the colours that match that element and the flavours, and then choosing foods that stimulate and regulate that system as well as behaviour patterns and exercise. So with the earth element, you're looking at orange and yellow foods, you're looking at the naturally sweet flavours, which nature provides us to be honest, this time of year, things like squash and autumn vegetables, such as pumpkin, and working with the oranges and yellow peppers and that colour spectrum. 

And certainly the naturally sweet flavours, things like cinnamon, mace, maybe all spice when you start to flavour your fruits and that sort of thing. So you can start to bring in chai, more warming spices, and really balance this system. And it's a balancing point. 

So it's a slowing down actually after the busyness of the fire season during the summer. So if you have an earth imbalance, it affects the way we nurture ourselves, it affects your metabolism, your blood sugar. And it relates to feeling grounded, our own relationship with our own mother and that connection with the feminine within.

And therefore, the activities that you might do or choose to do to support this element would be nature walks, grounding, taking long baths, you know, Epsom salt baths, you know, warming sort of drinks and soups and starting to really change the diet for the regulation of the season. And so we're in that at the moment. So you might have noticed there's been some symptoms in that element. 

And of course, we're on the cusp of the autumn equinox. So the autumn equinox is really about the metal element, the air, which is vata. And this element balances with white colours and spicy flavours. 

So it's a time to bring in your dolls and spice up your soups. Maybe you could even spice up your salads. And you're thinking warmth, but you're also thinking elimination when you're thinking about the digestive system and the bowel. 

And so short grain brown rice, your soaked linseeds or your linseed tea, starting to bring in more liquids. So your body becomes more fluid so that the colon can move. And that's all really relevant to the metal season.

And of course, the skin is related to this element. So we need essential fatty acids. So we'd be working with your omega-3s and especially EPA for the brain around mood, because again, losing light, vitamin D. You can see actually how you can move the diet and the supplements with the seasonal change, which is really important. 

It's how we're meant to live. It's how we're meant to actually change and move with nature rather than stay static in one particular system or dietary pattern. It's all fluid. 

So as we move through the auto-metanoxia, we move into the water element, which is the catheter body type. And that's December 21st. We move into the kidneys and bladder. 

And the emotion of this element when chronically dehydrated or out of balance with the water is fear and anxiety. So we know that when someone's chronically dehydrated and their fluids are out of balance, it really shows up in that way. So we can treat things like that with a fluid-rich diet.

The colours are black and purple, and you can work with those colour spectrums with things like seaweeds, purple rice. You could use purple vegetables, things like red cabbage and fruits like blueberries, and start to bring in that colour spectrum. The flavour is salty. 

So salt actually supports that element. Miso, good quality Celtic salt, pink Himalayan salt, celery juice, naturally sweet, sorry, salty things, which have a really profound effect on the support of the kidneys and the water element. And then the wheel turns again, March 21st, the wood element, which is liver and gallbladder. 

This is the time to bring in more detoxification techniques, green juices, lively food, raw food, sour foods, lemons, lime, cider vinegar. Of course we can include all these flavours all year round, but there's more of a focus on the liver and detoxification when that season is really at its height. And then moving into the fire element, which is June 21st. 

We've really come out of that lively fiery season recently, and it's been really good for the fire element actually in the UK this year. There's been a lot more sun than usual, but if there's isn't, there's an impact on the way we feel is sort of generally creates a lack of joy if we don't have enough light. So light has an impact on our mood, on our skin and our hormones. 

And so fire rich foods, or what we call fire boosting foods would be the red foods. Bear in mind that red foods come bring too much heat if you've already got redness in the body or inflammation. And so in those cases, you would just go with the bitter foods, bitter green foods rather than red foods. 

So red isn't always a good solution for people who have high inflammation or too much heat if they're having hot flashes and that sort of thing. So the burnt flavour, bitter chocolate, cacao, carob, bitter greens, chicory, dandelions, working with things that are really stimulating for the bitter in the body and the fire element, which is the heart. It's also about self-love, taking care of yourself, having fun. 

So the fire season for many people can be really great, but there are other people who find they feel awful when they're in heat because they may have too much fire in the system already. And so fire relates to pitta ayurvedically and that leads then the fire feeds it back into the earth. So we've done that full circle. 

So on the naturopathic training, we learn how to self-diagnose through the facial analysis, the pulse and the tongue. And even if no one shared their story, we would know what was going on with them through that process. We also look at individual body type into that we have an individual body type. 

So we're born with an element that we naturally are. And then sometimes life takes us on a journey and it takes us out of balance. So sometimes we don't recognise our elements, our true nature, because it's covered up with these imbalances. 

So sometimes someone might feel that they haven't discovered themselves actually until they start to strip back the body by cleansing it and nurturing it. And eventually you'll see that natural personality come through and the person comes back into life. So we often describe it as going from black and white to full colour. 

With when people do the naturopathic training, they start off in one place and by the end, they've really discovered who they are. And it's a self-discovery journey, particularly for year one. It gives you a lot more context to what you need to heal. 

And actually, in a way, you're given the manual to be able to know what's uniquely for you. And so it's an amazing journey to be able to lead you into becoming a practitioner because you really have understood yourself in year one. Year two, we go into A to Z of healing of diseases and looking at how each individual disease teaches us something. 

And nutritionally, yes, you can support each disease, but there's a psychological pattern connected with that. And the five elements are really interesting because they give away what might be going on for the individual on a physical level and an emotional level, because each element has a negative and positive emotion attached to it. So I'm just going to take you through that so you can understand that for yourself. 

So the earth element is about self-care, self-nurturing. It's about empathy for yourself and others. And when that goes out of balance, it sometimes creates a difficulty with receiving. 

So receiving support if this element is out of balance. And for some people, it can be seeking sympathy, like an overemphasis on seeking sympathy rather than allowing empathy. And so the imbalance can be that in itself of giving and receiving. 

And it can also be worrying emotion, so feeling worried about things that may be not going to happen or have happened. That sort of takes its toll in someone who's got an imbalance within the earth. So when balanced, of course, you feel you can nurture yourself, you can receive, there's empathy and there's the ability to empathise with others, etc. 

And worry goes away. Yeah. Next element, the metal, the key emotion when out of balance is grief. 

Grief and that usually resides in the lungs. So any lung disorders that often, there's an underlying grief or something there that needs releasing. And the positive is balance and focus with clarity. 

So when someone's got a good balance within this element, they have a good focus and they have a high intellect. So they ask lots of good questions and they're interested in life and that sort of thing. When out of balance, it can lead to confusion and a feeling of that grief or that heaviness. 

And one of the key statements that happens when this element is out of balance is a feeling of what might have been. So regretful, looking over the past, revisiting the past, not being able to let go. So that's quite a giveaway when someone speaks in that way, that their metal element is out of balance.

And then moving into water. So water is the flow of life. As I mentioned, anxiety and fear really kick in with this element when out of balance. 

When we're in balance, we feel flowing and in our power, everything feels like possible. Yeah. And it's also a connection with abundance, flow of life, not just monetary, but generally, the giving and take, receiving of life in terms of receiving what you deserve as such. 

So the water element is all about that. Yeah. Next one is the wood element. 

This one is when out of balance, anger, resentment, a feeling of indecision, which is a gallbladder issue, usually. So inability to make up your mind and ability to make a decision can be a gallbladder issue. And if people don't have gallbladders, the liver has to take over that process. 

So the liver is the planner. The liver is the decision maker in that case. Then when someone has a healthy liver and the wood element is happy, people are very good organisers. 

They're really good leaders. It's a feeling that everything is in good structure. Timing is good and that sort of thing. 

So that's a good thing to look out for when you're thinking about the liver energy. And then fire element, back to the fire element, which is about feeling joyful, feeling alive, feeling like you've got something to motivate you. When the fire is at its best, it feels contagious. 

People feel illuminated around you. It's a feeling of feeling very upbeat. Of course, when out of balance, that feeling, people in the Chinese system often say that when the fire element goes out of balance, it's the worst one if you're a fire type, because it's that feeling of being burnt out or not being able to raise your energy and therefore affecting others in that way as well. 

So we can see the emotional cycle when we look at the five elements. And when we're practitioners, we can spot that and listen to the language of people to be able to discover, from the point when someone sits in front of you, everything from what they're wearing to how they speak, what they're sharing. And the sort of patterns in that gives you a lot of information around what might be going on on a physical level.

So there's a quote with the Chinese system, which is, if something's been out of balance for longer than two years emotionally, it becomes a physical issue. So it often answers that question when you meet people and you sort of think, they're doing everything great, yet they've become ill. Like, what was that? And often people are really taken aback by that. 

But there is an existing emotional factor always present when someone produces disease or disharmony. And you can trace that in history and you can spot when it happened and when it was suppressed and the two-year leading to that particular problem. So we don't ever develop something overnight.

Things don't pop up out of nowhere. It is a gradual decline, which can take up to two years mostly when someone suppresses something that's unresolved. And they may not have realised that they did that, or maybe they didn't have the space to do that. 

And so it comes out on a physical level. For the body really to communicate with us and tell us actually something needs to be done about that. So the body's always trying to help us. 

We really, I believe this naturopathically, that the body is always trying to help us by signalling to us that things are not at their best. When we develop symptoms, it's so that we can actually do something about it. And that's something really empowering because you know that your body's always trying to help you then, and you are in the driving seat of that. 

And actually the naturopathy course is really to teach you how to get in tune with yourself and become your own best healer. So that the practitioner, I'm just here to guide you, not to heal you, but to help you to get in touch with that feeling, to be able to understand your body in complete form. And that's what's so great about supporting people on this course.

So I'm going to go to questions now. So the five elements is described in such detail on the course. There's some good books on the reading list. 

You will find that it's a really amazing journey to understand your profiling in this because you start to see actually why you're so different to your friend or why you've got certain patterns. But also it gives you a manual to be able to eat right for your body type. So it gives you a Ayurvedic prescription and a Chinese medicine prescription to be able to eat right within your own system. 

So that's why it's so really helpful, but also it's fascinating to understand. So thank you for listening.