Yes, the last dog days of summer, the humidity, the dampness, and the stickiness are all part of the Earth season or late summer. Fruits come to fruition and so do we. Earth is well known as a nurturing energy – taking care of others and maybe not yourself. It is a round, holding energy – I got you no matter what. It’s mother, mother nature, and mother earth.
    When we send our daughter or son off to college, it is a manifestation of the earth energy. The fruit becomes ripe on our tree and we must eventually let go and let it fall to the ground. We nurture, nurture, love, give and then we must let go, allow the season to come to fruition– this season and all the other seasons that follow. We must take satisfaction for all our hard work and reap our wonderful harvest.
    The climate of earth (dampness, stickiness) resides in us. We become heavier (not on the scale) but a feeling of heaviness, just like the dampness that is so much a part of this season. People who suffer from fibromyalgia often experience dampness in their muscles. The same dampness we feel in the air now lands in their bodies. They may have an internal sensitivity to dampness to begin with and this season may present more challenges.
    As with every season it also presents gifts. We can appreciate the gifts of earth: thoughtfulness, understanding, feeling centered, feeling at home in ourselves, and of course reaping our harvest. Rather than be weighted down by the challenges, we can stay focused on the necessary transition that earth is bringing us. It is a marked transition from spring and summer to autumn and winter. What a task – no wonder it is weighty.
    The Chinese organs for earth are the spleen and stomach. The stomach is about receiving food, rottening and ripening and preparing for further digestion. Your mind and spirit also needed to digest ideas into useable form. The hours related to earth are 7-11:00 am.  Eat a good breakfast and schedule thoughtful projects during morning time. This will help you to digest and transform what you learn.
    The spleen is about transformation. When challenges come our way, rather than opposing an obstacle (which of course fixes it in place) ask how you might transform the situation. How can you move worry or churning thoughts into thoughtful action? 
    As we go through August and September, be aware of the energy of the earth within you. Following are some tips to bask in the gifts of the earth:
• Savor the last juicy red tomatoes, peaches, squash.
• Savor home – bring peace and tranquility to your home or even to the space you most love to be in at home.
• Nurture yourself – find at least one new way to take care of yourself, do it regularly.
• Notice hunger and seek good food. We can feel empty on many levels, body, mind or spirit – find “nourishment.”
• Reap your harvest – savor what you have sown.  Don’t focus on what is undone, but rather on your accomplishments this day, this month, this year.
    When we flow with the cyles of nature rather than resist them, we follow our own natural cycle of transformation and challenges can become a lot easier.  Savor the last glorious days of summer, reap your harvest and prepare for the seasons to come.