Are You Listening? Ears and the Water Element

Posted: January 30, 2016

Each of the five elements of Chinese medicine relates to at least one sensory organ. Winter’s element, Water, is associated with the ears and hearing. The quality of your hearing and the health of your ears may be reflected in conditions such as tinnitus or frequent infections. These symptoms suggest a weakness in your Water element.

Courage and persistence are the mental and emotional capacities of your Water element. Wisdom, the spiritual dimension of Water, is cultivated by silencing the mind and resting in stillness so your deeper awareness arises. Think of this silence as the quality of being outdoors in winter: bare trees allowing the breeze to move noiselessly, and birds in relative quiet before the spring.

Listen deeply, or you could miss the subtleties that come through in the silence.