Transcripts
This is really a good time to
come off the high of summer,
Speaker:reestablish this pattern of nourishing
yourself so you can move forward into the
Speaker:deep and reflective work of fall.
Speaker:Hello and welcome back to
Remember Why You're Here,
Speaker:a podcast for seekers and sensitives
where you can relax, receive,
Speaker:reconnect yourself, and remember
that most important thing of all,
Speaker:why you're here. I'm Asia Suler, author,
Speaker:Earth Intuitive teacher,
Speaker:and I wanted to come in today as I'm
on a little bit of a summer break right
Speaker:now. The past few weeks I've been
releasing some audio episodes,
Speaker:taking a little bit of a
break from filming the video
part of this podcast as we
Speaker:transition to school time for my
daughter and out of vacation mode.
Speaker:Perhaps you're in that
transitional mode as well.
Speaker:And I notice a theme this time of
the year is that there is a lot of
Speaker:transition. It's almost like
we're not quite in summer,
Speaker:but we're also not quite in
fall yet. And as it happens,
Speaker:there is a season for this.
Speaker:This season is accounted for
in the Chinese medicine way of
Speaker:looking at existence. So I love this,
Speaker:and I wanted to step back into this
understanding by revisiting this
Speaker:audio called the Fifth Season.
Speaker:So most of us grew up in cultures
where we have four seasons,
Speaker:even if those four seasons barely
fit the seasons that we live in.
Speaker:But most people are familiar
with summer, fall, winter,
Speaker:spring. And yet, I don't
know if you feel this,
Speaker:but right now as we're
approaching the end of August,
Speaker:it's like we're entering into this
whole other vibe. It's not summer,
Speaker:it's not fall. We're deep in transition.
Speaker:We're moving out of all
the schedule changes,
Speaker:all the routine changes of summer and
back into something that feels a little
Speaker:bit more routined. It's
like the heat is still here,
Speaker:but we're having these
glimpses of cool nights.
Speaker:This tends to be here where we live in
Appalachia this time where kind of the
Speaker:mold starts to settle in. There's
a dampness to this period of time.
Speaker:So it has its own whole
character and quality.
Speaker:And this is why I love in this
model of the Chinese medicine model,
Speaker:this model of the fifth season,
Speaker:that there is actually five seasons
and there is a new season that
Speaker:is just starting now.
Speaker:So if you've never heard of this
concept of the fifth season,
Speaker:it might really help you make some
sense of why this feels different than
Speaker:summer or fall. It feels
like something in between.
Speaker:So I encourage you to
get your oat milk latte,
Speaker:whatever it is that feels
nourishing for you today,
Speaker:and to tune in and listen to
this audio revisit of the fifth
Speaker:season.
Speaker:Each season that we enter and cycle
through has its own innate medicine.
Speaker:And when we can connect into the subtlety
of that season and its particular
Speaker:character, we can receive the different
medicine that it's bringing to us.
Speaker:There is a little known fifth
season in the Chinese way
Speaker:of thinking about the wheel of the year.
Speaker:This is your introduction to the
medicine of the fifth season late
Speaker:summer. In Chinese medicine,
Speaker:there are five seasons and these seasons
are reflective of the cycle of growth
Speaker:from seed to bloom to
decay to rest to rebirth.
Speaker:Right now we've entered the fifth
season, which is called late summer.
Speaker:And it starts around mid to late
August until the September equinox.
Speaker:So a lot of times in our country,
we'll call this Indian summer.
Speaker:And as I'm saying this,
Speaker:you might be having a particular
remembrance or awareness of how this
Speaker:season really is
different than the others.
Speaker:It's this transition into the fall
time with these still sort of hot
Speaker:flash days.
Speaker:There is a distinct change that
happens from summer into this
Speaker:Indian summertime before we
actually hit the fullness of fall.
Speaker:So in the Chinese way of thinking,
Speaker:this is actually its own whole season
with its own particular qualities in
Speaker:medicine.
Speaker:Late summer is the time of
the earth element in Chinese
Speaker:medicine. So the earth element
is all about grounding,
Speaker:rootedness. This is also at the very
center of the five cycle season.
Speaker:So this season is oftentimes
about creating a home,
Speaker:finding stability,
Speaker:and you see this reflected in
our patterning around this time.
Speaker:This is often when people are going
back to work, going back to school,
Speaker:maybe setting new goals for themselves,
Speaker:and all of these are good activities to
have at the center of your altar during
Speaker:this late summertime.
Speaker:This is also the transition from
the real yang of summertime,
Speaker:this real outward fire, to
the yin of fall and winter.
Speaker:So you might find during this time
that you begin to have some moments of
Speaker:exhaustion or tiredness.
Speaker:This is really your body's way of saying
that it's time to transition from the
Speaker:overexertion of summer and
start to cool into this yin
Speaker:phase.
Speaker:The earth element is always going
to help us to understand how to
Speaker:slow down and nourish and
take care of our bodies.
Speaker:So this is a really good period of
time to start developing a really
Speaker:nourishing practice of your food
and your diet and your self-care.
Speaker:Not coincidentally,
Speaker:the organs associated with this
time are the stomach and spleen.
Speaker:So these are the organs of digestions,
but not just physical digestion.
Speaker:We're also talking about here like
mental and emotional digestion.
Speaker:This is a time to start digesting
all of the busyness of summertime
Speaker:and really begin to process that
so you can move into the deeply
Speaker:reflective time of fall.
Speaker:Fall is often the time of doing
this inner work and preparing for
Speaker:wintertime. It's a time of
deep nostalgia and remembrance.
Speaker:So in late summer, we
begin to process, digest,
Speaker:and break down everything that's happened
so far in this year in this growth
Speaker:cycle so we can prepare for
the quieting down of fall.
Speaker:When earth is in balance, we're
going to feel really nurtured.
Speaker:We're going to be feeling really
capable and really solid in our
Speaker:calm awareness and knowing.
When earth is out of balance,
Speaker:you might experience worry or having
your thoughts sort of roll a million
Speaker:miles a minute. So if these things
are happening to you during this time,
Speaker:just know that it would be a good moment
for you to step back and really focus
Speaker:on nourishing your earth. How
do we nourish our earth? Well,
Speaker:first of all, creating time in your
schedule for meditation, relaxation.
Speaker:Sometimes I find schedules really
help me with my earth element,
Speaker:especially if you're embarking upon a
new course of study this year or a brand
Speaker:new job to really write out
a schedule for yourself.
Speaker:When are you going to be engaged in
that and when can you have downtime?
Speaker:Late summer is a really good
time to start engaging with this.
Speaker:The colors of late summer
are orange and yellow,
Speaker:and the taste is slightly sweet.
Speaker:So if you want some herbs to really
help you sink into this time,
Speaker:there are a couple that really
fit this profile beautifully,
Speaker:and they include shatavari,
licorice, astragalus,
Speaker:and oat straw. You're going to notice
some commonalities between these herbs.
Speaker:They're slightly sweet.
They're nourishing.
Speaker:Some of them are actually pretty
high in mineral and vitamin content,
Speaker:and all of them have this way of working
with our nervous system to help us
Speaker:slightly relax. Some of them
are considered even adaptogens,
Speaker:which really is a term for
helping our bodies, hearts,
Speaker:and minds and physiological systems
adapt to any stresses that are coming our
Speaker:way. So this is really a good time
to come off the high of summer,
Speaker:reestablish this pattern of nourishing
yourself so you can move forward into the
Speaker:deep and reflective work of fall.
Speaker:So I'm super curious if this was
new to you or if you know about
Speaker:this fifth season already. I
remember when I learned about this,
Speaker:it kind of just unlocked
this new layer to life and
Speaker:existence because when we
understand what season we're in,
Speaker:we understand how to meet this season.
Speaker:We see that in the earth
element of this season,
Speaker:we're really being asked actually
to start to slow our role
Speaker:from the summer intensity and the
summer busyness that we are going to be
Speaker:stepping into a little
bit more reflective time,
Speaker:that we're really in this
season of becoming where we're
Speaker:going from experience after
experience into more of the
Speaker:wisdom states that come
with fall and winter.
Speaker:And so we see here that earth
also has this completion
Speaker:energy.
Speaker:There's this sense of
bringing us into completion,
Speaker:digesting what's happened
so far throughout the year,
Speaker:and really kind of preparing and
orienting ourselves for what's to come.
Speaker:And I love thinking about in
my own ancestral traditions
and the Celtic Wheel of
Speaker:the Year that a new year is
considered to begin after Samhain,
Speaker:which is at the end of October. And
so in the Celtic way of thinking,
Speaker:we're actually entering into
the last phase of the year
Speaker:before a new year begins.
Speaker:And so some of these moments
of reflection and digestion
Speaker:of coming back into a
rhythm that works for us,
Speaker:this is all important in
preparing to meet the changes,
Speaker:meet the new year that is en route.
Speaker:So in any way that you can to create
some stability and groundedness
Speaker:for yourself this month, I did in
the intuitive reading for this month,
Speaker:talk about this sense of stability
coming in, this building energy.
Speaker:And so this feels like it's right
on time for this particular week,
Speaker:for this particular time now
that we are moving into in late
Speaker:August, that it's like get the routine,
figure out what works for you this fall,
Speaker:figure out the fall schedule,
Speaker:figure out how you can ground yourself
even as you continue to take these big
Speaker:steps into your life, into what it is
you want to manifest in this world.
Speaker:I know for myself,
Speaker:I'm getting ready to make a
big announcement about a new
Speaker:offering in my business,
returning to some one-on-one work.
Speaker:So if you're interested in that,
that will be coming out shortly.
Speaker:And I know that all of y'all probably
have some really big new things that
Speaker:you've been working on too. So
I would love to hear from you.
Speaker:I'd love to hear about how this
fifth season is feeling for
Speaker:you right now. What in this fifth
season are you centering in?
Speaker:What are you grounding
in this fifth season?
Speaker:You can hop on over to the
Substack companion to this podcast.
Speaker:Remember why you are here, or you can
leave me a message over on my website,
Speaker:asiasuler.com/remember.
Speaker:So I hope the transition of this
time finds you able to get your
Speaker:two feet on the ground,
Speaker:able to sort of glimpse and see
this perspective of your future,
Speaker:a new future on root,
Speaker:whatever it is that you are
stepping into this fall and beyond.
Speaker:And may all these
nourishing energies of late
Speaker:summer, this fifth season,
Speaker:may they come in and help you remember
that most important thing of all,
Speaker:why you're here.
