Five Elements

What Does Going Off Coffee Have to Do With the Heart?

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A patient recently emailed me, surprised that she had gone off her beloved coffee. Having previously drunk a lot of the black stuff on a regular basis, she found she just didn’t feel like she wanted it any more. She was intrigued and wanted answers.

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From my integrated Five Element Acupuncturist perspective, it wasn’t a surprise. Each of the Five Elements – Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood – have an associated taste, as well as many other resonances, read more in my new ebook. Coffee is bitter, and bitter is linked to the Fire Element. The main Fire organ is the Heart, and in Chinese Medicine and Chinese Food Energetics, the bitter taste is said to go straight to the Heart and affect the energetics, feelings and functionings of the organ.

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Coffee Heart Five Elements Chinese Medicine

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This is why I avoid coffee, I LOVE the smell, but its affects on me and my heart are super strong. I get shaky, light headed and feel sick, like my blood pressure has dropped. I feel my heart beating like mad, skipping around with palpitations.

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For others, and maybe for you, it is different and the Heart is given some support from coffee – some boosting, a little kick in the morning of familiar warmth, of feel-good happy contented energy. But for some, a craving or too much dependence on coffee can indicate (or even create in the long term!) an imbalance in the Fire Element and it’s energy.

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The more we return to balance in the Fire Element and the heart, the less we NEED coffee. And this is what had happened to my gorgeous patient. Through work on herself, with the support of coaching and acupuncture, she had become more in touch with her Heart. She connected with her Heart, acknowledged it and really FELT into it. She was fully enjoying this Heart space she hadn’t realised she had been missing.

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So what does that have to do with coffee? The support from acupuncture and coaching had created a mindful, ACTIVE connection to the Heart space. This connected to the energy of the Heart, the nurture of the Qi (or life force) there, focusing attention there, shifting the energy there, creating a boost, a stimulation, a kick start of the Heart and the Fire Element. It therefore no longer needs to rely on the coffee and it’s bitter taste for that Heart boost or stimulation. As a result, the craving goes down, the body, mind and spirit no longer require it; it’s a sign that something internally has changed.

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Have you noticed something has changed for you recently? Have you gone off a certain food, or found yourself suddenly reaching for something that isn’t normally on your menu? It could be an indication of an internal shift, one of your Five Elements is in a changing state of balance – towards imbalance, or toward a better state of balance. Share your thoughts in the comments below and my acupuncturists brain may be able to shed some light on it for you!

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2014

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Note: original coffee cup photo from Tumblr

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Free Five Element Ebook CF

Awesome Aussies – Fehreen Ali

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I’m thrilled to have another “Awesome Aussie” on the blog this week! There has been a gap between my last post with an antipodean beauty, but this written interview is worth the wait! The structure of today’s piece is a little different to the others – more of a Q&A, but it does follow the structure of my other Aussie video blogs.

It is an absolute delight to have Fehreen Ali answering my questions – not only because she specialises in one of my FAVOURITE topics (the good ol’ cuppa!) AND teams that with holistic health, but she also brings all her warm, laughing, bubbling energy with her onto the pages here – it makes my heart smile!

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awesome aussies.

Who is Fehreen?

I live in Queensland, Australia and am of Fiji Indian heritage. I’m an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant and owner of the Tea Coup.

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Don’t you have an unusual job title? What’s the story behind that?

Yes, I am an “Ayurvedic Teaologist”! The title first came about when my 10 year old daughter came home from school with a class project, in which she had to write what her mother did for a living. We came up with the title “Ayurvedic Teaologist” which summed up what I was all about – a life student of Ayurveda, who uses this knowledge to hand blend Ayurvedic inspired organic Teas and tisanes.

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Rhiannon and fehreen.

We met…

We met online via the 90 day transformation project, as run by Connie Chapman. A beautiful bond was created, as we really understood each others passion – Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine have so much in common, Doshas and the Five Elements, and so on, we were speaking from the same page! Then when Rhiannon visited Australia, and was staying on the Sunshine Coast, we met up in central Brisbane, drank tea together, walked around the farmer’s markets in the square, and didn’t stop talking all day!

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market brissie.

You launched a brand new website earlier this year, tell us about it…

Three months ago I launched my new website for Tea Coup. It is where I have show cased my six signature blends – including “Rumi’s Blend” to balance, “Sweet Bohemia” for bliss, and “Zenzai” for a blast of zest! I also want to use this space to educate and make people aware of the benefits and healing properties of all the ingredients I use. I hope to continue promoting the awareness of Ayurveda and the importance of a great cuppa tea.

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tea coup.

How did you get to where you are now? What led you to Ayurveda & tea?

Both my Ayurvedic studies and tea obsession began in my late teens. I suppose I was lucky to have found two big passions. Being a right brain child of the 70’s, I needed my Ayurvedic work to be creative – hence my love of creating lotions, potions and and tea blends.

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What about acupuncture & Chinese medicine, your thoughts or experiences of it?

I do see a Japanese Acupuncturist regularly for general balance and well-being. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda have many similar commonalities, from diagnostic methods, to massage, and the use of herbal remedies. Both traditions also share the common idea that healing is holistic, and that symptoms can not diagnose a person, the WHOLE person must be examined in order to obtain a proper diagnosis. Ayurveda and Chinese medicine (TCM) remain the most ancient, yet living traditions. I believe that we are blessed to be students of traditional medicine, as finally there is increasing global interest in both.

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Best piece of advice, a quote or a recipe you could give to readers?

“A good life is when you assume nothing. Do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are”

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Gosh I love this woman, what a perfect quote to reflect the essence of her! Please do visit her beautiful new website – the photos alone are worth it, so beautiful – you can almost see and feel the Qi coming from the tea! I was lucky enough to be given the most delicious care package of teas (as shown above) from Fehreen, when we had that gorgeous day together in Brisbane – they travelled with me back home, and I have been drinking them ever since. As a loose leaf tea obsessive, I can say, these teas are up there with the BEST I have tasted – the energetics are also second to none, truly healing and full of goodness! <3

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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Want to Work With Me?

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Just a quick post to announce a VERY new, VERY limited edition offer of coaching with me!

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As many of you know, I am an acupuncturist and have been in practice for 5 years, and I ADORE what I do – I LOVE being in clinic with my patients, hearing what is going on in their lives, helping them with their challenges, talking stuff through, supporting them emotionally, boosting physical health, and increasing their overall level of wellness. But this is only in the UK, and only really in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, when people can come visit me in clinic.

And I KNOW there are so many more people who want the GOODNESS of Chinese Medicine wisdom in their lives, WHEREVER they live in the world – and this is why I am formulating an AMAZING online offering which takes all these goodies to a WORLDWIDE audience! Yay! See below for all the details, and please share with anyone you feel would benefit now!

Looking forward to working with you!

Sending goodness

Rhiannon x

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Coaching package worth over £350, buy NOW for £150 – better than half price, one-off, limited edition offer!

Click here to invest now

Special offer closes midnight on Wednesday 31st July 2013 GMT.

Take advantage of this limited edition offer of one-to-one coaching with Rhiannon, wherever you are based in the world! If you have wanted to work with Rhiannon, but haven’t been local enough to attend her acupuncture clinics, NOW is your chance to gain Chinese Medicine wisdom, have one-to-one support, break through those energetic barriers that are holding you back, increase your wellness, and transform your life!

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What do you get:

+ 1st session is a 2hr ‘Full Traditional Diagnosis’ as done in clinic with acupuncture patients

+ Guidance on health, lifestyle & dietary advice, based on Chinese Medicine theory to improve wellness

+ 3 additional online coaching sessions, of 45 mins each, over 2 months

+ email support

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This kind of coaching may be for you if:

+ You tend to fall into the same habits, emotions, or patterns of behaviour & don’t know why

+ You have tried traditional coaching, but there seems to be something else blocking you

+ You want guidance in both physical & emotional wellness based in Chinese Medicine

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There are a VERY limited number of spaces available on this special offer, and you must sign up before midnight (GMT) on Wednesday 31st July 2013.

Click here to invest now

Any questions or queries, please get in touch at info@rhiannongriffiths.com

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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Awesome Aussies – Krys Hansen

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This is a slightly belated post this week, from a skype filming a fortnight ago with my fabulous and beautiful friend Krystal Hansen. The fourth vlog in my “Awesome Aussies” series introduces this gorgeous creature and discusses how May was her month of compassion, and how her next project focuses on making meditation easy and accessible to everyone, including a very interesting way of funding the project via community!

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awesome aussies

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Who is Krys? She is a modern yogi, an amazing yoga teacher and a holistic health coach. Krystal is another kindred spirit that I connected with first online via Instagram – I am @rg_acupuncture & Krys is @practisewellness – and on my arrival to Australia, she noticed some familiar local places in my photos!

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me & krys.

In Australia we met up: on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. This is where my main base was for my trip in March, as I had flown into Brisbane from the UK. We spent hours chatting in Buderim, having had green smoothies and raw tartlets at the fabulous raw vegan cafe, Ground.

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ground cafe buderim with krys.

In the video below we chat about what compassion means and how it creates a ripple effect of energy outwards to everyone around us; how our gifts / vocations, be it yoga or acupuncture, or whatever our paths are, find us when we are in a dark place, and leads us out into the light, becoming our professions.

Krys explains more about her latest project – The Modern Yogi Meditation Ecourse – and the community funding behind it via Pozible, you can pledge your support there right NOW!

And we also discuss what overlaps there are between the three body types in Ayurveda and the Five Elements in Chinese Medicine – how it is ultimately about understanding the seasons, how that relates to you, understanding what you are, what you might be like when you are in balance, and what you might be like when you’re out of balance! And most importantly how these ancient concepts are SO relevant to modern day life and can help you be healthy in mind, body and spirit!

Be sure to listen to the very end to hear about the strength of the HEART energy – it’s a gem of scientific info that will blow your mind!

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IbAlstrUTs%5D

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Although the May is now gone and the month of compassion has concluded, I encourage you to look on Krystal’s instagram feed or facebook, and check out what the beautiful prompt is for the day of the month you are on NOW – it will work for the month of June too! And if you are drawn to connect in with the energy of her latest project – the method of funding and/or the actual meditation Ecourse itself – then please do visit her website or the Pozible site for more details… its going to be an EXCITING project, one I am THRILLED to be a part of! <3

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practise wellness logo.

© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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6 Ways to Activate The Wood Element Now

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I was recently asked over on my Facebook page, how we can bring more of the Wood Element into our lives? Well, ask and you shall receive! This time last year I wrote about Spring being the season of the Wood Element, in a post called Woody Springtime, but here is a short post on how we can activate the Wood Element, right now, at it’s most potent time… well, if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere that is!

1. Activate the Wood Element Taste

Each of the Five Elements has a “taste” associated with it. Fire is bitter, Water is salty, Earth is sweet, Metal is pungent and Wood is sour. Drink warm lemon water, or apple cider vinegar first thing in the morning. It will go to the Wood Element’s organs of the Liver and Gall Bladder, helping to activate their function of detoxification and movement of the Qi.

2. Move the Qi Physically

Part of the Liver’s (Wood organ) function is to move the Qi (energy) in the body smoothly to all areas of the body. It is when this movement is impaired that we get stagnation and pain – including stress, irritable bowel syndrome, tight shoulders, painful necks, headaches, migraines and so on… To help the Wood Element out, we should MOVE our bodies regularly to help move the Qi, and keep the flow nice and smooth. This could include running and going to the gym, but it doesn’t have to be as energetic as that, walking, dancing to your favourite song, or doing something slower like pilates or yoga ALL move the Qi physically!

3. Put those Plans into Action

The Wood Element is all about organising, planning, making decisions and acting on those plans. You might find that until you start properly coming out of the hibernation and slowing down of Winter (the Water Element), and into the active season of Spring that you feel stuck, stagnant and a bit low or depressed. This might be MORE of the case this year as we have had a LONG and hard Winter this year, and only NOW are things starting to bloom and blossom and move FORWARD. If you have had something in mind, get that Wood energy flowing and actually START putting them into action! You and your Wood Element will feel MUCH better for it!

4. Move the Qi with Food Energetics

As we have seen above, moving the Qi physically is important in helping the Wood Element and Liver function correctly, but we can also do this with food and drink via Chinese Food Energetics. Green tea is a great Qi mover, which makes it a very good stress-busting drink, perfect to have in your desk at work! Choose this over coffee, which only serves to put additional strain on the Liver. Additionally, it is not surprising to find that many seasonal foods such as new carrots being pulled up at this time, also help to move the Qi – nature does tend to provide EXACTLY what is needed at the RIGHT time! Take a look at how to make my green tea & carrot cake, perfect for activating and supporting the Wood Element in it’s season of Spring.

5. Assert Your Boundaries Appropriately

Another great way to activate the Wood energy at any time of the year, and bring more of the Wood Element into our lives is to assert our boundaries. This can be a tricky one for some of us, and this is where the word “appropriately” comes in. If you think about the way a willow bends and sways in the wind, it is TOO flexible, and if we use that anaolgy with our boundaries, that is not helpful for us, nor those around us – if we take on too many projects, we don’t end up doing ANY of them very well. Conversely, an old oak might not bend in the wind at all, until an almighty gust cracks it in half because it is so rigid and brittle. If our boundaries are too rigid, we cannot grow upwards and outwards as a tree ought to, we cannot change and develop. Check in with how flexible or rigid you are with your rules and boundaries, could you bring more BALANCE to your Wood Element right now?

6. Have Acupuncture

We have a couple of ways in which we can help bring more of the Wood Element into a patient’s life during the Spring. We can use what we call the horary points (Wood acupuncture points on the Wood energy channels) during the season, to ACTIVATE all the virtues of the Wood element, and help a patient embrace the energy and move forward with all the planning, organising etc that they may need to do.

We can also needle the Wood points on the channels of the Element that the patient is… this might sound more complicated, but it isn’t. For me, being a Water CF, I tend to have more points needled on the Water channels (Kidney & Bladder channels because they are the Water organs)… so during the Spring, I wouldn’t necessarily have the Wood horary points, I might have the Wood points on my Water Channels done. This then activates the Wood energy within the context of my Water Element; for example, encouraging action on plans made, might help my Water to not have such a BIG fear of the future, because there is movement going forward, my Water is no longer “frozen”.

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Don’t forget each of us has ALL of the Five Elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal & Water – within us, we just tend to have ONE of the Elements that we resonate most with, or is like our default setting… so although this post is PARTICULARLY relevant to those Wood CFs (constitutional factors or constitutional Elements) amongst us, during the Spring we can ALL benefit from activating and connecting in with the Wood Element.

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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