At the Breast - the Earth Element and Mother

The Art of Being Mother

The Earth Element is the time of late summer. Earth time is when richness—fruits of labor—hang plump on the vine. Nature is near the end of her summer cycle and labor invested in the season has grown ripe and ready for harvest.

See a busy canning kitchen with huge baskets overflowing with ripe tomatoes, overwhelming piles of basil to be dried or made into pesto, golden peaches already processed and smiling from inside their jars. Here the sweet tastes of summer line the shelf, waiting their turn to nourish us come winter when we need reminders of sunshine and when we long for the tastes of summer.

Singer Greg Brown has a song that goes "Peaches on the shelf, potatoes in the bin, taste a little of the summer, my grandmother put it all in jars…." (Canned Goods is the name of the song).

After a day of canning, I recall feeling that exhausted satisfaction associated with a full day's work. My harvest: a lineup of colorful jars. The sun low on the horizon and the landscaped bathed in gold—the magic hour. A warm breeze carrying the fragrance of ripe blackberries. There sitting, as the sun sets with feet up, breathing it all in. Perfect contentment.

THAT is the energetic of the Earth. There is a motherly femininity to it.

The stomach and spleen meridians correspond to the Earth element. The stomach rules the processing, churning, digesting of food—literal and symbolic—it assists us in digesting ideas, processing thoughts and experiences.

There is a point located on the head called "Head Tied"—indicated when thoughts go around fast like the spin-cycle. This point can help us out of that mental go-round. For some of us, when we can't move onto actual digestion, there we find ourselves - churning incessantly in 'pre-digest' mode. Another point is called "Abundant Splendor." It allows us to receive a harvest when we're feeling discontent, unable to take in or acknowledge our harvests and accomplishments in life. Being in touch with the earth element reminds us that there is abundance in nature. How splendid that fruit grows on trees!

The Stomach meridian flows right through the center of the breast, where most of us receive our first nourishment in life.

One of my most astonishing acupuncture experiences was working with a woman just days after she delivered her first child. "Elizabeth" had labored for 22 hours before reluctantly agreeing to a C-Section. The laboring is important as it serves to signal the child and the mother's body onto the next process. It was Elizabeth's great wish to have a healthy baby and she wanted a vaginal birth.

From the C-section, she moved slowly since the stitches were still red and healing. She was hard on herself, feeling like she'd failed a "real" delivery. A few days after birth, Elizabeth was producing very small amounts of colostrum—her milk hadn't yet come in. The baby was eager to be fed. Feeding was a struggle for both of them; he cried, hungry and frustrated. She, too, was overwhelmed, frustrated and tired.

After a visit to the midwife, Elizabeth was told the baby was losing weight and if her milk did not come in very soon, she would have to consider an alternative. Interestingly, there are groups of women so devoted to mother's milk that moms with too much send their milk to mother's producing too little. As a last resort, formula...

Elizabeth hated the idea of formula. When available, mother's milk is of course baby's best source of nourishment, physical and emotional. Feeding is a time for mother and child to bond: mother stroking baby's forehead and admiring his little toes, watching him lovingly suckle and slurp and gulp is perhaps some of the most precious, loving and welcoming time we have in life. Certainly it's a wonderful beginning.

Breast feeding is good for mother physically too, the suckling assists the uterus in shrinking back to size and milk production burns a lot of calories, helping mom lose her "baby weight."

Elizabeth's midwife recommended a breast pump to measure how much her baby was getting. At first she was just producing very small amounts, just an ounce.

While Elizabeth pumped, I gave her an acupuncture treatment to stimulate the Earth element. I also touched the small intestine point called "Assembly of Ancestors," energetically calling upon grandmothers to help out and, in this application, calm mom and let her know that this process of birthing children has safely and successfully been going on for generations! Mothers need mothering support, too.

In an instant, Elizabeth's milk flowed! 2oz, then 5oz, and 8oz!

The mood at Elizabeth's house completely turned around. Tears and frustration turned to relief and appreciation! Just like when we're hungry and discontent, after a delicious meal, we're fed, satisfied and content.

Elizabeth acknowledged her harvest—the gorgeous little being she'd nurtured and eagerly awaited for the past 9 months. In the following days, baby began to plump up beautifully. Elizabeth let go of the perceived "failure" of C-section delivery and moved with ease to the next stage of her life: mommy!