What does it mean to live in your element?
You’re probably familiar with the phrase “in your element.” It’s when you’re doing something that naturally suits you, that comes easily and makes you happy.
That’s an aspect of what I mean when I refer to living in your element. My coaching is focused on helping you tap into your life force—the energetic nature that makes you you.
When you’re moving through life in a way that’s aligned with your essential being, you’re living in your element.
Chinese medicine figured this out a long time ago
When I refer to living in your element, I also mean it literally.
The oldest Chinese medical texts, written thousands of years ago, discuss how balance among five elements leads to “moment-to-moment aliveness.”
Moment-to-moment aliveness! Written 2,000 years ago! Isn’t that what we’re all searching for today?
You have a Primary Element
In the system of Five Element acupuncture, there are—surprise, surprise—five elements: Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. Each of the elements corresponds to specific beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, physical symptoms, emotional states, bodily organs, even seasons and colors.
Everyone has traits from all five elements, however, we each have a Primary Element. What this means is that you are predisposed to the qualities inherent to one of the five elements.
Your Primary Element is your energetic signature. It’s an imprint that influences everything in your life.
A combination of genetics and early-life experiences determined the element that looms largest for you. I say “looms” because, while your Primary Element is a huge asset when it's balanced, it's also the one that's most vulnerable to tipping out of balance.
New level of self-awareness
Your Primary Element is a tool for validating your life experiences and expanding your self-awareness. It’s a new lens for understanding aspects of yourself that may feel frustrating, confusing, or contradictory.
Your Primary Element can help explain why you find yourself returning to the same thoughts and behaviors, even when you know they’re not serving you. Or why you’re susceptible to certain physical ailments, and why certain things that you were taught “should” be energizing actually drain you.
In addition to cultivating greater self-awareness, this deeper understanding of what makes you tick (and sometimes flounder) makes you more self-compassionate, something we can all use a little more of.
Perhaps most importantly, knowing your Primary Element provides a roadmap to the mindset and behavior changes that can help you play to your strengths, which allows you to live with more vibrancy, ease, and meaning.
What living in your element looks like
When you’re living in your Primary Element, you:
Understand what lights you up and what drains you.
Make confident decisions about how to spend your time.
Set yourself up to play to your strengths.
Recognize your vulnerabilities without letting them define you.
See stressful situations as opportunities for growth.
Know how to hold contradictory qualities within yourself.
Cut yourself some slack.
Ready to discover your Primary Element? Take the assessment!
