The Five Elements in TCM with Persia Juliet

0:00 Hey there, Before we get started on this week's episode, I would love to ask for your support by reviewing this podcast. We want to share yoga with as many people as possible and this free resource. This podcast is one of the ways that we can do that. And the best way that you can help support us is by giving us a review.

0:16 So if you go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever podcast platform you use, Scroll down until you find that star review and then give us some love. Thank you so much, and let's get started with this week's episode. You can imagine it like your family inheritance, and once you spend it, it's gone. This is an energy that is hard to get a loan from the bank. So that's why it's really important in winter to take time for yourself to rest, to nourish, to get to bed early, as I already mentioned.

0:50 And when this energy is banked well and it's established beautifully in the body, you see it as this, this deep, quiet presence that someone might hold and you just know that they have wisdom. It's that admission without words. And when this doesn't quite get banked or established, which we see so much in Western culture, because rest is not exactly promoted and consumerism and work is promoted, this energy can get really, really drained and out of balance. So it's commonly seen as

1:27 insomnia, anxiety, fears, nervousness, all that kind of expression. Welcome to the Going Pro Yoga Podcast. If you love yoga as much as I do, then this podcast is for you. We talk all things yoga related for teachers in order to supplement and complement and even support after a 200 hour Yoga teacher training. Or if you've never done a training before, this podcast is all about just learning more about yoga in an authentic way. Together with Paul Tioto and

2:00 Byron De Marseille, we put together this podcast to provide you with a free resource to learn more about yoga. Whether you want to share yoga or teach yoga or just practice yoga, this podcast is talking all things yoga related.

2:12 And we're trying to talk from the teacher's perspective and also the student's perspective to make sure we get a full 360° angle on what yoga is all about and how it's evolved in the modern world. Welcome to our podcast.

2:25 OK Welcome back to the Going Pro Yoga Podcast. Michael here. And today we have a special guest. I love having guests on the podcast, so it's not always me talking, right? I'm sure some of the listeners agree as well, but we have Persia joining us today. Is Juliet your last name?

2:41 Juliet, yeah. Juliet is your last name. OK, cool. I wasn't sure if I was like a middle name. OK, technically it is my middle name, but my mom chose my first and my second name. OK, so I just stick with that. OK, Well, welcome to the show.

2:54 Either way. Thank you. Persia, Juliet, Fun fact, my middle name is Henry and I go by Michael Henry. So thank you. Wow. I know we're like, we're basically the same. Mirrors IJ Zinc and Obud. That's right. So Persia is here to join us on the podcast to share some of her knowledge, experience and just, yeah, whatever it is that comes to fruition in this conversation. I guess.

3:20 I've known Persia for probably a couple of years, you know, in and out through Ubud, both living here in Bali, working on trainings together and stuff like that, usually in the yen trainings. So I'm excited for you to be here today to talk about whatever it is that you like to talk about. We'll probably talk about maybe some Chinese medicine as it relates to certain topics.

3:42 So that's kind of where we're going to be going. But before we do that, I would love for the audience to kind of learn a little bit more about you, where you're from, you know, what you're interested in, the things you know, a little bit of your history so they can subscribe to the person on the other side of the microphone. So why don't you introduce yourself? Thank you so much.

3:59 Well born and raised, Vancouver, Canada. And that is the capital of yoga. There's a yoga studio on every street corner. So I was raised by a single Mama and I'm an only child and I was pretty naughty. I liked boys, I liked weed and I liked acid.

4:21 So my poor mom was like, what do I do? And her answer was to enroll both of us together in a six week yoga program. And this is when I was a teenager like 15. So to be fair, we were both asked to leave the yoga program because we were considered disruptive for laughing so much. But that was my first sexual taste of yoga, and what I noticed is immediately there formed a connection with my mom, a sense of ease and trust.

4:57 And from that, just naturally, I began to share everything with her. And then the drugs became less taboo because it was all out in public. There was nothing to hide or nothing to hide from. So strangely, even that first little taste of yoga had a transformation, even though it was temporary.

5:16 And how old are we? 1515, Yeah, yeah. And then so after that, I dabbled with yoga on and off, and I wasn't really a serious practitioner until I was like 23. And at that time in my life I was 7 to 8 dress sizes bigger in size and just experiencing the start of binging and purging to the beginnings of bulimia.

5:44 And it was fascinating to me like I did nothing else external other than commit to practicing yoga every day. And within a nine month period, I would say I lost about 7 dress sizes. And just through the sheer experience of feeling like my belly pressing on the floor and breathing gave me a sense of I have a body and I'm actually living in this body. And then when I first felt my hip bones on the floor, after a bit of the weight came off, there was this real sense of reverence.

6:20 Like this is not only my house, this is a temple and I really want to care for it. So yeah, it was fascinating. There was no dieting. There was no real changes that my mind applied it just through the practice of yoga alone.

6:37 My my eating changed my relationship to myself, my relationship, everything. Job. And then and then I went on the journey. I'm like, OK, I'm going to go do a yoga training. Wow. Yeah. And what did you do? Your training. 2005, Yeah.

6:52 So I was 2525. Yeah. So from 15 to 23 to 25, Yeah. OK. And who did you study with? I'm just going to adjust your mic a little bit. I studied with Bikram. I did. In the Los Angeles headquarters. I did. I think it was almost three months. Yeah, the training.

7:14 Yeah, about 350 hours. And let's call it an initiation to share a shower with 200 other sweaty, hungry, intensified women was that. That was the yoga for me, not the actual asana or the training. It was just getting through those bathroom moments.

7:37 Like actual showering. Like, yeah, there was like 6 shower heads for literally 200 women. Oh shit. And we would do 2/2 and 1/2 hour hot practices every day. That was intense. Wow, interesting. I have so many questions about that but I don't know. Oh, I'm happy to answer.

7:55 I'm sure other people do as well. Oh yeah, very fascinating. Documentary is real. Let me just say that is it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I saw it first hand. OK. Very interesting. As much as I'd love to go there, I don't know if we should cool. And so now you are where you said where is it in California? So that was in LA.

8:17 Yeah. Yeah. And is that? Where you're from originally. I missed. I might have missed that, Vancouver. Vancouver, I'm sorry, that's right, Canadian. Yeah, and honestly, it just felt like fate. So there were two studio owners from Vancouver that happened to come to our final exams at the training. And so they were observing and they saw me and met me. And when I got back to Vancouver, it was still a time in people's lives where we had landlines and answer phone machines.

8:45 So I had a message on my answer machine that was like Persia, we really liked you. We scheduled you on the 6:00 AM and the 8:00 AM tomorrow at Broadway Studio, and let me tell you, my hands went wet with sweat. I ran to the toilet with diarrhea.

9:02 I was so nervous. You graduate the Bikram training only ever teaching like 1 asana at a time, so I wouldn't. I had never taught a sequence or 90 minutes straight. And yeah, the day after I flew back in, I just got to the studio and I basically was booed.

9:22 Yeah, I had to stand up on a podium with my little short shorts and like fluorescent lights and a lady front row and center, just thumbs up. Thumbs down. Thumbs down. Not up. Down. Very down. Yeah. And then grabbed her yoga mat and shouted. Learn your left Turn your rights before you start teaching yoga. Oh my wow.

9:42 Right in the fire. Right in the fire. Like a burning fire. A burning fire in a hot, sweaty room. And, you know, it's kind of like, I don't know if you've ever done horse riding, but if you fall off the horse, the trainer will immediately pick you up and say get back on the horse because you don't hear kicks in. So it felt like that I walked out of the room and I was like, please let me go home, you know.

10:06 And I looked at the clock. I'm like, oh, my God, I have to be back in there in like 20 minutes to teach the next one. And I'm so glad that I did, you know, because I just had to burn through that fear. Yeah. Out of the second one go. Like 2% better?

10:20 That's better. That's progress. Totally. Oh, wow. That's great and probably awesome to hear from listeners who because me and a lot of our listeners I think are yoga teachers. So. And some of them are new. Most of them are new and like they've done training, so they're interested in taking a training. So to hear that, it's also probably very like humbling to be like, oh, you know, it's not, you know, it's not all bells and whistles of like your yoga

10:47 teacher and everybody loves you. It's like, yeah, there's steps. And that's those challenges with going through the process of like public speaking and actually like, you know, putting it into practice. So thank you for sharing that.

10:57 I appreciate that. My pleasure. Thank you for this podcast because, you know, however long ago that was now what? Oh my God, 18 years ago there weren't podcasts, you know, with teachers talking and sharing. And I remember looking for, yeah, a mentor support community. And I felt very alone my first few years teaching yoga. I really had to figure it out myself. Yeah.

11:22 So I have a lot of, like, compassion, but also passion for newer yoga teachers and just supporting them because it's full on. Kind of feel like naked every day. You stand up in front of people. Yeah. Yeah, that's so true.

11:36 I mean, I I get nervous still sometimes. Like right before class. I'm just like, I don't know why. Like it happens every time. I'm just like a little like, God fucking nervous system. Like go away. I actually did a podcast on nervousness because I had to address that for myself and I thought I'd share it.

11:51 But yeah, it always usually goes away because once I start, I'm just like, I love teaching yoga. It's so fun, right? And I also stopped judging myself and just yeah, then it goes usually pretty well. So yeah, thank you for that.

12:03 Thank you for the back story. And now you live in Bali. And now I live in Bali. Yeah, and I love it. I love sharing yoga here. It's so open. I feel like I've taught in a lot of cities, predominantly Vancouver and Sydney and Auckland.

12:19 Those are the three main cities, and. Australia. New Zealand. Just. In case Australia wandering where? And New Zealand. Yes, yeah. And I found that there was a lot of containment from studio owners, which I always respected of, like you have to appeal to corporates.

12:38 You have to use global language. Please do not use Sanskrit. Please do not bring in mythology or energetics, you know, just keep it for the masses. So I did that because studios have to run and they have to, you know, earn revenue.

12:52 But coming to Bali for me was just like the first time. I was truly free to share from my places, like passion. So now, yeah, I get to do that every day. That's great. The freedom must feel good. Yeah. I mean there's a lot of, and I talk about this sometimes with regards to in trainings and students with like, you know, you're going to have to teach according to the audience of course, but then also according to the studios or the businesses, like, you know,

13:25 style, if you will. Because like if you're teaching in a gym, it's going to be very different if you're teaching in a in a studio, like an actual yoga studio versus, you know, a corporate setting and stuff like that. So realizing the audience, and actually not just because it's, you know, the business's perspective, but also the audience will actually probably subscribe better if you keep it within a particular field, let's just say.

13:47 But yeah, it's great to come here and then just be like because here you get all walks of people here, right, Because everyone just comes and they're all from different backgrounds. We don't even know you know where they're coming from.

13:57 So the it's just like it's so open for anything, which is great. You can just throw it out there and see what happens. Totally. Every day is a surprise, Yeah. And you know, people are genuinely here to really stress and have quote, UN quote healing experiences. So yeah, there's a real readiness. You don't kind of have to chip through the post work rush, get my yoga, get out.

14:19 You know, because people are like, yeah, island time. Yeah. And for those of you that are teaching not in Bali and you're like, fuck, I want to go to Bali, well, you can come to Bali, definitely do that. But also like, you know, teaching outside of Bali and giving people little Nuggets wherever they are in the moments that we can, whether it be just moments of breath or moments of inspiration, like that's also very impactful for people's lives. So I don't want to downgrade

14:46 anything that's being done outside of Bali as well, yeah. Yeah, and let's just keep it real and also include, like a feral monkey that ran through the studio at once and Gekko poo falling from the ceiling on someone's third eye.

14:59 Oh really? I've had a get go following me like a giant one in the middle of a class. Just like ran on my back and I'm like. What? Yeah, the torque is. And they bite. Yeah, they've got fangs. Metals now people are like, I'm not coming to ball anymore.

15:14 Just keeping it all in context. You know, exactly. Cool. So thank you for that introduction and some of those details. And you, you've, I don't know if you've studied or you, you know a lot about Chinese medicine. Yeah. I mean, I know that's where you come into the Yin Yang training for speak to that. So I'd love to learn more about it because I don't know much. And you know, maybe our audience would like to learn more about it as well.

15:37 Yeah, beautiful. Well I first had my my first exposure to Chinese medicine. This was actually pre yoga. Before becoming a yoga teacher I was also studying like natural holistic food counseling and also medicine making. So while crafting herbs, creating them into medicines, and I had to choose an elective with that, so I chose Chinese medicine. And my teacher was so profound.

16:04 So my first exposure was really young and she was able to just read my personality in such a warm, inviting way that I never felt judged, even when I was acting out as like a hungover 19 year old showing up to college. So that definitely planted a seed. And then it wasn't until so many years later that I got into Yin yoga and did my first training with Sarah Powers in Australia and she started to talk a lot about the Meridians and it kind of re sparked this old seed that

16:39 have been planted so many moons ago. And so I wouldn't say that I've trained in it, but I'm constantly reading, researching all the time. It's such a passion and since the pandemic, I've also created my own training, which is called Samachandra and and that's very much based in Chinese medicine and the five elements where I get to invite one of my mentors and dear friends in Jade Clark.

17:07 She's incredible. So every time I'm in that training, I'm constantly just steeping in the philosophy and the knowledge and the fact that we've done it, gosh, at least seven times together now. And I'm never bored and I always learn something new or I'll hear something slightly differently and it will like click and integrate in my body.

17:29 It's yeah, it's just showing me that it's a very genuine passion and I'd love to keep going further with it. Yeah, that's great. And I think that's like a 50 hour training is. It that's it. Yeah. Just one week, 50 hours, Yeah.

17:40 Cool, interesting. So as it relates to, we'll keep it in the yoga realm as much as possible, I guess. I mean, we don't have to, but we can go outside of it. As far as I know when it comes to yen and Chinese medicine, there can be a lot of crossover and application in certain ways.

17:59 So what are like, what is that like how do, how does it crossover? Because like I I teach yen, I learned yen, but I didn't learn it in a Chinese medicine perspective or lens. So how would you kind of cross those over for me? Yeah, well, you know, traditional Chinese medicine is a little bit different from Chinese medicine. So in a traditional sense, it really was shamanic, to use a mainstream word.

18:28 Meaning, it was designed to empower people to realize that they're not separate from the environment firstly, and to see themselves in the natural environment, which would also include to see themselves in the changing of seasons.

18:45 And that we're not designed to have the same medicine all the time. We actually need to receive different medicines at different times according to our personal state, wherever we're at. And that personal state often does reflect in nature and the changing of seasons, in weather, you know. So firstly, it's a beautiful reconnection to land, quite simply.

19:11 And the fact that it was birthed from China, yeah, that was a a land area different from Bali. So there were actual seasons and the seasons described through traditional Chinese medicine are a little bit different to how we would describe them in the West.

19:26 So there's five instead of four. Yeah. And I'm happy to take us through that if you're interested. Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to. You got me drawn in so. I got you drawn in. OK, well, let's go there and then. And then from there we can relate it back into yin yoga and that might show up. Yeah, let's give us a foundation. Cool.

19:46 So let's imagine that we've been going through a long, long winter, and it's been dark and cold and quiet and you might imagine being snowed in in your house, you know? And hopefully, hopefully, that's a time to hibernate.

20:08 And to eat really warming foods and to go to bed so early because the sky is dark, you know, and they're going to bed early, particularly around 9:00 PM, hopefully not after 9:00 PM That timeline is said to deeply restore and regenerate your kidneys. So it's very, very important to rest in winter. And I'm going to go into winter more a little bit once we're done with the wheel.

20:34 But from the deep breath, the deep quietude of winter, which is the most yin bursts springtime. So we'll really start at spring, and spring is considered a return of Yang. Yang energy to a human body. So when I use the term Yang, if you're at home, you might imagine Yang being like the sun rising or sunlight touching your body. The warmth of solar energy, expression, the radiance of the sun, which is an outward energy.

21:09 You know where there's yin would be moon energy, that which is cool and quiet and represents night time. Whatever is most low or deep to the floor or inward. So one is outward, one is inward. So springtime, A return of spring means a reemergence of young. So the energy starts to move up in the body and out. It's radiating out.

21:37 And So what we see in a human body is that there's particular energy lines. In Chinese medicine, they're called rivers. And in a Western lens we we give them the name Meridian, Selma, Selma. And so particular meridians are highlighted during a particular season. And in springtime, what we see is a bit more emphasis on the liver channel and then it's pairing Meridian, which is the gallbladder channel.

22:06 Now these two channels have a beautiful gift that they offer a human psyche. And when I use the word psyche, I'm basically saying the totality of how we show up as people. So you're here, You have your own body composition. You've got your own personality, the way that you express yourself.

22:29 This includes your eyes, your hand gestures, everything makes up the expression of your psyche. So when you see a really healthy and balanced liver and gallbladder energy, this is known as an elemental expression of wood. Of wood, Yeah.

22:50 And so this expression is seen in leadership, entrepreneurship, so the capacity to be very accountable for the experiences of your life and to apply action, right. I'm going to use the word again, leadership as to what you want to create. So would element is so important for us as humans to have the capacity to create, to dream and really to take action, to create a new future.

23:30 So that's when it's balanced. And what we genuinely see in these Meridian lines is you can have blockages, and I know that you're an expert in this to say even something like a scarring of fascia or a buildup of fascia can actually impact the flow of tea, to use a general term, the flow of energy through the Meridian. And when that happens, it creates a stagnancy, and then that will kind of distort the expression of wood. And so if you see a distortion

24:04 of this, you might, it might show up in someone's personality as irritability, impatience, a deep frustration. If something's not going to plan or to order, it's like and these are people, you know, you might kind of see them coming and you're like, Oh my goodness, I want to avoid that person because they're going to get snappy, you know, So that would be like a pent up wood energy that's that's stagnant and it can also express say when it's there's just too much energy in

24:42 the channel, it's getting overloaded in a in a domination. So like an army drill Sergeant, or just impressing your energy or your ideas and ideals upon someone else without there being a reciprocity. So yeah, these are things to look out for. So that would almost be like a like an out of balance, like a masculine energy, would you say?

25:04 Because it's outwardly a little bit more, you said Yang. So that's what I'm thinking. Yeah, yeah, you. Can come across as like aggress, not aggressed and but like outward pouring if you will. Outward pouring? Yes. Domineering.

25:17 And I I do my asked to steer away from the masculine feminine just because that's a whole podcast. OK. There's so many different interpretations of what that can mean. Sure, so. But yes, I totally hear. So we'll do another podcast is what I heard OK.

25:32 Great, I'm inviting myself back. So I have a question before we keep going. So this we talked a little bit about winter and talked about spring and talked about the element of wood. So is this relating to the season? Because I also know that people are you can't you are one element or you're more of an element. Is that true?

25:50 Oh, absolutely. OK. So I heard two questions there. I might start with. Are you an element? Yes, you are. Sorry. So everybody has all five elements, all of us. And what's really interesting is at the the moment of conception. So when you're conceived, that's known as your essence energy. This is getting a little bit more complex for yoga teachers, so please don't worry about it.

26:20 But we could consider this Jing Jing. So your essence, Energy. And what's fascinating is it's said that actually this does not change. This is your blueprint. From the moment you're born into the world to the moment you exhale your last breath.

26:39 Now within that composition of all the five elements, one will be weaker than the other four and whatever that one weaker element is, it's said to never change. So the weakest one is said to be the loudest one because it's saying hey help me out here and that's why it's considered to be your element because the weakest one is going to express itself more. So I'm not sure if video footage will be shown, but you're kind of seeing now that I'm relaxing,

27:10 I'm starting to move a lot. I'm would element. I know that my liver is my weakest organ now, my brain and probably most people's brains will then think, oh, my parents, you know, And so if I look at my parents, I'm like, wow, both of them had hepatitis C, both from intravenous drug use.

27:34 And so therefore they're impaired livers. They came together. My Western brain thinks they're for now, my liver is the weakest. But actually in the concepts of Chinese medicine, this is not necessarily a truth for all people.

27:48 It's just very much to do with the the sperm and the egg and the moment that they came together and that energetic connection boom made the imprint. So the good news is that you can definitely improve the quality of the weakest element so you can help to heal it, which just means create more harmony and balance.

28:09 But even if you bring it to balance compared to the other ones, it's always going to be the weakest element, yeah. It's like the problem child of the five, it's always the one that. Yeah, the cute rent of the litter that needs a little bit more attention.

28:24 Yeah, yeah, totally like that sweet little mouse that you rescued today. So what's beautiful about this philosophy is the more you get interested in, the more you learn and study all of the five elements. You'll just start to see it show up with people that you meet, and then when you see it show up, at least in my own experience, it adds this quality of just like deep compassion and a little bit more understanding. So we'll get to this later, but

28:52 I'll just pull out a random example. Say if you meet a fire type and the fire energies are out of balance for whatever reason, you might see it as someone who comes in really strong and talks a little bit louder and they're talking faster and they're really animated and their eyes are rapid scanning and you're kind of with them and you're just like, oh, this is a lot right now it almost feels manic and actually to see it as oh wow, this is a fire element

29:22 person and they actually just need a big hug and a deep breath. What they're seeking is connection and and if I can just give them maybe 30 seconds of my time, that'll help bring it into balance. And so for me as a yoga teacher, seeing hundreds and hundreds of people every week, it's really shifted my, my, how do I word this charm and aversion towards other people?

29:50 And it's just created more a field of interest, acceptance and actually wanting to be of service, like having a little understanding. It's like, Oh yeah, I can just offer you something, Reassurance. And I know that that's a medicine for where you're at.

30:07 Yeah. That's really cool. Like, it's almost like it allows you to be more compassionate and empathetic for someone versus jumping to, let's say, judgment or worry or fear. Like, why is this person so, so intense or something like that? OK, cool.

30:23 Very interesting, Very interesting. So we all have the five. So I'm just going to kind of reiterate what you said and make sure I understand. So we all have the five elements, and one of them is typically weaker or lesser than the other four.

30:39 And that one exuberates itself more through personality, right. It shows itself more through personality. So that one would be deemed the one that is your element. I think I'm metal. I've been told that I'm metal. I don't know if you can tell based off of my mannerisms and knowing me, but I've been told that I'm metal.

30:57 So that actually is really helpful because I didn't know why or what. Just someone's like, oh, you're metal. I'm like, OK, great. I don't know what that means, but now I do. So thank you. And now coming back to, I don't know what the second question was that I had, but do you remember? Yes, it was to describe a bit more the expression of the season.

31:17 Oh that's right. So connecting it back to the season, so like you said for example your your, your wood and now we're talking about spring or at least that's where we we left off was talking about spring and wood. So where's the connection there? Yeah.

31:29 So you imagine after the dormant sea of winter, the land essentially is dead, right? It might be cold or covered in snow. Then the ice melts. And what you see in nature is there has to be this built up force of energy which occurs after very deep breaths.

31:47 And so the shoots start to burst up, burst up through the earth. So that's why I sort of mentioned that up and out energy is wood energy. So you can imagine it as the emergence of fresh shoots pushing up from the earth. That's wood element energy and the expression of trees starting to burst open again and bloom, which is that beautiful bright refreshment that you see in springtime.

32:14 You know it's that tender kind of bright green. And even that color is, is the wood element color. So when you're working with this element, you know, I took them off, but I'm wearing green earrings. That's intentional. Just little reminders for myself of the color. Green are very medicinal for a wood element person. So, so yeah, that's sort of why, why springtime relates to wood element.

32:40 Does that make sense? Yeah. So when you are in when when spring is happening, like I know we're in Bali, we're not, you know there isn't really a spring that kind is, but not really if you are in spring, let's just say back home in Vancouver. How does that influence or affect or what does that mean for Someone Like You versus someone like me who is not wood based?

32:59 Does it have an influence? Absolutely, because we are all five elements and this is the really important thing. And this is where I love, like how traditional Chinese medicine then also so beautifully supports and complements the Vedas or wisdoms from other parts of the world.

33:17 And it comes back to your everything, your whole you're one being. And it's this desire that comes from the human mind to dissect things and categorize them in order to understand them. So it's a constant reminder of I'm everything. I'm all the seasons, I am all elements at all times. And those are constantly fluctuating and being labeled as an element.

33:45 You know, I think we love to label ourselves. I know I do. I'm very attached to my identity as a yoga teacher, but but I'm not that, I'm not that, I'm source. So yeah, it's important to remember at all times you are being affected by the environment and that goes for everybody.

34:03 And maybe possibly a wood element person might get more affected, but not necessarily even in the spring season, it might be in another season because the elements also talk to each other. And you know, I think if people really enjoy this podcast and they're like, oh, I want more, maybe we could come back and and go even further because it gets quite complex. How, say as an example, winter, The element is water. Water feeds wood.

34:33 So they work together. It's known as a generating cycle or a nourishing cycle. But then we can flip elements around and they'll influence each other in terms of restrainment. Will help to lower the energy, but I think that that gets a bit too complex for today.

34:50 OK, yeah, that's fine. I figured it's a pretty big topic. I know you have, like, you know, studying. This can be years and years and years. So in an hour we'll see what we can do. So maybe what we can do just to kind of keep it somewhat organized for our brains is we can go through the rest of the elements just to kind of allow people to kind of tune into like, well, OK, what might I be?

35:11 And then maybe we can actually give some insight on like how you can find out perhaps basically either through just the the information you're giving, the personality types and the mannerisms, or if there's another way. I'm going to jump in right now. These are not my own words.

35:26 These are the words of Jade Clark, who's my dear friend and she's got 30 years of experience. She's trained in China. Whatever you do, do not do an online question survey to find out your element. It will be incorrect. The best way to learn is to see a very, very experienced acupuncture therapist.

35:48 And in regards to what we're talking about, then we'll need to have a background in the five element theory and not all acupuncture therapists do. This is a little bit more like I'll use the word against shamanic, Yeah, yeah.

36:04 OK, that's helpful. Yeah. Yeah, good. And actually makes it feel more credible too. Yeah. Like go to this website and it'll tell you. Yeah, yeah. I diagnosed myself as an Earth element for years. And then I recently had an identity crisis when I flew to Sydney to see my dear friend Jade. And I had a few sessions with her and she's like, how could you not see that you're wood?

36:25 And it was like, and everything made so much more sense. Yeah, OK. Yeah. Well, now I need to Fact Check my metal claim. Well, let's explore that when we get to metal. OK, cool. Let's keep going so. From the the burst of spring, the freshness, the expression of everything. Then the seasons change, the weather gets warmer, and we enter summer.

36:48 And so summer is considered the the most Yang of all of the elements, simply because of the warmth and the fire of summertime. And so when we think of the most Yang, we'll think of the most expressed, the most outward energy. And so for summer, this is fire element, pretty obvious on that one.

37:11 And then fire element governs in accordance with we'll just keep to yen. So I could mention more meridians, but we'll just keep it simple. It governs fire, the fire Meridian and the small intestine Meridian. And So what we see here is it's a natural time for all of us as individuals to be social, to, to go out, to express more energy, to play, maybe be a little naughty dance, stay up too late. And really, you know, if we've had a deep rest in the winter, this is where we're spending the

37:49 excess energy and it's important to spend it. And it's also important to also feed the heart bank, meaning to connect with people and that and specifically through touch and conversation and interaction. So if this does not happen, it can actually really affect someone's next winter season.

38:12 They're all linked together. So this is really the time to fill up the cup and be social. And so you can imagine we won't go too heavy into this, but just say the pandemic, say a time where people are, they can't go out and express and connect with other people in the physical form and how much that impacted people's health and well-being their mental health.

38:39 Yeah. So it's a beautiful example of how we need each other. We need each other to thrive and and survive. So yeah, that's fire element. Interesting. Have a have a side question. Would you be able to kind of possibly say that the time of COVID based off even though it wasn't like full winter, it was like a two year ish period. Would that kind of be more of a macrocosm of what winter would have been for people because they basically needed to bunker down and kind of do the things

39:11 that you would normally do in a winter type setting. Do you think that has anything that I'm just it was a random thought. I love it. Absolutely I do. But then we need to look in that context of is it nurturing and nourishing with a deep, deep rest. So think of, like, bubble baths and herbal teas and kitcher ease and being in bed with a book.

39:33 You know, I'm falling asleep that way. Or was it, Oh my gosh, I have to do all of my work from a laptop with lights shining in my eyeballs? OK, thanks so much. Stressed out. And I can get, you know, big alcohol delivery and then Netflix. You know, all that stuff.

39:50 OK. That answers my question. Thank you. Cool. All right, so from fire. So from fire, yeah, let's just say a healthy expression is just warmth. You know, like you meet a person, you're like, they're just radiating like this warm energy.

40:07 And I feel so nurtured and like, safe and loved around them. That would be balanced fire. And then as a very general example, you know, and this is all nuanced, so please don't don't take this as gospel. Say, if there's an imbalance, you'll see hyperactivity, manic expressions, neediness, almost like a applying for attention. And then the opposition to that would be a cold heart. So you'd see that in someone that's quite closed off and not able to express love, but also

40:44 really not able to receive, like you might say it, but it doesn't actually enter like warm sun rays into someone's body and it just sort of falls flat. So that's a brief example. So from the height and the warmth, the pinnacle of Yang in summertime, the seasons changed. And this is where Chinese medicine is a little bit different and that they have something called the late summer.

41:09 So summer continues and it's this gorgeous transitionary time between full Yang and autumn, which is the return of yin. So we have this phase change and that's late summer. So in late summer you see a heightening of earth as an element, and Earth governs the stomach and the spleen meridians. So what this means is it's a beautiful, special time to digest life, To have that moment after you've been celebrating and partying and spending your energy to like rest back, maybe with a loved one on the couch

41:48 and be like I'm fully satisfied. And actually to let that soak in before you hibernate. So it's a lovely time in life to let the foods again get a little bit warmer, start nourishing your body again, and preparing yourself for what is to come with winter. Yeah, so Earth Element people are. I love them.

42:16 They sound cozy. They're cozy. Yeah. Think of the Mama bear. You know, the earth element one would be where you come over to the house and it's like, yeah, I've got something on the stove and, oh, we're just baked cookies.

42:28 And there's a lot of generosity and sharing and just that mother, mother energy coming through, whether you're man or woman, doesn't matter. You know, we're all have a mother archetype within us. So yeah, so that's what you see.

42:42 And it can most certainly be imbalanced. And this might almost sound similar to fire element, but you can have something called dry earth. So if you're not able to fully receive through these meridians, receive in through your human experience with other people, it gets dry. And when it gets dry there's a a deep, deep depletion and a flatness and AI don't know, I want to say like a vacancy or bleakness.

43:16 So that can be one expression. Can it be remedied? Yes, yeah of course it can. And then you can see This is why I thought that I was earth element. You can see an over activity and that is the overbearing mother. So when I first started teaching yoga, I definitely had a lack of self esteem. And I would find that I would compensate for that over caring for people, over assisting, over touching, over giving of my time, acting as a counselor, when really that's not my job. I'm a yoga teacher, you know.

43:55 So yeah, you can kind of see it smother. Love's not quite the right word, but just overcompensation over giving. And then that can deplete Earth's energy as well. Yeah. So there's many ways to work with that. And again, if this is like, oh, oh, I want to learn more, research it, study it, Yeah. And you can find out so much more so then from. So before we go into the last one, I'm, you know, hearing you talk about all of them, it's allowing me to, you know, notice things of myself.

44:30 And I'm sure people listening are also being like, Oh yeah, I'm a little bit of that or I noticed that of myself. So hearing you at the beginning say like, yeah, we have all five, that kind of probably is the play there.

44:40 But then obviously, like you said, there's one that's going to be more more obvious, more expressive, more showing. But I just wanted to acknowledge that because like, you know, some of the things you're saying in the last one I was like, oh, I feel like I might do that sometimes too.

44:53 Or like I feel some elements of that at times. So just wanted to share that. And it's a beautiful beautiful reminder, you know, And like, I think all yoga philosophy, if I could say that that's a big statement. But I am that I am that I'm you. I'm all of it.

45:13 Just like you're me, you know. And and where the the challenges lie with humans is you see an expression of something that's less pleasing to what you like or identify with. And then comes that I'm not that, you know. So it's a beautiful reminder throughout this podcast.

45:30 You're all of it. You're all of it. Yeah. You might express a little bit more one way but you still hold all of it. Yeah. Just like what we see in the world where all of it, we're peace and we're war. We're all characters. Yeah.

45:45 So the wheel turns and we keep going. And from late summer the heat starts to fade away and we come to the season of autumn. So my favorite seasons and what you see is an expression in nature is now at this point, post late summer, the leaves are dried up, you know, and they're starting to fall down from the trees and fall back to the earth and everything's basically shedding its vibrancy, shedding its beauty of expression in autumn time.

46:20 And and so it's the sense of returning back down to earth, the settling of expression and really that's a preparation for winter time. So during this season you see a heightening of the metal element which might be you and metal element governs the lung, Meridian and the large intestine. So this is so much to do energetically with the art of letting go it.

46:51 This is such a high end time of shedding and the importance of shedding and releasing to really make way clear way for the deep deep absorbing of winter time that you can nourish yourself to such an essence level, not a superficial level.

47:10 So metal element is very very important. They all are. But what I love just kind of observing you in what little knowledge I have is everything from walking into your house and it's white and pristine and new and orderly and clean, you know, So these are metal expressions and and even when you mentioned earlier in the podcast, you're like, oh, could we call this a masculine expression?

47:40 Well, metal element is actually considered the masculine, so this gets a little deeper. But I mentioned in the earth element, I used the word mother quite a lot. We go deeper into that. It's mother earth energy then turns the wheel to metal. We go deeper in that.

47:59 It's called father energy. So this is the energy that comes from the sky and and it's considered divinity or divine guidance. Yeah. So the two, the two work together really beautifully. We need earth and sky as people to function with harmony and balance. So here with this element, we don't only get intuition and creative ideas, but also one of the virtues is discernment. Discernment of when to walk away from something that is no longer supporting your health and

48:35 well-being. Yeah. And to go even further, further from that, it's the appropriate timing. So we can know that something might not hold our best interest at heart. But then the timing as to when we walk away from a situation is really important because we can leave too early and that might create instability and chaos and we can leave too late, which could create imprints of trauma, you know, baggage, heaviness.

49:04 So it's that appropriate moment of when something ends and to follow that, yeah. Interesting. I'm saying. I don't know if I feel clear about it, me being metal or not. I feel like yes. But I think I need to dive deeper. Possibly. Yeah.

49:20 Mostly just because of your story of you thinking you were one and then. Yeah. And it wasn't clear. So I don't. I have a bias because I've been told something. Yeah. But when you said large intestine in lungs, I was. I've had a lot of previous issues with my lungs suffering a lot, a lot of allergies and certain challenges there. And then my margin tested in colon and having a lot of backup in there and I've coming to boot and clearing a lot of that has helped in letting go of a lot of

49:46 the staff on site. So when you were speaking like that, I was like shooting. I think she's nailing it, but I also yeah, I don't 100% know so. Absolutely. And I don't either watching you and just so everyone knows at home, I'm not a trained acupuncture therapist.

50:02 This is all just exploratory. But I appreciate that you mentioned allergies as well because that really shows up with this element. And it's also when I mentioned Sky Energy, this element connects a lot to our immune systems and also to way to an idea that there is this beautiful, almost like a sheet or coating of protective energy around the body that that protects you from external pathogens or external influences.

50:35 Yeah, Yeah. So it's all linked. And our lungs are really our best friends for processing grief. Yeah. And the importance of having the time to do that, which is why I love yin yoga so much. We need the time to be still and quiet with our eyes closed to process.

50:56 We don't get that time. The circuits get jammed. And that's when you see expressions of bronchitis, any kind of lung challenges, Big skin rashes, eczemas, psoriasis. The skin deeply connected to the lungs is an expression of the lungs. So yeah, OK.

51:16 Interesting. All right. So we've gone through the five. Pretty much. We didn't give a lot of honest to water. To winter. OK, let's, let's. Just give it a little. Yeah, let's give it. Some here we go, give it some love. The autumn leaves have fallen to the floor and then we enter the most yin of the yin of the elements and that's water element and that is governing the kidney and the urinary and bladder. So this is now traveling deep, deep, deep inside of your body to the most yin, which is your

51:49 essence, energy. And this is the part of you that you want to preserve, protect and nurture. You can imagine it like your family inheritance, and once you spend it, it's gone. This is an energy that is hard to get a loan from the bank. So that's why it's really important in winter to take time for yourself to rest, to nourish, to get to bed early, as I already mentioned.

52:18 And when this energy is banked well and it's established beautifully in the body, you see it as this, this deep, quiet presence that someone might hold, and you just know that they have wisdom. It's that admission without words. Yeah.

52:40 And when this doesn't quite get banked or established, which we see so much in Western culture, because rest is not exactly promoted growth and consumerism and work is promoted, this energy can get really, really drained and out of balance.

52:57 So it's commonly seen as insomnia, anxiety, fears, nervousness, all that kind of expression. Yeah. So my favorite favorite yen classes to teach are the water ones and just helping to really nourish the kidneys and yeah, soothe the urinary bladders that people are like and they can just rest down into their bodies and get a yummy, yummy sleep. Oh man.

53:26 Oh man. I want to, I want to. I mean we're we're we're 50 minutes in which is great and I want to talk so much more so and we probably will at some point but let's see if we can. So basically we've learned we I mean I I've learned about more about the elements and myself and then hopefully others as well can kind of like tune into like hey I think I'm learning a bit more about what I have and what I might possibly lean towards more as a as the element. So bringing it back to Yoga or

53:59 yen, let's just say because certain poses are more connected to certain parts of the body, yeah, and this is how you create a class or you you can customize to say a water based class or something like this. Is that basically what you do?

54:16 Absolutely, Yeah. And that's what's so beautiful and, you know, offers more validation. When we're talking about rivers of energy, it's like for real. But yeah, they're actually seen within the fascia alliance, the anatomy trains, you know? Yeah.

54:31 So just as a loose example, the urinary and bladder is the superficial backline of fascia. That's where you're going to see it. So a lot of forward fold patterns, whether they're on your feet or down on the floor, that's how you can clip. I like the word clip.

54:49 Common yen language is target. That's how you can target that particular Meridian, either through tension or compression. Interesting. So tension or compression. So compression would be activating or using the back body and then tension would be like stretching or lengthening or how would you describe that? Yeah.

55:11 So tension in a in a general sense would be stretching. So let's say it's looks like Pashima Tenasana, a common forward fold in yoga. In yen we call it Caterpillar has different name. So in that shape, you're folding forward, which means you're tensioning the superficial back line. But in that case, I'm kind of leaning forward. So the frontal hip joints are in flexion, which is adding a compression.

55:40 So that compression can then also stimulate, but just in a different way. So we need both. I see. Yeah. So one builds the energy, one moves the energy, and we need that. I don't know if this is the right analogy, but I like to think of a dam.

55:55 So the dam builds, the energy compresses release the dam and the energy moves. So essentially we want all energy flowing through all Meridian channels and this harmonizes the flow of chi in the body, which then relate relates to someone having a really just balanced energy disposition. Really nice.

56:15 So tension and depression both being very helpful in balance. It's basically what I'm hearing. So if we're, if we're talking about the water, you're providing, let's say a lengthening or a tension for the superficial back line and then a compression or an engagement in the superficial frontline, yeah.

56:36 Is that how that would work or is is it? Does the frontline engagement connect with the back line? So so the frontline are actually different channels. So frontline is stomach and spleen. So as an example, say if I I did the peshimol, I did the forward fold, creating that tension. Then I might choose Sphinx pose, right, which is a back bend. Now we're compressing the superficial back line, right. But it's not through muscular activity and that's the difference of yen, right.

57:06 So we're compressing through the relaxation. The bones will, you know, come together, compress a little bit, but it's not through muscular activity. That's just not clarify. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So then when it's yen, we're not really doing a lot of compression because it's not activating.

57:22 There's still compression in a sense of closing off or pressurizing something. A great example of compression would be Saddle pose or Half Saddle and active yoga. That's known as Hero no Hero's pose. Virasana. Virasana, but with a backbend.

57:41 So reclined. Reclined Verasana if you're. Wondering what that is? It's knees together, heels apart, sitting between your feet and. Then laying your body pours the floor, not necessarily touching the floor. I definitely can't do that, but.

57:54 Yeah. So then you would feel compression probably in the lumbar spine area, in the lower spine and then that would actually compress into the urinary and bladder channels. I see. Okay. Cool. That's helpful. Great. And then obviously there's a lot more.

58:09 So much more than you can go through all the elements and. We're all time for that, as much as I'd love to. But yeah, it's really making me think a bit more about my in classes and like creating sequences. Because usually when I create a sequence it's usually based off of the lines of the fascia lines, like it's a superficial frontline focus or back line focus or balance between all or something to this effect. So I'm kind of unconsciously not even really knowing that I'm doing some sort of version of

58:37 that. At least that's what it sounds like. Yeah. So that's cool. Yeah, I feel bad. And that's also the beauty, you know, for like all newer yoga teachers out there, like this stuff works. And with time, if it's of interest, we can add poetry and take people on a journey using words, which is one of my, my great passions. And to be clear, it still works.

59:00 Even if you teach with silence, even if you focus just using fashion language, it's still effective. Still medicine? Yeah, which is gorgeous. That's cool. And then if there's Yang, practice, vinyasa or whatever, power yoga, hatha, something like this. That can also incorporate a bit of these elements as well, no? Absolutely.

59:22 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Just in a different way. Yeah. Of course, Yang practice is more of an outward expression. Especially in modern day yoga, there's a lot more activity. The Yang part of classes is much longer than what it used to be, so it still is different from yen.

59:41 And that I would say yen is more medicinal for most of the elements. Yeah, and there is more detail and nuance around that, but we'll save that for another podcast. OK. Yeah, sounds good. Is there anything else that we're missing with regards to the flow of what we've delivered so far? Yeah, I think I just love to offer. Like my first teacher was Sarah Powers and her book, you know, it is a bit older now, but it's still my Bible. I go back to it again and again

1:00:11 and again. It's called Insight Yoga and what's gorgeous is she's got photos that very clearly show where the meridians are in a simple form and a non detailed form so that it's directly translating into yin yoga asanas. And then she offers an explanation of the channels of the element and also offers sequences. So if you are a newer teacher, you can just start by teaching her sequences and then the more you learn, you can refine them and and tailor them to be more

1:00:43 of your own creative expression. Cool. Yeah. All right. Insight yoga. We'll put that in the show notes for people to look up if they like. And OK, so I feel like I feel pretty good. How do you feel? I feel good. OK, cool. So what I want to now offer to our audience is if they want to reach out to you and they're curious to ask you some questions, maybe based off of this conversation or they you've said something, they're like, oh, I want to connect with this person.

1:01:10 I relate with her. How if can they first of all and how would they do that? Yeah, I love connection with the community, so anyone can find me on Instagram. I'm on my Instagram too much at Miss Persia Juliet. I have a second Instagram which is Soma Chandra Yin and that's just specific to the trainings. And beyond that, my website ispersiajuliet.com and you can get in touch with me via e-mail through my website. OK, great.

1:01:50 We'll put that all in the show notes, feel people too easily find you and then maybe just say a little bit more about your training. Is that coming up? Do you have some coming up in 2024 or maybe you know, the last month of 2023? Yeah, it's really exciting.

1:02:06 So much Chandra was birthed online during the pandemic, and this is only the second one I have at Alchemy, which is this December and it's already booked out with a wait list. Oh, wow. It's. Just a lovely feeling and also due to that intentionally I do keep them smaller. So it's more of a boutique training because the information is more deep.

1:02:28 It tends to touch people in an emotional way. I It's really important to me that I can have one-on-one time with each student just to be sure that they feel seen and and also witnessed. So the next live training is in May in Ubud at Alchemy and beyond that I've actually got some new trainings coming out weaving the theme.

1:02:52 So supporting teachers with mythology and storytelling. Yeah, and the online will come out again. I'm just shooting all new videos because my training in The Pandemic referenced that a lot. And it feels like it's from another timeline, right? Yeah, yeah.

1:03:11 So time for new videos. OK, cool. And a lot of that can be found on, probably your. My website or Instagram, Absolutely. So you can stay up to date and follow along if you're interested in any of that. That sounds awesome.

1:03:24 Cool for sure. Well, thank you so much. This has been great. I feel like I've learned so much and it's created more questions that answered my questions of my brain, but that's also a good thing. So I really appreciate you coming in to share your experience, your stories and your passion for it.

1:03:41 Yeah, love to have you back if you're if you're interested. Since we both live here and you know we can do it, why not? So maybe we'll do that in the future and we can either extend off this or we can talk about something else.

1:03:52 But either way, I'd love to be back. Only if it comes with a Maple flavored black tea. We can. We can do that. We can, we can feed the Canadian in you. Thank you SO. Much awesome. So any final words? Any final thoughts before we head off? Remember, you're never separate from the hall. You're part of everything, and everything's a part of. You Beautiful.

1:04:22 Thank you so much one last time and thank you to all you listeners for tuning in and allowing us to speak to you for the last hour and you're here. Appreciate you if you have any questions at call, you can always reach out to us as you know at podcast@goingpro.com. Otherwise, I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day and we'll speak to you next week.

1:04:43 Take care. All right. Before you go, let me just tell you about the Goingpro yoga.com platform. So right now you can go to goingproyoga.com and check it out for free for seven days where you can actually learn more about yoga in the ways of alignment, queuing, sequencing, yoga, anatomy.

1:05:00 So that if you've done a 200 hour teacher training and you want to continue to learn, practice and grow, this platform is definitely for you. So I definitely suggest checking it. Outgoing pro yoga.com right now you can try it out for free for seven days.