What Is Water?!

💦 This week Ben asks Gabriella What Is Water?!

Listen in as they dive deep into the essence of water and discuss its nature, associations, and significance in traditional Chinese medicine. From the season of winter to the sound of groaning and the emotion of fear, discover the multifaceted aspects of water that shape our lives and well-being. Through insightful anecdotes and engaging discussion, Ben and Gabriella unravel the mysteries of the water element, offering profound insights into its role as the elixir of life. 

Tune in to uncover the secrets of water and its profound influence on our health and vitality. Don't miss out on this fascinating exploration of the first of the five elements!

Transcript

Pt.1

Ben: So Gabriella, what is Water?

Gabriella: What language do you speak Ben? Aqua, agua, eau, viz, wasser, voda, pani…

Ben: Wa’er, innit? (in strong cockney accent)

Gabriella: The elixir of life!

Ben: Wait, isn’t that a magic potion?

Gabriella: Oopsie! I mean aqua vitae! The water of life! But before we embark on our journey into the depths of the Water element, let’s take a moment to note that as I talk about the elements, you will hear me describe correspondences associated with each element, such as the Power of an element, or the parts of the body or the sense organ associated with an element. We talked about Colour, Sound, Odour and Emotion last time. These four correspondences alone are used diagnostically to detect imbalance. While observing other correspondences can contribute to us understanding the overall balance of nature in each person, they aren’t diagnostic. Check out the list of correspondences for each element on our website, www.whatsthepointacupuncture.com.

You will also notice that I’ll repeat things that you may remember me saying before. It’s not boring repetition, but an opportunity to think about something a little deeper, building those foundations! I once had a student, on the brink of his graduation, say ‘I can’t wait to graduate and learn new stuff!’ I had to tell him that we really had covered everything he needs, from now on he’d just gain a deeper and deeper understanding of it all, and thus grow as a practitioner.

Ben: Do you ever get bored of it Gabriella?

Gabriella: Never! Only the pesky questions… (not really, bring them on!) I loved every moment of my training all those years ago. I couldn’t wait for each weekend when I’d be back at college. I found it all so interesting. I didn’t miss a single day in all three years… But that makes me look like a swot -

Ben: No comment.

Gabriella: Oh yes well I guess I am a swot at heart, and proud of it! I love this stuff.

So we’re going to start our exploration of the elements with Water, and as with all the elements, the best way we can start to explore the element is to observe the season it’s associated with. So, you swots out there will remember that the season of water is… da daaah… winter.

Ben: Boo winter, boooo

Gabriella: Wimp*.* Yes, Winter is the time of year that gets a lot of bad press. “I hate the cold’ people say or ‘It’s so dark’. Personally I love the winter, you can always put more layers on to keep warm and the fact we have shorter days in winter means we get those lovely long days in the summer - we can’t have one without the other!

Ben: The Yin & The Yang

Gabriella: That’s right Ben, well remembered! Nowadays we humans don’t have so much to worry about in winter as our ancestors had. But let’s turn back time a little and think back to when we didn’t have food shipped in an instant across the world, or appliances like fridges to store it in. Not only did we have to weather the cold, we had to make sure we had enough food stored to get us through these sparse months. It was a very real matter of survival. Of course winter vegetables could sustain us, and whatever else we’d been able to store and preserve from the glut of the harvest, but there was never the abundance of food that’s available at other times of year. And how much we could grow would always depend on how harsh the winter was.

So let’s take a look at nature during winter. We see the bare silhouettes of deciduous trees and shrubs stripped of foliage. Herbaceous perennial plants die back, spending a dormant period over winter preparing to burst back into life the following spring. The air feels still. It’s quiet out there.

Ben: Is there anything going on at all?

Gabriella: Something is happening, but it’s all hidden… underground… so from where we are it all seems, well, lifeless and barren. Winter is the phase where we’re further away from the sun due to the tilt of the earth, therefore there’s less light in the shorter days and less warmth. Energy is being preserved wherever possible. Nature has retracted. Everything is underground, hidden within. Seeds that fell to the ground in late summer and autumn winkle their way downwards and sit snug, awaiting the moment when changes around them give the green flag to start growing. But not yet. First, winter must pass, reserves must build: if these little seeds jump the gun it will result in failure so the right moment must be carefully gauged.

Winter is a perfect time for us to reflect, go inwards. This is one of the reasons that many people are exhausted because they don’t take advantage of nature’s gift of shorter days and opportunities for rest and reflection. By overexerting yourself at this time of year, it can lead to poor health. If we don’t build up those reserves, it could result in burnout. This is why it’s important to pay attention to the energy of each season.

We can provide food for our pets year long, but what about all those animals outside in nature? How do they get through these months? Most build up stores of fat, taking advantage of the glut nature offers earlier in the year. Some of them hibernate, their energy winding down to just what’s needed to keep them alive. Those that don’t hibernate reduce their activity to preserve what energy they have.

Winter is the most yin time of the year. Remember back to the yin qualities we discussed a couple of weeks ago?

Ben: Cold, dark, damp, introvert, hidden, soft.

Gabriella: Yes, those are all qualities of yin.

Ben: Who’s the swot now?

Gabriella: Very well done, Ben. Good student. So let’s think about Water and why the season of winter is the corresponding season.

What is the nature of water? Why not try this simple exercise after the show. Run a tap, hold both hands cupped together as tightly as possible, and collect a little pool of water. Now see how long it stays there. I bet you that within 2 or 3 minutes, it has all slipped through the tiniest cracks it can find between your fingers and two joined hands. Bound by the law of gravity, water can only go downwards. Water will go to the lowest place. It needs a container, or it will continue in a downwards direction until it finds something that will contain it. That could be anything from a glass in our home to the deep basin of an ocean.

So that’s water in the form that probably comes to mind first when you hear the word water. But it can take many forms, including: Ice. Cloud. Mist. Snow. Steam. Glacier. Water can be solid, liquid or gaseous.

Ben: Wow! All those different forms of water. Wasn’t it Bruce Lee who said ‘Be water, my friend’?

Gabriella: It was Ben. One of the vital qualities water gives us is flow, or fluidity. Not just all that flows within us, but how our life flows. What Bruce Lee meant in that quote was to be formless. Fluid. Not trapped in a certain mindset. By adopting the qualities of water, we can adapt to certain situations, we can grow and change.

Water will find its way around any obstacle. Think of how a river cuts its path, even through hard rock on its relentless journey to the sea or a lake, so from the Water element comes will, tenacity and ambition.

Leonardo Da Vinci said “Water is the driving force of all nature” and it’s true - every living thing on this planet needs water. Without it, life as we know it would not exist. And life exists wherever there is water.

The colour of water is blue or blue/black.

Ben: Blue? But water is surely clear, without a colour?!

Gabriella: I’ve never heard anyone talk of the deep, colourless sea, Ben! Water in small quantities does appear colourless, but pure water has a slight blue tinge that becomes deeper as the volume increases. Water’s blue hue is an intrinsic property caused by the absorption and scattering of blue light. Also, bear in mind that water reflects and appears to take on the colours around it. Much of the water on earth is reflecting the blue of the sky, and as you get deeper into the water, it gets darker and darker until you reach where no light from the sun can get to it, where we can call it black.

Ben: Is the Yellow River really blue then?

Gabriella: There are rivers that are named after their apparent colour: the Yellow River in China, the Red River in the Southern US, or the Dudh Koshi, (or Milky River) in Nepal to name a few. These rivers were named because of the colour of minerals mixed in their waters. Or in the case of the Milky River, after the colour of the foam created or ‘white water’ running over many rapids. But the predominant appearance of water to us, what we see when we see the waters of our planet in photos taken from space, is blue.

The fact that water reflects is not only about colour. The water element’s reflective quality gives us the ability to reflect - upon life, upon things we’ve done. Imagine a great lake on a still day: water gives us stillness, depth and introspection.

Do you find it exhilarating just being by the sea? Here’s something to reflect on: have you ever watched a wave crashing on a beach? Did it ever occur to you that each wave that breaks on the shoreline may have travelled thousands of miles before you witness its grand finale? And on that note, let’s reflect while we take a break.

Pt.2

Ben: So what about odour. Water doesn’t smell of anything surely?

Gabriella: The odour of water is putrid. What water does within nature, and within us, is to flow. When the flow is obstructed or too weak the water becomes stagnant, giving out an odour which we call putrid. Have you ever emptied out the water in a washing machine or a dishwasher? Have a sniff of this if you can - it’s a good example of stagnant, putrid water. Or of course in nature. There’s often a side of a pond where all the debris collects and there’s no fresh flow flushing it through and cleansing it. This will smell putrid with all the dead, wet matter sitting stagnant in it.

The sound of water is groaning. The definition of groaning in the dictionary is “to make a deep inarticulate sound conveying pain, despair, pleasure, etc.” or of an object “to make a low creaking sound when pressure or weight is applied”.

So ‘groan’ is a deep or low creaking sound. Think of the sound of the sea or the sound of a river. Water makes a sound as it moves, whether it’s the tidal laps of waves on the shore, the babbling of a brook, the crash of a waterfall or the flow of a large river. The nature of water is to flow, so a groan can be like the constant sound of a body of water, or it can be stop/start and out of rhythm, as if there’s no flow.

Ben: Got it. And what’s the emotion associated with Water?

Gabriella: So the emotion of water is fear.

Ladywell swimming baths, early 1970s. Three diving boards at different levels. I was around 7, and hadn’t learned to dive, all I could do was to jump in from the lowest board. My brothers would show off, snarkily climbing up to the highest board, Chris sometimes even thumbing his nose with a ner, ner, na ner,ner before diving off, as little ‘Thig’ (as they liked to call me) watched enviously on from down below. I’d looked up many times, wondering when I’d be able to get up there. One day, I craned my neck yet again to eye up the high board. I told myself ‘I can do it. I’m NOT going to let them have the satisfaction of teasing me again all the way home.’ So, summoning all her WILL, brave little Gab marched over to the metal stairs of the high board, and step by step, up she climbed, all the way to the platform, 5 metres high. My heart was racing but I had to do it. Pride would not let me turn back. So, I edged up to the precipice, looked over. The water looked so far down below. I swayed in fear. Took a deep breath, held my nose, ‘it’s now or never!’ and jumped right off! Time slowed down as I sailed down through the air… when with a giant splash I plunged into the water so hard that my feet hit the bottom of the deep end! And then, panic set in. I needed to breathe but I couldn’t. My little legs were paddling so hard to push me upwards but the resistance of the water was greater. It was taking forever to bob back up to the surface. How much longer can I hold my breath? Help! I’m going to die! I still shudder with the memory of that panic. I gasped for breath when I finally got there, overwhelmed with relief, shivering from the panic. Pride took over when (almost) cool as a cucumber I swam to the edge, and clambered out with a triumphant expression of satisfaction masking the residue of inner panic, pretending that my body shivering all over was simply the cold water. That was my first - and last jump from the high board!

It’s easy to understand why the emotion associated with water would be fear. Fear of drowning, fear of destruction coming from the forces of nature, flooding, the sheer fatal force of a Tsunami, the tremendous power of an avalanche or - how about lack of water?

Ben: Gosh yes. Imagine how it would be if you turned the tap on and no water came out? Or what if filthy, contaminated and undrinkable water was all you could get your hands on? Oh I just remembered, when I was younger I visited Morocco and I met some kids who had to travel far in the mornings to pick up fresh water for the whole family before they’d even gone to school! A human can survive approximately 3 days without water, so there was no skiving this chore with no alternative source of water closer to them.

Gabriella: And do we ever stop to think that this is the case for so many people in the world, when we can just turn the tap on and there it is! So let’s come back to the season of water for a moment. We’ve talked about storing away reserves that we can draw upon over winter months. The element of water gives us the endurance to get through these difficult times, the will to make it through the winter until times of plenty return. Think about different bodies of water in nature: from a tiny babbling brook, a fresh spring, streams, rivers, waterfalls, lakes and oceans. Water has no container of its own, it fills where it flows. Bound by the laws of gravity, it’s relentless in its quest to go to the deepest place, it finds its way around any obstacle, it cuts through rock forging the path of a river and fills the deep basins of the oceans.

Ben: Are there any other correspondences?

Gabriella: Yes. For example, the climate of water is, perhaps not surprisingly, cold. The direction is North, where the planet’s temperature is at its coldest in the frozen pole (China of course being in the Northern hemisphere).

The sense organ of water is the ear. Fluid is necessary in the ears in order for us to hear sounds: so you’re able to listen to this podcast by virtue of the Water element! Water provides a reservoir of fluids essential for our bodies to function. On average, we’re made up of 60% water. Brain cells communicate via electrical impulses, and water is a great conductor of electricity so it’s no wonder our brains contain around 80 to 85% water! We’re bathed in the waters of the amniotic fluids in our mother’s wombs for the first 9 months of our lives. Other organs are made up of 70 to 85% water, even teeth and bones contain water. Bones are the part of the body the water element is responsible for and this actually includes the brain as it was seen in ancient Chinese traditions as similar matter to bone marrow. Regardless of how much water content they hold, all parts of the body need water in order to work properly. As I said at the beginning, aqua vitae!

Ben: Which for those of you who didn’t take Latin at school, means ‘the water of life’

Gabriella: The taste is salty, no leap of faith required there if you’ve ever had a mouthful of sea water.

Each element has a pair of organs associated with it. The organs of water are (not surprisingly) the bladder & The kidney. We’ll have an episode on each of these in future series of the podcast, and go into the unique functions each of them provides, so stay tuned to find out more!

Let’s finish this episode with another vital function that water performs. Water is cleansing. When it rains, before each raindrop hits the ground it will attract many tiny aerosol particles to its surface, clearing the air of pollutants such as soot, sulphates and organic particles. We bathe or shower in water, we use water to clean our environment. And water also performs this essential function within us. I advise patients to drink sufficient quantities of water - the looks I get back sometimes! Think about a body of water that has become stagnant, polluted with gunk and rubbish because there’s no clean water flowing through it to cleanse it. Do you really want a stagnant and polluted body, full of toxins that your body has had to hold onto because you’re not rinsing it out with fresh water?

Ben: (glug glug sounds)

Gabriella: Water is so versatile. Its qualities can be purifying, quieting, soothing, terrifying, refreshing, invigorating and destructive. As with everything, balance is key, too much, we drown, too little we dry up.

Ben: My thirst for knowledge will certainly never dry up!

Conclusion

Ben: So what’s the point? What does the nature of Water have to do with sticking very fine metal needles into humans?

Gabriella: Well, tell me Ben, what have you learned?

Ben: I’ve learned that our bodies are made up of 60% water, and our brains are 85% water, so I can imagine how important this element is to us. Fluid is vital for life and we’re talking about a system of medicine that recognises Qi energy as our vital life force - and energy needs to flow, it can’t stay stagnant if we’re to remain well. So water gives us flow. It cleanses and gives us reserves to draw upon.

Gabriella: I’m almost tempted to give you a Gold star for that Ben!

Ben: I’ll believe it when I see it.

Gabriella: As we continue our journey through the five elements, we'll dive even deeper into each one, exploring their unique qualities, correspondences, and how they influence our health and balance. When I start talking about the organs of the element, that’s when we’ll really start to learn how this all relates to the practice of acupuncture. Remember, the Water element is just the beginning or where we chose to start, as of course, there’s no beginning and no end.

Ben: That’s goodbye for now everyone…

Gabriella: Watershame!

Ben: …And we’ll see you in our next episode where I’ll ask Gabriella, What Is Wood?!

Gabriella: Goodbye for now!

Ben: Bye!