People who show strong Metal element aspects aspire to higher standards. They are perfectionists, who wrestle issues to bring out the best from themselves. Metals are on such a spiritual journey that sometimes they block the realities of life. They live in their heads and therefore can disconnect from their bodies, as well. Metals can appear as if they have a \u201cgreaterthan-thou\u201d attitude with their heads held high, as they glide proudly into a room. They will never show their emotions outwardly and can form a hard exterior, like armor. This protects them from being hurt, but it also does not let anyone in. Metals can stuff the emotion of grief within them, which can lead to skin issues, digestive problems and constipation. Imbalanced, the Metal person can detach from people at a moment\u2019s notice, even from their best friends if they feel impeded on their spiritual paths. Metal\u2019s lesson is to learn to work with their feelings and relationship connections. Who best to teach them this than their \u201cMother,\u201d the Earth? Metals need a movement that brings them out of their heads and connects them back to their bodies and other people. Community dancing and natural dances such as belly dancing, Hawaiian, African, and reggae dancing can bring them back to this compassionate connection. These grounded dances are perfect for getting us out of our heads and into our bodies. Being in a movement class where there is a connection to others will be hard for the solo Metal, but this is what they need for better balance.<\/p>

Earth Exercise for Metal Element<\/h3>

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With your bare feet on the soil or grass, stand and feel your connection to the earth. Widely stretch open your arms, as you also open your chest. Meet your hands in front of you, as if you are holding a big beach ball and round your back. Go back and forth, breathing in as you grasp your world and as you let go, move your arms back and make the sound \u201cSssssss\u201d\u2014as if you are letting go of everything you hold dear. Breathe in and out as you continue this motion.<\/p>

The Earth Element<\/h3>

Earth personalities are very compassionate. Like a tending mother, they take care of everyone, leaving very little time or energy for themselves. Their lessons are to give back to themselves. Imbalanced, they can be like an over protective and meddling mother. It is more difficult for an Earth to metabolize food or situations, so they tend to be very curvy or round, holding onto a lot more fat in their bodies than other elements would. When energy gets stuck in an Earth element body, they tend to have circulation problems, leading to possible blood clots and tumors.<\/p>

Earth\u2019s \u201cMother\u201d is Fire. The Fire element is all about blood and circulation. Earths love when things are in harmony, so quick stressful change can be hard on them. Fires metabolize situations quickly, and they usually have quick metabolisms as well. Earths need a form of activity that helps them speed up their metabolism to allow their bodies to absorb fat efficiently. Fast African dance, salsa, zumba or aerobic dancing would be great for their unique body types. Leaving the house and family once a week to do something for themselves, like a dance class, would be a healthy balance for the Earth person who tends to everyone else\u2019s needs.<\/p>

Movement may be a medicine for your own healing within your explorative journey.<\/h4>

Fire Exercise for Earth Element<\/h3>

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A few times a week, put on your favorite fast paced rock \u2018n roll, pop or world music and dance for about 20 minutes. Just dance, joyously and wildly like no one is watching! You can even do this while cleaning the house. As you cool down, sit comfortably and hold your heart chakra (located in the center of your chest) and bring in feelings of self-love with the humming sound of \u201cMmmm.\u201d<\/p>

The Fire Element<\/h3>

Let us look at the last element on our wheel\u2014Fire. People with the strength of the Fire element are dramatic. They are the life of the party, bringing joyous laughter and positive outlooks on life. Like happy-golucky optimists, Fires can have a sense of being ungrounded. Therefore, they can seem very scattered and disorganized in their lives, in their emotions and sometimes even in their relationships. The \u201cMother\u201d of Fire is Wood.<\/p>

The Wood movement brings focus for better grounding to make necessary decisions in life. It is helpful for a Fire to go towards a wood movement like martial arts, which is organized and disciplined. Decisions and commitments are also hard for Fires to make and keep; this is part of the Fire\u2019s lesson. Fires tend to wear happy masks that make everything seem as if all is fine, but then they experience shocking bursts of anger that rage out of control, burning down everyone in their path. Martial arts carry a certain quality of aggression that is expressed outwardly and directly, still maintaining a sense of boundary and discipline. Drumming too, can help maintain a structure where a Fire can keep a steady rhythm and therefore help balance their own fiery natures.<\/p>

Wood Exercise for Fire Element<\/h3>

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Put on some drumming music and begin to make movements of stomping, kicking, blocking and chopping with your arms and legs, as if you are releasing aggression and moving obstacles away from your body. Use the quick sound \u201cShhhh\u201d\u2014to express your stuck emotions. After the music has stopped, sit down to calm and ground yourself, placing both hands on the floor in front of you. Breathe and feel your heart beat alive and steady as it comes to a rest.<\/p>

Experiment with the Five Elements for yourself and find which element you connect with the most. Movement may be a medicine for your own healing within your explorative journey. When we learn the qualities of each of the Five Elements, we begin to find compassion for those around us, knowing that we are all on a path of discovery and evolution. Our relationships become easier as we learn to relate to each other\u2019s rhythms. We can better understand the ways each element flows into the next and we can begin to recognize that by shifting and stretching our own lives, we can meet each other\u2019s needs as well as our own. In the Orient, they say that the Sixth Element is \u201cSympathy for the Self.\u201d Learning the language of our body\u2019s unique energy, we create an inner language as a way to listen and connect to ourselves through movement. In this way, we become our own therapists, shedding our inner obstacles in order to really love our whole being. Bringing sympathy to ourselves and to our path\u2019s lessons, we dance and let go of the mistakes we have made, and eventually stand in complete and utter Self-love, ready to learn new dance steps on our evolving adventure<\/p>

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