The Five Elements

This article might be a bit off topic compared to the rest of the articles, but it's worth it. It also continues the series, 4, 5, ... . But most importantly, it talks about timing and seasons.

To quote wikipedia:

The wuxing (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: wǔxíng), also known as the Five Elements, Five Agents, Five Movements, Five Phases, Five Planets,^[1]Five Processes, Five Stages, Five Steps, or Five Ways, is the short form of "wǔ zhǒng liúxíng zhī qì" (五種流行之氣) or "the five types of chi dominating at different times".^[2] It is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Phases" are Wood (木mù), Fire (火huǒ), Earth (土tǔ), Metal (金jīn), and Water (水shuǐ). This order of presentation is known as the "mutual generation" (相生 xiāngshēng) sequence. In the order of "mutual overcoming" (相剋/相克 xiāngkè), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.^[3][4][5]

(html comment removed: wp:paragraph )

The phases

The five phases are around 72 days each and are usually used to describe the state in nature:

Wood/Spring: a period of growth, which generates abundant wood and vitality
Fire/Summer: a period of swelling, flowering, brimming with fire and energy
Earth: the in-between transitional seasonal periods, or a separate 'season' known as Late Summer or Long Summer – in the latter case associated with leveling and dampening (moderation) and fruition
Metal/Autumn: a period of harvesting and collecting
Water/Winter: a period of retreat, where stillness and storage pervades

The most relevant thing I find is this:

And now something about foods:

Foods of the Meridian

Earth Meridian foods

Root Vegetables, Carrots, parsnip, turnips, potatoes, and all the other types of food that come from the earth.

Earth Meridian Organs

Stomach Meridian

Paired Organ : Spleen
Color : deep yellow
Peak Hours : 7am-9am
Physical Branches : Muscles, lips, mouth, saliva Functions digestion : absorption of postnatal energy
Meridian energy : Earth
Chakra : First/ Base Chakra

Spleen-Pancreas

Paired Organ : Stomach
Color : Orange yellow
Peak Hours : 9am-11am
Physical Branches : Muscles, lips, mouth, saliva, lymphatic system
Functions : Cleanses and 'modifies' the blood
Meridian energy : Earth
Chakra : First/ Base Chakra

Water Meridian Foods

Water, Mineral Water, Seafood, and Fish and all the other foods that come from the sea.

Water Meridian Organs

Bladder

Paired Organ : Kidneys
Color : deep blue
Peak Hours : 3pm-5pm
Physical Branches : autonomous nervous system
Functions : stores and eliminates urine

Kidney

Paired Organ : Bladder
Color : light flame blue
Peak Hours : 5pm-7pm
Mental Qualities : fear, paranoia
Physical Branches : ears, bones, urine, head and pubic hair, brain, marrow
Functions : stores prenatal essence, filters the blood

Fire Meridian Organs

Heart/Mind

Paired Organ: Small Intestine
Color: red with slight blue tint
Peak Hours: 11am-1pm
Physical Branches: blood, tongue, throat, sweat, facial complexion, adrenals, thyroid, prostate, pituitary
Functions: pulse/circulation, house of the spirit

Small Intestine

Paired Organ: Heart
Color: pink
Peak Hours: 1pm-3pm
Physical Branches: blood, tongue, throat, sweat, facial complexion Functions: absorbs nutrients, digestion and elimination

Nature Meridian Foods

Leafy Green vegetables, Celery, Cabbage,Wheat, Grains, Brown and white rice, Pumpkin, Beans, and peas just to name a few. and all of the other foods that come form the land.

Nature Meridian Organs

Gallbladder

Paired Organ : Liver
Color : yellow green
Peak Hours : 11pm-1am
Mental Qualities : resentment
Physical Branches : eyes, tendons, tears, nails
Functions : stores and excretes bile, one of the Six Extraordinary Organs

Liver

Paired Organ : Gallbladder
Color : deep green
Peak Hours : 1am-3am
Physical Branches : eyes, tendons, tears, nails
Functions : stores the blood, governs the free flow of qi

Ether Meridian

Good old Fresh Air, Prana breathing

Lung

Paired Organ : Large Intestine
Color : pure white
Peak Hours : 3am-5am
Physical Branches : nose, skin, body hair, mucus
Functions : accepts pure fluids from spleen, which are then mixed with air, and circulated through the meridians, circulates Wei Qi

Large Intestine

Paired Organ: Lungs
Color: off-white
Peak Hours: 5am-7am
Physical Branches: nose, skin, body hair, mucus
Functions: absorption of fluids, elimination of solid wastes

And as they say five plus a day or as it should be said Five Meridians Plus A Day will ensure good health in the meridian organs and a good vibrational flow of energy in the human energy system.

Preparation of foods is also important because there are many different away of preparing food some good and some not so good.

Grilling

Grilling food drys the food out and breaks down the balance of the meridian energy.

Baking

Can be good for meats if the meat is placed of a rack so that the fat can run free of the meat and the meridian energy holds together better if the meat is cooked slowly.

Boiling

Boiling vegetable is not so good for the meridian energy because you end up boiling the goodness out of the vegetable and you over load the vegetable with energy from the water meridian.

Streaming

Streaming foods is the best way to protect the meridian energy of the food as it locks the energy into the food as it is cooking.

And remember organic foods are always best because they hold a higher vibration then heated foods.

This is important to know about foods. The healthier and more balanced, the better. There are also some yoga/stretching postures that connects to the meridians mentioned here.