Hi, it’s Victor! You’re receiving this because you were a subscriber of my old newsletter Align Centre, joined one of my workshops, received a session, or shared interest in this work. If you’re not interested, click here to unsubscribe.

The maple leaves are starting to drop, the evenings descend a little faster, and the cool evening dew greets what’s uncovered. A few weeks ago here in the Comox Valley, our Tuesday Flow Jams stretched past 9:30p, now we’re reaching for our hoodies by the time the sun sets at 7:30p.

As organic master gardener and entomologist Linda Gilkeson recommends, these early fallen maple leaves are the best ones to save for later compost, while they’re still dry and easy to store.

And in Traditional Chinese Medicine, late summer is sometimes described as its own season, connected to the Earth element. It sits between the bright, joyful, outward Yang energy of summer Fire and the clearer, more descending Yin energy of autumn Metal.

This is the invitation of Earth: to gather what has fallen, digest what has been lived during the fire-y summer (in more ways than one), and turn this brightness of summer into nourishment for what comes next.

Reading time was exchanged for festivals and hikes this summer, but as the seasons change, and in preparation for our Elements training in October, I’ve been diving back into the Five Elements.

I’m still reading John Kirkwood’s The Way of the Five Seasons alongside Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine, and writing this newsletter is part of the practice. I’m sharing as a student of the work, learning Earth by paying attention to how it shows up in daily life.

For me, this looks like reaching out to dear friends who live far away, checking in on friends with newborns who I do a poor job of keeping in touch with, organizing the house, reviewing work priorities, and preparing for fall and winter.

In simple terms, the Earth element is connected to nourishment, digestion, steadiness, and the centre. When that centre feels strained, it can show up as fatigue, low energy after meals, worry, rumination, anxiety, or the feeling of being scattered and ungrounded.

This is where Zenthai Shiatsu feels especially supportive. For anyone moving through transition, overwhelm, or the after-effects of a full summer, a treatment can be a way to come back into the body, feel held, and let the nervous system settle.

Book a treatment here: www.victorlai.ca

Try it yourself: Choose one small Earth practice this week. Reach out to someone you didn’t see this summer but wish you had. Cook something yellow and grounding, like squash, corn, potatoes, chickpeas, ginger, turmeric, or a simple soup. Or bookend your day with five quiet minutes in the morning to set an intention, and five minutes in the evening to reflect.

With a friend or partner: Ask each other:
What from summer nourished you?
What are you still digesting?
What are you ready to set down?

One of the Chinese characters I’ve been sitting with lately is 思, sī, which can mean to think, reflect, or contemplate.

In its modern form, it looks like 田 over 心, often read visually as “field” over “heart.”

But, like many Chinese characters, there is a history and different interpretations. One reading is that earlier forms of 思 are connected to 囟, the fontanelle, or soft spot at the top of a baby’s head, rather than simply “field + heart.”

So the character carries this beautiful image of thought as something rooted in both head and heart, not isolated in the brain alone.

After the outward brightness of Fire, Earth invites us back to centre. In fact, in the Five Element cycle, Earth is often understood as the centre: the place we return to for nourishment, digestion, and steadiness.

But it’s not only about thinking about what happened, but also allowing it to sink in. Digesting the fullness of summer through the body, the home, the garden, the meal, and in relationships.

If late summer is a time to digest the fullness of Fire, Enliven gave me plenty to digest.

Over the August long weekend I attended the Enliven Wellness Festival in Princeton for the first time, offering Zenthai Shiatsu treatments with the Westcoast Zenthai team. We were fully booked from 9a to 9p for four days! And luckily we only had half a day of smoke from the wildfires.

I came away with a lot of gratitude for our team: Bara and Hailey, my fellow 9-month therapists, and Clara and her partner Dan. We knew we could depend on each other and would step up whenever one needed support.

It’s an amazing festival with beautiful people, workshops, music, and connections, and we had the privilege to give Zenthai. The work felt easy at times, like people were ready to receive, already primed for transformation. We were simply conduits meeting them there.

An example of the incredible feedback we received in the guest book.

Earlier in the summer I also offered a workshop at Pachena Bay Music Festival, at the north end of the West Coast Trail. I tried a new way of teaching, which can get my nerves up, but like Otherworld, it’s as good a container as any to try things. And it went so well – it felt more natural, more like myself, less led by the technical details and my Capricorn brain, and more guided by play, connection, and the pure joy of getting to share these practices that have moved me so much.

And now today, our next Level 1 training begins at The Shire.

The training and the waitlist are full, which speaks to the need for this work. And the Shire is one of my favourite places in the world! The Cowichan River is just around the corner, where the salmon are running, held by lovely the stewards of the land, with a friend preparing delicious lunches for the group.

It feels like a great book end to the season.

With fall officially next week, I’ve opened up more space in my treatment schedule again.

If you’re feeling scattered, tired, full, or ready for a seasonal reset, I’d love to see you for a Zenthai Shiatsu session in Courtenay.

Book a Zenthai Shiatsu treatment with me in Courtenay here: https://book.victorlai.ca/massage

I’ll also be offering an Earth Element Zenthai workshop at Saunapalooza at Smith Lake Farm just outside the Comox Valley on Saturday, September 26. It’s a fun one day festival of movement, music, saunas, and cold plunges in the lake. And don’t miss DJ ReSister’s accompanied with live trumpet, which was my favourite set at Pachena Bay! Get tickets here.

Finally, if you’re feeling called to learn more about the elements, the Zenthai Elements Retreat & Digital Detox, led by Clara and assisted by me, is being held at a friend’s lakehouse on Quadra Island, October 22-25. It’s the first time this training has been offered in North America. This can also be used as a prereq to the 9-month Zenthai Therapist Program starting in Spring 2027. Less than four spots remain, register here.

As we move from Fire to Earth to Metal season, I hope you find a few moments to slow down and notice what fed you.

What nourished you.

What taught you.

What is ready to become compost for the season ahead.

May you reach toward the people and practices that help you feel centred again.

Reply to this email and let me know:
What from summer are you still digesting, and what would help you feel more grounded as fall begins?

A few ways to connect:

Until next touch, 

Victor

Na a na wa roka paya ti vinas santi.

May all illness and suffering be cleared. May the body, heart, and mind be free from harm. May health, happiness and peace be restored.
- Traditional Thai Healing Prayer