We've already talked about Qi, and today we're talking about the 5 elements. 5 element theory moves beyond the basics of what energy is, and begins to detail how different kinds of energies interact with one another. This concept of energetic “categories” is paralleled in traditional medicine systems all over the world (think of doshas in ayruveda), and represents a fundamental understanding of how nature behaves.
In TCM, we break everything down into 5 elements: earth, metal, water, wood, and fire. Each of these elements “generates” one another (you burn wood to make fire), and each of these elements “controls” one another (you use water to put out and control a fire). These relationships are intertwined and cyclical.
The Generating Cycle:
Water —> Wood —> Fire —> Earth —> Metal —> Water
(represented in the circular generating cycle in the image above)
The Controlling Cycle:
Water —> Fire —> Metal —> Wood —> Earth —> Water
(represented in the "star" controlling cycle in the image above)
Each element is associated with particular colors, seasons, flavors, emotions, and organs.
Reading through these descriptions, you may find one in particular springs out as most “like you.” If you have a sweet tooth that gets more intense when you’ve been working or studying hard and hate humidity, you could be an “earth” person. If you tend to be irritable, dislike windy weather, and have a penchant for lemons or pickles you could be a “wood” person. It’s common for one element to predominate in your body, but ultimately you probably have a little bit from every element.
Disharmony arises when one of the elements gets out of balance. This week, I had a patient who was suffering with a great loss in her life. She was experiencing a lot of grief, and the intense sadness was weakening her “metal” energy. As a result, the metal energy in her body was too weak to appropriately control her “wood” energy. This meant in addition to the symptoms she was having consistent with her metal energy being weak (sadness, inability to breathe deeply, aching in her chest, dry skin), she was also experiencing excess wood symptoms (outbursts of anger, waking at 3am, temporal headaches). To correct the imbalance, we look at what element “generates” metal. By strengthening this element, we can help it to generate, support, and tonify her weak metal energy throughout this emotionally difficult time.
The element that generates metal, is earth. In addition to acupuncture and herbs, I recommended that she consume foods that support her earth element (“sweet” veggies like sweet potatoes, beets, corn, and carrots), and avoid foods that weaken it (“damp” foods like dairy and refined sugar). Over time, we can correct the imbalance by nurturing her earth element, so it can generate metal.
What element do you feel predominates most in you? I’d love to know!
