How the Five Elements of Acupuncture can help you

The 5 Elements of acupuncture are:  Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.  They all occur in Nature.
Each one rules a specific season (the 5th season is Late Summer, ruled by Earth) and time of day
(known as the "Chinese Clock").

In addition, each element rules specific parts of the body.  Most important, each element has a
corresponding color, sound, odor, and emotion, which help determine a patient's Constitutional
Factor (CF).  The CF is the element most dominant in an individual.  By knowing this, the
acupuncturist can treat the patient at a much deeper level, which results in a better
outcome.

You may be familiar with my seasonal newsletters, which I e-mail to patients and
everyone else on my mailing lists.  They go into more depth about each element. 

One of the most fascinating things about the Five Elements is how they can help you
understand the people in your life (and you).  You can use the elements to deal with
challenging people, once you understand how each element controls another one
(the Ko or K'e cycle).

For example, Earth controls Water.  Think of Earth as a dam that keeps a rushing river
from overflowing and flooding its banks.  Earth is all about nurturing and nourishing,
and being centered and grounded.  The emotions connected with it are sympathy
(when you are in balance) and worry (when you are out of balance).

If you are worried to the point of ruminating or obsessing, your Earth energy becomes
depleted and then it's just a question of time before your Water energy collapses,
leaving you anxious, and in extreme cases, panicked.

You can prevent that by building your Earth energy through activities such as
gardening, cooking, walking, and receiving massages or acupuncture.  If
someone close to you expresses fear, you can help him or her by offering
sympathy and nurturing that person, which will help create a sense of stability
and safety.

In future blogs, I'll explain the other elements and how they control each other.
If you would like to know how to handle a specific problem in yourself,
a co-worker, friend, or relative, please write me in the Comments section here,
and I'll answer you in my next blog.  Thanks for your interest!