The Promise of Spring and Chinese Medicine
Spring is upon us! In Chinese medicine, springtime corresponds to the wood element. What makes this season unique and distinct from all the other seasons?
Spring is a time of growth. Trees begin their life from the sprouting of a seed. Magically, shoots press upwards through the earth and reach for the sun. From branches, buds, flowers and leaves, an intricate and beautiful structure emerges.
Similarly, when a baby is born, it is pushed through the birth canal with great force. This transition from inside the mother’s womb and into the world is also provides us with a symbol of the wood element’s creativity and forcefulness.
Sometimes wood is thwarted. When a boulder blocks the seedlings growth it will relentlessly push up to reach the sun. In Five Element theory, the force of spring corresponds to the emotion anger.
In western culture, anger is often considered to be a negative emotion, which we try to avoid at all costs. Alternatively, anger can be seen as complex; it can be a force of positive change or a force of destruction. The persistence of the wood element can help us grow and develop, especially when it is tempered with beneficence, another aspect of the wood element.
In life, problems occur when we become stuck in a single emotion and that emotion rules us. Emotions should change like the weather. That is, ideally, we would experience each emotion, integrate it’s lessons and move on, ready for what comes next.
In Five Element Acupuncture, we are concerned with the health of the body, but also with the health of the mind and spirit. When the wood element is out of balance, there is often a lack of hope and vision. In our culture we call this depression. Depression has many appearances but invariably, a depressed individual has become “frozen” in their life and is unable to move forward. For example, some people with depression are only able to whisper, afraid to assert themselves, confront others or show aggression. Others depressed individuals are always shouting and are overly aggressive. These are both patterns of a wood imbalance and prevent the individual from knowing their life’s purpose and fully enjoying all of life’s riches.
When our wood element is in good balance, we can see life’s many possibilities, make decisions about what we want and need to do, form a plan and develop the structure we need to achieve our goals. These attributes all belong to the wood element and fall under the jurisdiction of the liver and the gallbladder meridians. Each meridian functions like a member of a musical ensemble and plays an important role in our overall health and well being.
Five Element Acupuncture supports the body, mind and spirit to come into harmony, with each aspect of ourselves working in concert. The wood element provides us with hope, vision and some of the tools we need to achieve our life’s purpose. So yes, we can help you recover from your low back problem, tendonitis or respiratory infection, but we can do much, much more. For help tapping your potential call us at 973.509.8464 • 212.529.1901 or book on line to schedule an appointment.
Anger – Misunderstood and Underrated
When you argue, are plates thrown? Do fists fly? Do you make killer statements that end the conversation? Are you sorry later for what you said? In the west, anger is often considered to be a dark and difficult emotion. We associate anger with negativity, violence and relationships gone awry. Often, we believe that by using positive thoughts and affirmations we can transcend anger and not have to go there. Perhaps we are missing something important. Anger can be a purposeful.
Anger is the force of change. It is the spark that drives all creative processes, include birth, growth, personal development, transformation in relationships and political change. Without the spark of anger, everything remains the same.
If you think that expressing anger only leads to hurt, you might have a point. When we become stuck in anger, we either implode and turn it inward upon ourselves, or we explode with rage and fury. Both implosion and explosion can be damaging to ourselves and those around us, because we haven’t successfully communicated our point of view or needs. Darkness falls upon us and all in our paths.
Anger can be a positive and creative force; it gives us the push we need to overcome the difficulties and obstacles in life. Personal growth, artistic processes, human rights battles, scientific innovations, and even work itself is often fueled by anger. It drives the artist or musician to work endlessly towards a vision. Difficult challenges and personal development require a certain amount of discomfort. For most of us, change that accompanies growth is inherently difficult.
The Chinese say, emotions should change like weather. Each of the five emotions – anger, joy, sympathy, sadness and fear are important to our health. Each emotion has upsides and downsides. Ideally, each emotion is a note within a song. Getting stuck on one note or emotion is problematic. Too much or too little of any emotion is a sign of imbalance.
Anger can be overwhelming. The person who is yelling all the time is stuck – anger shuts out other experiences. Conversely, the person who is always whispering can’t assert themselves or fight for what is important. In either case, anger can lead to frustration and ultimately into despair.
What value or purpose could anger have? In Chinese medicine, anger is both the source of and the force of change. When spring arrives, shoots sprout up from the ground and rapidly become plants. In Chinese mythology, when spring arrived the fish exploded from the water into the air to become a bird.
It is easy to to forget that we are living organisms just as much affected by the the season, weather and time of the day as other animals and plants are. We breathe, evolve and fight for survival just as other other creatures and life forms do. Five Element Acupuncture utilizes our connection with nature in treatment. The inherent role that seasons play in our health is considered when diagnosing and treating mental and physical maladies.
If there is inadequate rainfall in the spring, the dry earth produces a poor crop in the summer and a meager harvest in the fall. Each season plays a vital role in the earth’s cycle.
Each of the five elements correspond to a season and an emotion. Wood is one of the five elements that relates to the spring and also to anger. An excess or deficit of wood energy adversely affects the health of an individual and shows a wood imbalance. The Five Element Acupuncturist looks for and treats the source of this imbalance.
The wood element also corresponds to the liver and gallbladder meridians. In Chinese medicine, each meridian is related to a specific organ, but also relates to both mental and emotional function.
Physically, the liver meridian relates to the liver, but it also relates to the tendons and eyes. Emotionally, the liver relates to anger, or it’s absence. Mentally, the liver relates to strategic planning. When a person is unable to make plans and go forward in their lives, there is often a wood imbalance. Substance abuse overloads the liver’s capacity. People who abuse alcohol or drugs are often unable to make or keep plans.
There are important natural cycles that affect all life on this earth. Our emotions, hormonal changes and energetic patterns are affected by the changes that occur within each day, season and lifetime. Five Element Acupuncture utilizes our connection to these cycles by viewing symptoms within the context of our environment, history, relationships, work and to nature.
Ideally, each of us has a balance of all the elements: wood, fire, metal, water and earth. In Five Element acupuncture, we work to restore this balance and support the health of the body and also the mind and spirit.
By David Frome • Acupuncture • • Tags: anger, birth, change, connection with nature, creative force, five element acupuncture, growth, liver meridian, natural cycles, personal development, spring, springtime, strategic planning, the five elements, vision, wood element