Elements – part 1

As we saw in the previous post, The elements of Chinese medicine, the continual and unending phenomena of energy throughout the natural world have an observable sequence of balance and recognizable patterns of imbalance.

The early philosophers of the medicine theory used the archetypal term ‘elements’ to describe the qualities. There is no actual material ‘elements’ involved in the framework. There is no legitimate ‘fire’ in your chest, metal in your breath, or earth in your stomach. The model of elements is to set the foundation, establish the context, and be a heading for what the subtext represents.

And what do they represent?

Better yet, what don’t they represent?

Yin, Yang, organs, meridians, directions, sounds, colour, seasons, emotions, ….

I have heard many people when first learning this say, “wait…and what relevance does this have to anything?”…

It is a ‘zoomed out’ perspective. An easy entry into understanding what is at play before you. Working as a tool for gaining reference, before honing in when necessary to observe more specific mechanisms in detail. To empower you as an individual to notice the intelligence of life, that ceaselessly transforms around you.

Picture it like this – You find one day there is a rash on your arm...

Generally, the direction of action will be to go to your local GP. He will be able to give the name of dermatitis or eczema, then write you a script for corticosteroids, then sends you home. Usually an effective treatment for the unwanted thing on your skin.

Before that, however, with a newly connected view and understanding of your body, you may closely observe this expression that has emerged, and begin noting its qualities. Is it dry and flaky, is it hot and eruptive, itchy, spreading?

The difference in qualities is of course how the GP finds the name and it is how you will discover the potential cause of the temporary imbalance. Dermatitis in autumn will likely be notably different from eczema in summer. Similarly, one that is dry on the ends of your fingers will present differently from one that is eruptive on the shoulders.

And so, where there is dryness, we moisten, where there is heat – cool down.

The body has a language to alert us, we generally are always away on mental holidays though.

Cautions and warning signs are usually being signposted prior to symptoms emerging.

Listening to dynamic patterns and noticing the fluctuations within them does offer clues into what may be on the horizon.

The 5-element theory of Traditional Chinese medicine can be more appropriately titled – The 5 phase theory. The original Chinese name, ‘wu xing’, is translated as, wu – 5, and xing – walk. The name itself is showing the primary focus is the process, not the elements.

It is an inevitable trap we land in as a result of the way we are trained to view the world from an early age. It is the fixation on the working parts, as an attempt to decipher the good from the bad.

A wonderful analogy of this I remember from a lecturer at university who was discussing cholesterol. He said, "Every time I see a car accident there is an ambulance there. Therefore, the ambulance must have caused it". He was referring to recent advancements in allopathic medicine that have found that there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ cholesterol, more so cholesterol is involved in the regulation of endothelium biomechanics, and increased levels in arteries may be an attempt to strengthen damaged endothelial tissue.

The term Allopathic is the mindset we are not stepping away from, but simply paralleling, to be complementary, not opposing.

The Latin breakdown of the word allopathic…

Allo (Alios) – other/opposite. Patho (Pathos) – disease.

I heard one professor call it, ‘Anti-medicine’… “Anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, anti-depressant, anti-psychotic…

When we are thirsty we don’t say we are going to get a cup of anti-thirst. We want hydration. That is the beautiful focus. Our perspective we are working with here in this medicine model is the same. We aren’t against anything in the body, we just gently guide it out of cycles of habit that may be harmful. Just as when someone has a nervous twitch, constantly tapping on the table with their fingers in anticipation. The friend kindly points out the unnecessary action so that awareness may step in a calm down the anxiety.