Kitabı oku: «Healing Your Emotions: Discover your five element type and change your life»
Copyright
Thorsons
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First published by Thorsons 1999
Copyright © Angela Hicks and John Hicks 1999
Angela Hicks and John Hicks asserts the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Text illustrations by Su Eaton
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Source ISBN: 9780007326402
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Version: 2017-08-14
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Author’s Note
Introduction
Chapter 1. THE FIVE ELEMENTS, CONSTITUTIONAL TYPES AND THE EMOTIONS
Chinese medicine and disease
The Five Element ‘types’
What are the Five Elements?
How do the Five Element associations connect?
How did the Chinese use the Five Element theory?
A short history of Five Element types
Finding our Five Element type
Finding the underlying cause
The Organs and the Five Elements
How did our Elemental imbalance originate?
Our Elemental imbalance and our emotions in our early life
The Organs and the emotions
Core motivators – each person has a BIG one
What are the positive emotional capacities of each Element?
What emotional experiences does a constitutionally weak Element lead to?
What has being healthy got to do with our constitutional imbalance?
Is a type always based in weakness?
What is an emotion?
How do we know someone is angry?
What is the difference between feeling angry and being an angry person?
How do emotions cause disease?
So, again, what is an emotion?
The rest of the book
How to discover your type
I Relate to Many of the Elements as I Read This Book. What Should I Do?
Help, I Can’t Decide Between Two Types
I Think I Know my Type but I’d Also Like to Do Some of the Exercises for the Other Types
Chapter 2. THE WOOD TYPE – ASSERTING OURSELVES
Delia is a Wood type
The Wood Element in nature
The background to Wood in Chinese medicine
Introduction
The Organs of the Wood Element
The Liver and Gall Bladder and its Mental-Spiritual Aspect
Our Smoothly Flowing Qi
Storing the Blood
These symptoms may arise when the Liver and Gall Bladder are weak or obstructed
Observable Signs of a Wood Type
Posture, Gestures and Facial Expression
The emotional capacity of the Wood element
Rules, Structures and Boundaries
Flexible Boundaries and Assertiveness
Emotions we experience when the ability is impaired
Frustration and Anger
Some research about anger
Ambivalence and Indecision
Excessive anger and our health
Recognizing the Emotion of a Wood Type in Everyday Life
Big Issues and unanswered questions for the Wood type
How would you know your friend is a Wood type?
Responses to the Big Issues
Organizing, Structuring and Getting Things Right
Rebelling Against the Rules
Seeking Justice
Indirectness
Not Planning or Wanting Anything
Virtues and vices of a Wood type
A famous Wood type – Christabel Pankhurst
Some golden rules for Wood types
Chapter 3. EXERCISES FOR WOOD TYPES
Introduction
Using the exercises
The exercises for Wood types
Exercise 1 – Focusing
Exercise 2 – The other’s point of view
Exercise 3 – The objective point of view
Exercise 4 – Finding what I really want
Exercise 5 – Forgiveness
Exercise 5a – Protecting ourselves
Exercise 5b – Understanding the other person
Exercise 5c – Enacting forgiveness
Exercise 6 – Beating cushions
Qigong exercise for the Liver
Chapter 4. THE FIRE TYPE – LOVING OURSELVES
Nadine is a Fire type
The Fire element in nature
The background to Fire in Chinese Medicine
Introduction
The Organs of the Fire Element
The Heart and the Heart Protector
The Mental-Spiritual aspect of the Heart
The Small Intestines and Triple Burner
These symptoms may arise when the Heart and Pericardium are weak or obstructed
Observable Signs of a Fire Type
Postures, Gestures and Facial Expression
The emotional capacity of the Fire Element
A Fire Type and Relationships
Becoming Close to Others
Opening up our Heart Protectors
Emotions we experience when the ability is impaired
Feeling Miserable and Vulnerable
The importance of our emotional ties
Fluctuating Emotions
Feeling Muddled
The benefits of happiness and laughter
Recognizing the Emotion of a Fire Type in Everyday Life
Big Issues and unanswered questions for the Fire type
How would you know your friend is a Fire type?
Responses to the Big Issues
Being Cheerful
Clowning and Performing
Opening up Inappropriately
Becoming Isolated
Closely Relating
Virtues and vices of a Fire type
A famous Fire type – Marilyn Monroe
Golden rules for Fire types
Chapter 5. EXERCISES FOR FIRE TYPES
Introduction
Using the exercises
The exercises for Fire types
Exercise 1 – Discovering you are lovable
Exercise 2 – Building relationships with the people in your life
Exercise 3 – Entering an intimate relationship
Exercise 4 – In a relationship, ask for what you want!
Exercise 5 – Resolving our feelings of shame
Exercise 6 – Taking pleasure from the world
Exercise 7 – Releasing sad feelings
Exercise 8 – The inner smile
Qigong exercise for the Heart
Chapter 6. THE EARTH TYPE – NOURISHING OURSELVES
Martine is an Earth type
The Earth Element in nature
The background to Earth in Chinese medicine
Introduction
The Organs of the Earth Element
The Stomach
The Spleen
The Mental-Spiritual Aspect of Earth
These symptoms may arise when the Stomach and Spleen are weak or obstructed
Observable signs of an Earth type
Posture, Gestures and Facial Expression
The emotional capacity of the Earth Element
Taking in Support and Nourishment
Giving Support and Nourishment
Emotions we experience when the ability is impaired
Cravings for Support, Sympathy and Understanding
The power of emotional support
Struggling to Assimilate
Empathy in our early life
Worry and Over-Thinking
Assessing the Earth type’s sympathy
Big Issues and unanswered questions for the Earth type
How would you know your friend is an Earth type?
Responses to the Big Issues
Mothering and Caring
Not Asking but Expecting
Expressing Needs a Lot
Searching for a Centre
Homemaking
Virtues and vices of an Earth type
A famous Earth type – Diana, Princess of Wales
Golden rules for Earth types
Chapter 7. EXERCISES FOR EARTH TYPES
Introduction
Using the exercises
The exercises for Earth types
Exercise 1 – Points of view – objective, other and self
Exercise 1a – The objective point of view
Exercise 1b – Experiencing another person’s point of view
Exercise 1c – My own point of view
Exercise 2 – Creating a balanced point of view
Exercise 3 – The people I care for
Exercise 4 – Dissolving your worries
Qigong exercises for earth types
Qigong exercise for reaching heaven and earth
Qigong exercise for grounding ourselves
Chapter 8. THE METAL TYPE – RESPECTING OURSELVES
Joan is a Metal type
The Metal Element in nature
The background to Metal in Chinese medicine
Introduction
The Lung
The Lung and Defensive Qi
The Mental-Spiritual Aspect of the Lungs
The Large Intestine
These symptoms may arise when the Lungs and Large Intestine are weak or obstructed
Observable Signs of a Metal Type
Posture, Gestures and Facial Expression
The Emotional Capacity of the Metal Element
Qi and Heaven
Receiving Richness and Quality
Receiving Acknowledgement and Recognition
Emotions we experience when the ability is impaired
Bereft, Grief-Stricken, Incomplete or Inadequate
Bereavement and our immune system
Not Recognized or Misunderstood
Loss and diabetes
Recognizing the Emotion of a Metal Type in Everyday Life
Big Issues and unanswered questions for the Metal type
How would you know that your friend is a Metal type?
Responses to the Big Issues
Distancing and Protecting
Doing Well and Doing More
Resignation and Cynicism
Seeking Quality
Relating to the Father
Virtues and vices of a Metal type
A famous Metal type – Richard Feynman
Golden rules for Metal types
Chapter 9. EXERCISES FOR METAL TYPES
Introduction
Using the exercises
The exercises for Metal types
Exercise 1 – Giving gifts
Exercise 2 – Receiving gifts
Exercise 3 – Educating others
Exercise 4 – Checking out my standards
Exercise 5 – Dealing with loss
Qigong exercise for moving energy through the chest
Qigong exercise for breathing fully
Chapter 10. THE WATER TYPE – REASSURING OURSELVES
Frank is a Water type
The Water Element in nature
The background to Water in Chinese medicine
Introduction
The Kidneys
The Mental-Spiritual aspect of Water
The Bladder
These symptoms may arise when the Kidneys and Bladder are weak or obstructed
Observable Signs of a Water Type
Posture, Gestures and Facial Expression
The emotional capacity of the Water Element
Assessing Risks
Protecting Ourselves Appropriately
Emotions we experience when the ability is impaired
Anxiety and Panic
Reassurance and recovery
Paralysis
Fear, Apprehension and Dread
Fear and our health
Phobias
Recognizing the Emotion of a Water Type in Everyday Life
Big Issues and unanswered questions for the Water type
How would you know that your friend is a Water type?
Responses to the Big Issues
Taking Risks
Anticipating Risks
Questioning
Fearing the Worst
Reassuring Others
Virtues and vices of a Water type
A famous Water type – President John F Kennedy
Golden rules for Water types
Chapter 11. EXERCISES FOR WATER TYPES
Introduction
Using the exercises
The exercises for Water types
Exercise 1 – Dissociating from our fears
Exercise 2 – Transforming our fear
Exercise 3 – Reclaiming our lost sensations of fear
Exercise 4 – Reassuring ourselves
Exercise 5 – Dealing with one-off fears and phobias
Qigong Dragon swimming exercise
Qigong exercise – the hula hoop
Chapter 12. THE FIVE TYPES – WHICH TYPE AM I?
Introduction
Using the questionnaire
If all else fails
Questionnaire
Appendix – Five Element type and acupuncture
Notes
Bibliography
Useful addresses
About the Authors
About the Publisher
AUTHORS’ NOTE
We have capitalized all Chinese medical terminology in this book in order to differentiate it from standard English terms.
Our thanks to all of the people who have helped us with this book, especially:
Mark Allan; Marguerite Beckerlegge; Gill Black; Janice Booth; Heather Bovey; Mark Bovey; Sally Blades; Judith Clark; Tony Connor; Di Cook; Ian Dixon; Di Eckersley; Jane Ford; Julia Funk; Rosemarie Gallagher; Gaby Hock; Sue Horne; Lizzie Hubbard; David James; Mary Kaspar; Chris Kear; Lawerence Kershen; Stella King; Magda Koc; Madelaine Molder; Carey Morgan; Keith Murray; Ilana Pearlman; Barbara Pickett; Fiona Reynoldson; Jane Robinson; Jo Rochford; Sandy Sandaver; Marcus Senior; Kath Simmonds; Deborah Thomson; Carmel Twomey; Penny Wilson; Julie Wisbey.
We would also like to thank all of the people who have come to our ‘Oral Tradition’ workshops which we set up to deepen understanding of the Five Element types.
All names have been changed for confidentiality.
Secondly, we would also like to thank the people who have taken the time to read through this book and comment on it. Especially Judith Clark, Jane Grossfeld, Sophie Hayes, Gaby Hock, Helen Knotts and Peter Mole.
Thirdly, we would like to thank everyone who contributed to our learning of NLP, especially Eileen Seymour-Watkins, Graham Dawes, Gene Early and Robert Dilts. We would also like to thank Richard Bandler, one of the co-creators of NLP.
Finally, we wish to thank all the people who have enabled us to learn this style of Chinese Medicine. Most of all we wish to thank JR Worsley who originally taught us acupuncture and demonstrated the skills of Five Element diagnosis with such elegance. We would also like to thank all of our friends and colleagues who we worked with at the Oxford Acupuncture Clinic in Farmoor including Judy Becker-Worsley Meriel Derby, Julia Measures, Peter Mole and Allegra Wint. We learned so much with you over those years. We would also like to thank all those who make the college function so well, including Helen, Wanda, Sean and Julian. Also everyone on the faculty of the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine who by their teaching give support for the development of the acupuncture and herbal medicine professions.
INTRODUCTION
WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK AND WHAT TO EXPECT FROM IT
Alex, a friend of ours, went to a Chinese doctor for some herbs — she had a number of ailments — digestive problems, headaches and insomnia. The doctor asked her questions about her health then took some minutes to carefully feel the 12 pulses on her wrist — an important part of Chinese Traditional diagnosis.
Finally the doctor sat back, his diagnosis completed. He looked her straight in the eye and told her, ‘Your problem is that you worry too much. You must stop worrying.’ Alex was — unusually — stunned to silence by the doctor’s directness. She merely nodded and said, ‘Yes I’ll stop worrying’. Later that day as we talked on the phone we all laughed as she started to worry about how to stop worrying!
This book is all about your emotions and your health. It will provide you with many important tools. One of these is to help you to identify the main emotions which repeatedly stop you from becoming healthy. For Alex this was worry. She later recognized that the wise Chinese doctor was very accurate in diagnosing this as the cause of her problems. She then set about discovering how to stop worrying. Do you think Alex could immediately stop worrying? The answer is no, of course she couldn’t.
Alex realized very quickly that it is one thing to know that our emotions are adversely affecting our health but quite another to know what to do about it. So the other tool this book will provide is many practical exercises to deal with those emotions so that we can become healthier. We hope the result will be that you feel better in every way — physically, mentally and spiritually.
About This Book
This book brings together two areas of knowledge — one Eastern and one Western. The Eastern one comes from the ancient theory of the Five Elements. The theory of the Five Elements is discussed in greater detail in the first chapter. A system of ‘constitutional types’ is derived from this theory.
This system of constitutional types describes five types of people. For each type there is a shared set of core beliefs, values and concerns, and ways of expressing ourselves emotionally. By understanding these types we can gain a head start in the process of knowing where to work on ourselves.
The Western area of knowledge comes mainly from Neuro-linguistic Programming. We are both trained as practitioners in this therapy. We also draw from other therapies such as Gestalt and a system called ‘Focusing’.
Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) has created methods which enable people to work on their deepest mental or emotional processes. These include their beliefs, attitudes, values and patterns of emotional expression. By changing these processes, people can start to experience themselves more positively and constructively. If we believe, for instance, that people like to help each other and that, generally, we can learn and grow, we will be more likely to be helped, learn and grow. If, on the other hand, we believe people are generally selfish and don’t want to help each other and that we are no good at learning and growing, then we are less likely to get help and learn and grow.1
As well as the therapies mentioned above we have added Qigong exercises which help the Organs. The Chinese have carefully researched and proved the effectiveness of these exercises for many specific diseases. In fact, Qi Gong exercises are taught in Chinese medical colleges as a method of treatment. As well as including a relevant exercise for each type we will also refer you to sources to find further ones.2
This book puts the Five Element constitutional types and therapeutic exercises together. Once we have determined our Five Element constitutional type, we have a pathway to our significant values, attitudes and patterns of emotional expression. Then, using the exercises designed for each constitutional type, we can work on the very structure which creates our world. This will in turn allow us to become more balanced. Ultimately this means smoother, more positive and more enjoyable emotions and, in the end, greater health.
How This Book Came About
As authors, we both have over 20 years of experience as practitioners of Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine teaches that healthy emotions are a natural part of living but also that certain types of emotion can cause disease. It also states that some emotions are symptoms of an illness.
We have found that Chinese medicine frequently helps people with emotional problems — even when the emotional issues are not the presenting complaint. Often a change results from treating the Organ associated with the person’s underlying constitutional type. As the person’s energy becomes stronger this in turn gives her or him a better emotional balance. This is an advantageous spiral — the more healthy we are, the easier it is to have ‘normal’ emotions which in turn helps us to be healthy.
Of course, the opposite also happens. The less healthy we are, the harder it is to balance our emotions which, in turn, can make us less well. This is a negative and downward spiral as opposed to a beneficial and upward one. For example, one patient said it was clear that the more stressed she was and the angrier she got, the worse her irritable bowel syndrome became. Of course, the cause and effect went both ways — the worse her irritable bowel syndrome, the more stressed, depressed and angry she became. When she came for treatment, she had rectal bleeding and was already on cortico-steroid drugs. The doctor said the next step would be surgery and the removal of some of her colon.
Fortunately for this woman, Chinese medicine treatments cleared her problems. She also felt more balanced emotionally. Having had Chinese medicine treatment she found that she was able effortlessly to deal with previously difficult situations. This is an example of the positive effect Chinese medicine often has on the emotions.
With other cases, we have found that treatment has helped patients to feel better in many ways but they then get stuck in recurring negative mental or emotional states. These can neutralize the previous positive effects of the treatment. If this is the case, we have found that it is helpful, as well as using Chinese medicine, to work with exercises appropriate to the person’s type. A change of beliefs, values, attitudes and mental habits can release us from these recurring negative states and thus create better health. So when, as practitioners, we wanted to say ‘Stop worrying and your energy will be more balanced’, we found there are ways to put such a recommendation into practice.
This book is not just for you to read. You will also need to engage with it. After reading it, please ponder and make some guesses as to your constitutional type. Then, you can embark on the set of exercises for your type. These exercises are not onerous or difficult and many are easy. For other exercises you may need to use your mind in new ways which may seem different or even awkward at first.
By reading about the different types and working through the relevant exercises we hope you will gain some useful insights into your internal world and thus create change in your life. Please note, however, that this book is not aimed at replacing treatment by a qualified practitioner of Chinese medicine or a trained therapist or counsellor — in fact we hope that by reading it you will feel like exploring Chinese medicine, or therapies such as NLP.
If you use these exercises, please do so with commitment, and do them gradually and repetitively. Results accumulate. We believe that you will definitely find the exercises much easier than simply stopping whatever emotions are helping to make you less well. We wish you the best of luck and would be happy to hear from you via our publisher.
Chapter 1
THE FIVE ELEMENTS, CONSTITUTIONAL TYPES AND THE EMOTIONS
A long-term study at York University1 has confirmed what many of us already intuitively know — that our negative emotions can cause disease. Psychologists tracked the progress of thousands of young students over a thirteen-year period.
At the beginning of the study, each student was monitored over the course of two terms. Tests gauged their personality, how they coped with stress and how healthy they were.
From the study the researchers found that emotions had an important effect on whether we get ill. The students who were emotionally balanced were less likely to become ill. On the other hand, the ones who:
dwelt on the past
were unable to take in support from others
got irritable from working too hard
found it difficult to express their feelings, or
were unable to remain cool in difficult situations
were more likely to become ill.
The illnesses varied from headaches to heart troubles, but it was found that the people who were most often in these negative states were likely to have more serious illnesses. The researchers noted something that Chinese medicine has known for over two thousand years. This is, that negative emotions place us under a kind of permanent stress which causes us to become unhealthy.
In this book we will be discussing this obvious truth, that repetitive negative emotional states cause us to become ill and conversely, that regular, positive and balanced emotions can help to keep us well.2
This chapter will introduce us to the Chinese view of health, disease and our emotions. It will also explain how these relate to Chinese Five Element theory and the Five Element types. This chapter will also give us a thorough background to all aspects of the Five Element types. This includes a brief history, their relationship to our Organs, how our constitutional type originates and an overview of the positive and negative capacities of the types. We will also look in greater depth at how we become ill and how we are affected by our emotions. Before we go any further, however, let’s look at how the Chinese view disease.
CHINESE MEDICINE AND DISEASE
Chinese medicine teaches that there are three main areas which cause disease. These are called External, Internal and Miscellaneous causes.3 The External causes relate to how the climate can make us ill. The Miscellaneous ones are mostly to do with how our lifestyle can affect us. It is the Internal ones, however, which we are dealing with in this book. This is because they are concerned with our emotions.
The Internal causes of disease were first noted in Chinese texts over two thousand years ago. They are clearly an even more important cause of disease in today’s society than they were at that time.
You may be wondering what the emotions have got to do with the Five Elements and the Five Element ‘types’.
THE FIVE ELEMENT ‘TYPES’
The five main constitutional types are based around what is known as the theory of the Five Elements. Along with Yin and Yang, which are the two prime forces of the universe, Five Element theory underpins the whole of Chinese medicine.
Each of these Five Elements is associated with two main organs. We will discuss these organs and Elements in greater depth in this chapter and the later ones. All of us are born with one Element which is constitutionally slightly more imbalanced than the others.4 This imbalance causes us to have repetitive negative states or difficulties expressing certain emotions.
If we have an imbalance in the Element known as ‘Wood’, for example, this is connected with the Liver and Gall Bladder organs. The associated emotions have to do with anger and assertion. An imbalance on the other hand in the Lungs and the ‘Metal Element’ will tend us more towards emotions connected with grief and loss.
By knowing and understanding our constitutional imbalance or ‘type’ we can know where our main emotional imbalance lies. This is important because it enables us to specify the key areas where greater awareness and work on ourselves will pay the greatest dividends. If, for example, the inability to grieve is a key factor, then ‘working on our anger’ is not as useful as responding to our diminished capacity for grief. After all, much of the anger may be coming from the inability to experience or express our grief.
In order to understand these types better we’ll now find out more about the Five Elements.
WHAT ARE THE FIVE ELEMENTS?
As we said earlier, the Five Elements along with Yin and Yang are an important underlying structure of Chinese medicine. Five Element theory says that the energy of the world can be divided into five movements or processes which are sometimes also called phases or Elements. We will use the term ‘Element’ as it is the one most commonly used.
The Elements are: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. They are the energetic substances or processes out of which the world is made. Each Element is defined as having a set of associations. For example, some of the associations are a Yin and a Yang Organ, a colour, a sound in the voice, a season, a taste, an odour, a direction and a climate. Through these associations arises a Five Element language to describe the world.
The Elements connect to each other via two cycles illustrated by the arrows. The cycles emphasize how aware the Chinese are of the interconnectedness of the Organs. Below is a diagram of the Five Elements and their generating and controlling cycles. Figure 1 shows the main associations of each Element.
Figure 1: THE FIVE ELEMENTS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS
HOW DO THE FIVE ELEMENT ASSOCIATIONS CONNECT?
Any situation in the world will always contain all of the Elements, but one will be dominant. As an example we’ll assume it’s a summer’s day. The sun is bright and the temperature is scorching. People are gathered together and talking a lot, bright colours such as red appear in abundance and laughter resounds.
We would say from the description above, that of all the Elements, Fire is in the ascendant. Why? Because summer, heat, speech, laughter and the colour red are all associations of Fire. So is the heart. And so is the emotion joy.
The Five Element theory is a way of connecting many aspects of the world. We can use these to determine which Element is to the fore in a situation and which Elements are in the background.
HOW DID THE CHINESE USE THE FIVE ELEMENT THEORY?
The theory of the Five Elements was originated by a Chinese philosopher, Tsou Yen, a few hundred years before the birth of Christ. Tsou Yen is thought to be the founder of Chinese scientific thought. In his first writings, he described the movement from one Element to another. This was especially with regard to the change in power from one dynastic ruler to another. His political advice and insights became highly sought after. He was consulted by the various powerful lords, emperors and feudal rulers at a time when China was a group of warring states.
Over time, however, the Five Element theory was used in agriculture, war-making, and many other practical arts as well as political organization and medicine. Some of the uses may seem rather unusual to us today, but for the Chinese they were always practical and useful in everyday life.5
In medicine, the Five Elements were used in a similar manner to the Yin-Yang theory. This was to determine the underlying causes of acute and chronic illnesses. We believe, however, that one of the Five Elements’ most successful uses lies in determining the patient’s deepest Elemental imbalance or ‘constitutional type’. This helps us to deal with chronic illness.
The way we, the authors, have been taught to determine constitutional type involves careful observation of the person’s emotional state and an understanding of the emotion associated with each Element. Hence the connection in this book between the Element types and the emotions. So where did this system of finding an underlying imbalance originate?
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FIVE ELEMENT TYPES
Five Element types were first mentioned in an ancient Chinese book called The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine.6 People have changed since that time and the different types have been described in various ways throughout Chinese history.7 Five Element types have also been described in other oriental countries such as Japan and Korea.8
The types which we describe in this book were taught to us by an acupuncture teacher called JR Worsley over twenty years ago.9
FINDING OUR FIVE ELEMENT TYPE
There are different ways of establishing which of the Elements is the one which is primarily imbalanced. The system we use, and describe in this book, starts with the notion of one Element being the weak link in the chain of the Five Elements. Because all of the Elements are linked, the Element which was originally imbalanced will affect all of the others. It will, however, also create certain recognizable characteristics in a person. These are described in the individual chapters on each type.
FINDING THE UNDERLYING CAUSE
Chinese medicine is an energetic medicine which means, among other things, that rather than just examining a person’s body, we look for the underlying or energetic cause of a patient’s problem.
We usually think that our everyday life is made up of a multitude of things, including events, thoughts, objects and people. On the other hand we can simplify a day’s events by considering our basic needs and asking ourselves if they were satisfied. We can forget all the details of what happened today and say, ‘Was today a good day?’ This is another way of saying ‘What’s underneath all my concerns? What’s important?’
The Chinese frequently look ‘underneath it all’ and ask what is happening to a person on a deeper level. For example, in Chinese medicine it is typical not only to address a patient’s symptoms, but also to look for the energetic cause which underlies the symptoms. This is often referred to as the deeper cause.
Chinese medicine teaches that our ‘Qi’ (pronounced ‘chee’) underlies all of our functioning. It is the force which warms, moves, transforms and protects everything in our bodies and minds. The Five Elements describe five important phases or variations in this underlying Qi.
THE ORGANS AND THE FIVE ELEMENTS
We mentioned earlier that each of the Five Elements has two Organs associated with it (apart from the Fire Element which has four). We’ll now take a deeper look at them. One of the Organs is a ‘Yin’ Organ and the other is a ‘Yang’ Organ and they are ‘paired’ together.
The quality of Yang is more active and external than Yin which is more still and internal. Consequently the Yin Organs lie deeper inside the body and are concerned more with storing or retaining. The Yang Organs have more to do with transformation, movement and elimination. Below is a list of the Yin and Yang Organs associated with each Element.
| Element | Yin Organ | Yang Organ |
| Wood | Liver | Gall Bladder |
| Fire | Heart | Small Intestine |
| Pericardium | Triple Burner | |
| Earth | Spleen | Stomach |
| Metal | Lungs | Large Intestine |
| Water | Kidney | Bladder |
We often refer to these Organs as an ‘Organ system’. By this we mean the Yin and Yang Organ as well as a number of other functions connected with each Organ. Because we are talking about the Chinese rather than the Western understanding of an Organ, which is similar but also very different in emphasis, we will also capitalize the name of an Organ or Organ system when we are referring to the Chinese understanding. These are discussed in greater detail in the individual chapters on each type.
HOW DID OUR ELEMENTAL IMBALANCE ORIGINATE?
It is believed that the Organs of one of the Elements is slightly imbalanced from the time we are born. We therefore call it our constitutional imbalance or type. The Organ system affects the healthy functioning of both our bodies and our minds. Where the Organs are constitutionally weaker, this will have an important effect on our personality as well as our physical health. A child born with weak Lungs will have a different life from one born with strong Lungs but weak Kidneys.
Because in this book, we are giving the greatest emphasis to the effect of the constitutional weakness on the ‘emotions’, it is important to say how the word ‘emotions’ is being used. We are using the word in its widest sense. It is more the predisposition to feel a certain way and take up certain attitudes to the world around us. We will talk more about what an emotion is in a few moments.
OUR ELEMENTAL IMBALANCE AND OUR EMOTIONS IN OUR EARLY LIFE
We have now described how one of our Organ systems is weaker from birth. The weakest one will create a tendency towards a different set of emotions experienced early in life. If it is the Heart, for instance, then the emotions we experience will be around joy and sadness. The Organs and the emotions associated with each Element are:
| Element | Emotion |
| Fire | Joy/Sadness |
| Earth | Sympathy/Worry |
| Metal | Grief/Loss |
| Water | Fear |
| Wood | Anger |
These different emotional imbalances lead to the development of different personalities, built around our different values and expectations of the world. We can put this into a diagram:
THE ORGANS AND THE EMOTIONS
Saying that an Organ system is ‘connected to’ or ‘makes an emotion possible’ may sound odd. It is not a belief we have in the West. In the West, for example, the lungs are not thought to connect with our emotions. The Five Element associations, however, say that the Lungs and grief are connected. Well-balanced Lungs can lead to the healthy expression of grief.
From our clinical experience we have seen that patients with weak Lungs often have difficulty with the expression of healthy and normal grief. When a patient’s Lungs are strengthened by treatment or exercises, their ability ‘to experience grief’ improves. The effect of the Lungs on the expression of grief is particularly important when the weakness of the Organ is constitutional. Hence the significance of the types.
What we mean exactly by ‘grief and the ability ‘to experience grief’ will be clearer in the chapter on the Metal type. For the moment, the notion of an emotion overlaps with many other parts of our personality. In the chapters on each Element we describe how at the core of a person there are five key ‘major concerns’. Although all of us have a wide range of other motivating factors in our lives, we all have some which are more important than others.
Why is this so important? It is important because it specifies which are our core weaknesses, our core strengths and, most definitely, our core sensitivities. Knowing these suggests the most fruitful place to work on ourselves.
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