five elements

Alchemy of Chinese Herbs

Photography Wendy Brown

Herbs and roots are life-nourishing.

They are sustenance as well as medicine,

and convey nature’s forces. 

Through their connection to the natural world, herbs and roots of Chinese medicine imbue their resonance with these forces within us.

Regulated by the rhythms of Yin and Yang, influenced by the 5 elements (sun, soil, minerals, water, and other trees and plants), and through their ability to adapt to the climatic factors of heat and cold, wind, dryness and dampness, herbs renew our resilience. 

The immortal Mágū, collecting medicinal roots, fruits and plants

Immortal Mágū collecting medicinal roots, fruits and plants

Chinese medicine has a long history of practices that propagate life; practices to nourish and prolong life through our mental-physical-spiritual oneness with nature. Such concepts and knowledge of creating rarified, spiritual states of being and longevity have passed through Taoist lineages, preserving the Three Treasures Jīng, Qì and Shen.

BURDOCK ROOT

The energetic nature of herbs and other organic substantive matter, in their particular parts, collected and prepared specifically to confer the essence of their elemental forces, guide and help to make whole.

 

 

 

Posted by Wendy in analytical

Late Summer, The Fifth Season

www.ElementalChanges.com Earth Element Late Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 5th elemental season in oriental cosmology is known as “Late Summer” and known as the elemental season of Earth. This is a season of abundance and flourishing life. Balanced Earth energy always provides a solid foundation upon which further endeavors can be based.

The golden season of late summer as regarded in Chinese 5 element cosmology, is the point in the progression of the seasons when nature itself is abundantly imbued in thickness, weight, and is in the culminating stage of growth and fruition that makes way for harvest. Late summer is considered to be the fifth season and has its elemental correspondence within the Earth element, axis of the five elements. Earth secures the human microcosm with the virtues of integrity, trust, loyalty, empathy, reciprocity and is also the seat of intellect. When one is in thought, vital blood of the Heart ascends to the brain. The capacity for thought and contemplation supports our life’s momentum by integrating, enriching, and providing the ripeness to nourish our destiny.

May All Welcome the Prosperity that comes of Kindness and Sharing

Posted by Wendy in analytical

THE FIVE ELEMENTS IN LIVING FORM ☯

elementalchanges.com five elements living form

Nurturing core elemental tendencies while simultaneously balancing states of excess through a combination of diet, Chinese herbs and acupuncture and other mind-body techniques, we maintain innate elemental tendencies; transforming what may be hindrances into assets.

FIRE TYPES ☯ Are jovial pleasure-seekers. They like to relax, socialize and have fun. They often seek thrills and excitement, and love to entertain others. They are fascinated by sensory stimuli and often get carried away by the carnival of light, sound and image that the world presents. They often dislike school because it is not fun and the dislike grows as they get older and the workload intensifies. They try to make things more amusing by becoming the class entertainer.

 

EARTH TYPES ☯ Are all about the social world. They view their worth in terms of interpersonal relationships and they seek social contact. They want to fit in, and often play the role of peacemaker. These are the constant-talkers who get in trouble because they can not contain the need to connect with others. Quiet study periods are torture to them. Social matters are foremost in their minds, and they fret incessantly about who’s talking to whom and who will sit with them at lunch, all seeming far more important than their lessons.

METAL TYPES ☯ Are highly sensitive and detail-oriented. They see things few others do, and have an innate sense of order, beauty and perfection. They seek control and like to see their visions met. They value precision; where a Wood or Fire type might gloss over details, a metal type digs in. The Rigidity, inflexibility and getting stuck in their own sense of right and wrong, leaving no room for others, are a downside. They have difficulty letting go of small details, become anxious when something is not done ‘right,’ and they become negative when they feel out of control.

WATER TYPES ☯ Think and feel very deeply. They live in the realm of ideas and imagination and have only a modicum of interest in the physical, practical world. They are natural wisdom-seekers, and have a rather advanced interior world for their age. They often seem to be ‘off somewhere’, not particularly concerned with punctuality, and respond to time-pressures and other external demands by disconnecting, staring out the window, or retreating to their inner world. [Unlike Wood types who become confrontational, or Fire types who seek thrills, Water element types become withdrawn in chronic stress situations.]

WOOD TYPES ☯ Are very physical, competitive and want to be first. Natural leaders; they always want to win, to be in front. Pioneers who see a path and want to take it. They usually win the enthusiasm of peers. Since they live primarily in the physical world, they often act out physically when stressed, becoming aggressive, argumentative, ‘In your face.’ Under duress, they become the restless and assertive ‘Wild Child.’

* Dr. Stephen Cowan, who studied with Efrem Korngold, co-author of the modern TCM classic, Between Heaven and Earth, has spent 20 years affirming the distinctions of the Five Elements. He has amassed a vast library of work with thousands [of children] across the developmental spectrum, and believes the elemental tendencies begin to show themselves within the first year or two of life.

Posted by Wendy in analytical

WATER INTAKE AND HEALTH

Glass of Water

Turning to traditional Chinese medicine and a Taoist concept of health and long life, one is taught to be moderate in every action and attentive to the signals of the body, and to the prevailing influences of nature. Eating when hungry and drinking when thirsty, we should ingest only enough food and drink to satisfy actual needs, needs which match our level of activity. Advice regarding water intake is to drink only when thirsty or to drink a few sips regularly throughout the day. To consume more than what is essential is considered in defiance of natural balance.

 

There are obvious cases where higher fluid consumption is important, such as for people who are perspiring profusely [due to exercise, hot weather, or resulting from a feverish disease], those who are losing fluids due to diarrhea, as well as one who tends to form kidney stones. But by eating the suggested five servings of fruit per day, plentiful amounts of water are provided; many fruits and vegetables being more than 80% water in content.

Water is inherent in Vegetables and fruit

 

Most yin quality foods in a healthy diet contain a significant quantity of water making it feasible to get the 2.5 liters a day without drinking copious amounts of water. However, the popular impression is that for good health one must drink 2.5 liters of water per day, when essentially, emphasis needs to be placed upon consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, not on high volume water-intake. Health advisories recommend that sedentary women consume approximately 2,000 calories per day, for which the suggested 1 ml/calorie translates to only 2.0 liters of total water needed. Adding 1.9 liters of water from drinking glass after glass of water simply doubles such suggested intake.

 

Drinking large volumes of water appears to be inconsistent with age-old advice regarding health maintenance.

 

Posted by Wendy in analytical