Metal controls Wood: Exhale to relax

Many years ago, I had a client who's muscles were like rocks. He moved with a slightly manic energy and always seemed wound up. When he walked in, I took note that his muscles were very defined and had good tone, but when touched, his muscles had no give or pliability. They felt like rocks even when he was trying to relax. The wood element dominated him and had invaded his earth. The key to his treatment lay in the Metal element.

Metal moves in the opposite direction as wood. Wood controls earth. While Earth is the substance of the muscles, wood provides the motion, tension, and tone for the muscles. When you exhale,  metal is at it's strongest, and your energy descends in the body. This counteracts the rising expansion of wood and decreases the strength of the wood qi within the muscles. We experience this as muscle relaxation.

Over time, the tone of my client's muscles relaxed so his muscles were firm but pliable. It represented a more harmonious balance between metal, earth, and wood.

Photo courtesy of Tim_d

Functional disharmony

I wanted to take a step away from my normal focus to write about a condition I call functional disharmony. It usually occurs when a person has a chronic condition that they have gotten used to over time. I first noticed it in a patient in his early 20's who had severe back pain. His pulses did not point to any clear imbalance, and when I treated him, his body felt very healthy. In fact, aside from the back pain, he told me that he was in great health.

But when I put my hands on his back, in the area of pain, I found that his body had re-routed the channels around the area of pain, and had returned to a normal level of function. The problematic area had been isolated so that the body could continue to function.

The first step of the treatment was to reconnect the area to the rest of his body. Unfortunately, this increased his pain, or at least his awareness of the pain, and he discontinued treatment. This illustrates the need to set expectations with a client as well as making him aware of all possible outcomes. In subsequent times when I've seen a similar situation, I let the patient know that they might experience an increase in their symptoms as part of the treatment. Once they understand what is going to happen, they are usually fine with it.

Only when the body becomes aware of the pain and reconnects with the problematic area can treatment be effective.

Photo courtesy of mouton.rebelle

The transformative cycle of our breath

Breathing can be divided into four segments, each corresponding to a particular element: inhale, pause, exhale, pause.

Wood: Inhale. The air fills up the diaphragm and qi moves upward and outward, filling the body.

Fire: pause. Qi is at the top of the body and we are most perceptive of outside energetics.

Metal: Exhale. Downward motion of qi. We strike and push on the exhale so that our exterior qi can push against the internal motion of rooting.

Water: Pause. Rooted qi. When we are most internal and most solid. It's also the place where we are most in touch with our fears.

Fire and Water are states of being, while Metal and Wood are movement.

Try breathing through the elements and let me know what you experience.

Photo courtesy of Naturalturn

Metal: the expanding filter

Metal is about downward movement and circulation, boundaries and regulation. The organ associated with metal are the lungs. They are a directional paradox.

When the lungs inhale, we bring qi from outside into our bodies. When we exhale, we push the interior qi out into the world. But when we bring qi in, our chest moves outward into the world, and when we push qi out, our chests contract. For tonification, we are taught to insert the needle on the exhale, so that it follows the qi sinking into the body. But the qi is exiting the body at the same moment. The air goes out, the body goes in. When the air comes in, the body goes out.

This paradox demonstrates how the lungs creates boundaries. I used to think of Wei qi, the defensive qi that surrounds the body, as an energetic armor. But point indications all use the term "circulating wei qi", so I amended my image to armor that was in constant motion. When external qi tries to attach itself to a person, the wei qi's motion doesn't give it any purchase or way to attach. Think about trying to grab a person's hand while it's in constant motion. I now have to amend my wei qi image further.

As we draw air in from the outside world, our bodies expand and push against improper qi. The air enters our lungs where the qi is extracted and temporarily held. The outward push of our bodies protects us and keeps us centered. The chest expansion is the filter against bringing external improper qi into our bodies. When we exhale, the good qi in the lungs descends while the body can relax as there is no longer anything to press against.

The back of the neck and head is the wind gate where the 100 diseases can enter the body. When we breath, there is no motion there. The wind can enter the body directly, bypassing the filter of our expansion, and bring with it improper qi that causes illness. We hunch our shoulders when it's cold to try to limit and close that gate. We relax our shoulders in the warmth to allow the warm qi to enter freely. With practice, one can extend the lung's motion up to the base of the skull to help protect one's wind gate.

During the exhale, the metal energy descends in the body, and below the body, rooting downward and creating Water. During the inhale, the metal filters and regulates the external qi that enters the body. This cycle motion circulates qi throughout the body.

Photo courtesy of Marshall Astor

Earth is the Center

In classical Chinese thought, the earth element was located in the center, with the other four elements surrounding it. As each element transformed to the next, the transformation involved the earth element. This has been more true to my clinical experience than the standard generation chart.

It is most noticeable during the seasonal changes. There always seems to be an earth period as the seasons transition, not just during the late summer. It can be a few days to a few weeks, but the body always seems to check in with the earth element as the weather is changing.

Directionally, it makes more sense as well. Wood pushes outward and upward, while metal regulates and pushes downward. Water and Fire have no directionality, but are states of being, one of reception and the other of firmness. Earth accumulates in the middle.

The best analogy is a flower. The upward growth towards the sun is the wood energy. The reception of sunlight is fire. The nutrients traveling down to the roots are metal, and the roots are Water. The Flower itself is earth. Earth provides the structure and form for the other elements. It's directionality is accumulation. It takes parts of the other elements and combines them into a form that allows the other transformations to take place.

In human terms, the fire energy is our connection to the energetic world around us. The water is the firmness of our step upon the ground.  The wood and metal are the rising and descent of qi in our bodies. The earth is the weave and matrix of our bodies. Earth is the center of our beings, and the center of the Elements.

The Control Cycle

Fire controls metal to regulate the connections with the energetic world around us. If the boundaries are too weak, fire connects more strongly and metal firms up the boundaries in response. If the metal is too strong or stiff, the fire lessens so metal can open in response. The balance we are seeking is to be about to receive without being overwhelmed.

Metal controls wood by regulating the downward force that is rebounded into wood energy. When we push down with less force, less wood pushes back up with the contact.

Wood controls earth by making sure there are no clumps in the soil. The wood energy moves through the weave to make sure it is clear and the moisture can disperse throughout the entire weave. When there is stagnation in the earth weave, too much wood travels through the established passages and doesn’t fulfill it’s function of clearing and leveling. Anger disturbs the weave and the heart connections so that we are not nourished by those around us and are left wanting.

Earth controls water in that the roots of the kidney are composed of the earth weave. If the weave is weak, the roots are weak. If the roots are improper, the spleen can soften the weave to adjust.

Water controls fire in that water is rooted in the ground below and Fire is connected to the world around us. If we start to lose ourselves into our connections, the water roots us down into the ground and into ourselves. By adjusting the depth and strength of our roots, the water can control how we connect into the world around us.

Descriptions of the Five Elements

The matrix of the spleen in the body is like dirt in a potted plant. It needs to be moist at all times, but not overly so. If the dirt becomes clotted, the water runs through the channels and the soil remains dry. The moisture doesn’t disperse to the extremities in this case and the feet and hands feel cold. The nature of the earth is to hold the qi and moisture within it to support life. If it’s weak, the moisture falls downward and the feet get swollen and things are not held up in the body. The spleen is connected to the world around it and receives it’s nourishment from touch and connection. The spleen turns food into the weave of the body. The spleen doesn’t like to change or move, preferring constancy so the weave is not disturbed.

Metal regulated the barriers between ourselves and the outside world, regulating what comes in and what goes out. Metal pushes downward in the transition into Water qi. Water is rooted, metal moves downward. The lungs are in constant motion, pulling the air into the body, regulating the qi that enters our body and that which remains outside of it.

Man exists between heaven and Earth. Water roots the man in the Earth. It powers our will by anchoring us so we can move forward without being swayed. We feel the pull of gravity upon us and allow ourselves to extend into the ground beneath us. When we aren’t properly rooted, we easily slip and fall. Our step becomes treacherous and we become fearful, not knowing when or how hard we will fall.

Wood energy moves us out into the world. It arises from the Earth as it pushes back on our Water roots. The taiji push exemplifies this – the power arises from the extension between our rooted feet and our extending hands. When the wood energy flows clearly through us, our qi moves easily and smoothly, holding our bodies erect and even. When the wood is obstructed, the stasis leads to anger and pain and the qi attempts to move through our body, but is diverted and blocked. Wood transforms into fire through laughter (dark) and sex (light), two actions which bring joy and bring people closer together.

Fire is the qi we feel when we are connected to other people or energies in the world. Fire heals. The spleen is the weave of our body, the heart is the weave of the world. The pericardium helps to regulate our place in that weave. When we become disconnected with the world, the fire burns itself and we are left with anxiety and fears of unreality. The connections to others nourish our internal earth weave, but the heart connections are our place in the world. When we are healthy, our internal earth weave aligns with our external heart weave. The liver energy creates our heart connections, but once made, they flow inward and nourish the earth weave. The metal is created to regulate that flow. As the heart spreads outward, we may start to lose ourselves or we may find that we need a stronger connection.

The flow of the Five Elements

Wood energy pushes outward and connects to other energies in the world and Fire is the connection. Once the connection is made, qi flows inward to support, nourish, and create Earth energy, the matrix that holds the body together. Then the metal engages to regulate that flow and puts up barriers between us and the world. When the barriers encircle us, our energy roots downward in the form of Water. As the water pushes downward into the earth, the ground below pushes back up at us in the form of Wood energy, which pushes outward and begins the cycle anew.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Bastien

A moment of clarity

In the middle of a deep meditation last week, I suddenly felt myself going through a repeating series of energetic transformations. I noticed that there were five and they matched the five elements of Chinese medicine and thought: fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. As I breathed through the transformations, two full breaths per complete cycle, my mind started to apply what I was feeling to what I know and have learned through my ten years of practicing acupuncture. The results led me to more clearly understand Chinese Medicine and begin to make sense of some of the more puzzling associations. I hope to use this blog to explore my moment of clarity and flesh out my vision.