Wood: Where you look is where you go

The classics teach that Wood pushes up and out, and the liver opens through the eyes.

When I was learning to drive, I was told to pay attention to where I was looking because where you look is where the car will go. I've spent enough time on the road to know that this is true.

Eyes are both receivers and directors. We receive the image as we see it, but our actions are directed by what we see. We go towards the things we see. Wood energy reaches out into the world in all directions looking for connections. When our eyes fall upon something, we move towards it to make a connection. Observe an infant exploring her world as her body moves towards each new sight.

Within Wood is the desire to conquer and the desire to hunt. Wood is involved with dominance over the world and over others, and our competitive nature. Our ability to maintain that focus and vision of where we are going allows us to work steadily. If we lose focus or sight, then we falter. As the expression goes: keep your eyes on the prize.

Photo courtesy of fatboyke (Luc)

Five Element Pulses

My friend and colleague Ethan Borg came up with a wonderful way of taking pulses based on the Su Wen. I think it's a great way to describe the pulses in addition to overall quality. It gives insight into the five transformations within the body.

Each element is represented by a facet of the pulse. Metal is felt on the top of the pulse. Wood runs lengthwise along the sides of the pulse. Water is felt at the bottom of the pulse. Earth is the fullness of the blood passing through the vessel, and Fire is the motive force of the pulse itself. Keep in mind that these are both energetic and physical attributes, so they can be palpated by either adjusting your fingers to that facet of the pulse, or by adjusting your intention.

A wiry pulse can be seen as a Wood excess leading to stiffness and enlargement of the sides of the pulse. If it's narrow, one knows that the excess wood has led to an earth deficiency. Or one can feel as if the center of the pulse has also become stiff which would indicate that wood has invaded earth. A knotted pulse indicates a problem with the heart, which is represented by the a dysfunction in the motive force of the pulse.

For a deeper exploration and understanding of this style of pulse taking, including the quotes from the Su Wen upon which the system is based, see page 21-29 of The Secret Chamber by Ethan Borg.

As a side note: Meridian style acupuncture looks for relative imbalances within the six positions of the pulse, dividing each position into an upper yang and a lower yin position. For an excellent description of that style of acupuncture and pulse taking, I recommend Denmei Shudo's Japanese Classical Acupuncture: Introduction to Meridian Therapy. This Su Wen style of pulse taking can be done in addition to the Japanese style for greater insight.

Sleep: the descent into ourselves

Sleep is the process where a person's qi retreats from the world into the inner cycle of five. The outer cycle is about interacting with the world, but the inner cycle flows through the body alone.

When we fall asleep, the energetic flow contracts into the body. We close our eyes to fall asleep and then our senses dull while we're asleep. Loud lights or noises can intrude into us, but we stop seeking connections and energetic input from the outside world. Wood, which normally pushes out into the world, settles into itself, content with just pushing up within the body, but not above it. During this time, the Wood and Metal cycle through the earth of our body to aerate and clean it.

Fire, which is connected to the flow of qi in the world around us, connects instead to ourselves. It sinks down from our heads, and above our heads, into our physical heart and connection with ourselves. In our hearts, we also find a connection to God. Our dreams reflect ourselves, though some dreams go beyond ourselves through our internal spiritual connection to God.

Metal descends qi and moderates barriers to the outside world. When we are falling asleep, deep breathing helps us to descend into ourselves and fall asleep more easily. Lying down changes the orientation of the descending qi so we are no longer descending into the Water roots of the ground beneath us, but our whole body sinks as one. We sleep not connected above and not connected below, but flowing gently through ourselves.

When we wake, our bodies are contracted, our spines are shorter than at the end of the day. The transformations that normally extend us above and below are just starting again to connect us fully to the world.

Photo courtesy of onkel wart

Internal transformations: Digestion

The digestive system is a mirror of the cycle of five transformations. The Yang organs are known as the hollow organs through which food passes and is absorbed into, or excreted out of, the body. Examining the pathway of digestion and the organ's elemental association reveals a repetition of the larger cycle. Nourishment enters through the Fire element, and is drawn down by Metal.

Food enters our mouths and digestions begins on the tongue, which is associated with Fire. It goes down the throat which is associated with Metal (though not generally a part of the traditional Chinese digestive system). It then enters the earth element. The Stomach rots and ripens the food, and the Spleen separated the pure from the impure. The Spleen is the only Yin organ associated with digestion, though this fits with the five transformations model of Earth as the center of the other transformations.

At this point, the cycle repeats itself. The food enters the Small intestine, which is Fire, and goes into the Large Intestine which is metal. Metal continues it's downward push through the anus to excrete the solid waste, which is interesting as Metal draws in vapour and excretes solid.

The Bladder controls the release of waste fluid from the body. The metal descends, or roots, water for collection in the Bladder, and here the Water element is directly related to water.

The Gall bladder is also involved in digestion as it's the wood Yang organ, but it's function is very unclear. My sense is that it helps smooth the motion that moves food through the system. Yang is generally thought of as rising, but all of the Yang organs are designed to descend. Another example of the wonder and complexity of the Human body.

Photo Courtesy of GreenFlames009

The Flow of Yin and Yang through the Body

The larger cycle of five transformations extends beyond the body into the world around, so the question arose if it brings anything into the body in those connections? I think the answer lies in the layout and organization of the meridians of the body:

The elemental meridians are divided according to locations. Metal and Fire channels connect to the hands. Earth, Water, and Wood channels connect to the feet. Fire is the highest point of the cycle, metal draws energy downward. Water is the lowest point of the cycle while wood raises energy in the body. Earth is the weave the body, and is mostly comprised of Yin.

Yang channels begin at the fingertips and end at the head, or begin at the head and move downward to the feet. Yin channels begin at the feet and move upwards to the torso or go from the torso to the fingertips.

According to the Chinese anatomical position, these make perfect sense for upward movement of Yin and downward movement of Yang through the body. (Traditional Chinese Anatomical position is with a person standing upright, arms laterally extended at a 90 degree angle to the body with the arms bent, so the hands are raised beside the head.)

The Yang meridians on the hand go from the hands to the head then connect to the leg yang meridian to draw exterior Yang Qi down through the entire body to the feet.

The Yin Meridians of the feet draw yin from the feet up into the torso where they connect with the hand Yin meridians to raise external Yin Qi to the fingertips.

In the flow, the body balances itself. Yin Qi tends to sink slightly or not move at all and Yang qi rises, but the body rises Yin and descends Yang. A friend points out that Yang does all the movement because Yin tends to silence. So a paradox in the body is that Yang qi raises Yin.

In this way, Yin and Yang are circulated throughout the entire body and can nourish everywhere, and in this way, the body can draw what it needs from the outside world.

Photo courtesy of JustinCaze

Metal body type

The metal body type is very thin throughout the entire frame. The Metal body often appears to others as too thin, even bordering on emaciated. Limbs appear thin and stick like.

Metal Qi is characterized by descending energy and pushing out in opposition to incoming qi to filter what comes in. In a Metal body type, the function of pushing out is weak. Outside influences easily penetrate and push in on the person. The overly thin body has been compressed on all sides from the pressure of external qi. Think of when you dive deeply in the water and the pressure around you increases. For the Metal body, all of life is living in that pressured environment. Over time, the body gets compressed.

When working on people with this body type, be aware that they tend to be more sensitive and responsive to treatment. But you may also feel greater resistance to your work until you gain their trust. Their barriers are compromised, so they tend to have trust issues and may erect walls to prevent you from influencing them.

Photo courtesy of Tim Sheerman-Chase entitled Diver Silhouette

The Fire receiver that is our head

Our heads are very interesting places. Four of our five senses are there, and this reflects the preponderance of the Fire element in our heads. Fire is connected to the world around us, but the energetic flow is inward, geared towards reception of qi from the weave around and between us. The classical sense-element correspondences are: Smell is connected to Metal/Lungs, hearing to Water/kidneys, sight to Wood/liver, and taste to Fire/heart.

Senses are, by their nature, receivers of information. They are located at the top of the body. When wood qi rises, it pushes out into the world and connects to the qi around it. Then the Fire receives qi from the connection. The direction of senses is inward.

When we smell, we inhale and activate Metal qi. We take in qi from the outside while pushing our internal qi out to meet it. The respiratory system is one big filter to help us allow good qi in, while keeping bad qi out. Smells are the first part of that system, designed to alert us to danger or nourishment.

We hear with Water. Water is still qi, rooted below. Hearing is most acute in silence and stillness. Though our ears may move slightly, there is no action involved in hearing.

We look out our eyes with Wood qi. Our eyes are poorly adapted to examine things  that are extremely close to us, but prefer to look out into the world for things to interact with. You can watch a baby examining the world and he engages with his eyes and then moves to interact with something based on the visual contact.

When we taste a food, we connect to it. It is the moment when the food ceases to be something outside of ourselves. I had a client who had temporarily lost his sense of taste and he told me he had lost his connection to food. It looked good, but he no longer wanted to eat it or make it a part of him. Without the connection, things remain apart and can never nourish us.

Fire is all about reception and connection, and our senses allow those two things to happen. They are located at the top of our bodies, which is the place of power for the Fire transformation.

Note: I will talk about touch and Earth Qi in a later post, as touch is built into the weave of our bodies and is both reception and nourishment at the same time.

Photo courtesy of gullevek

Two Cycles of Transformation: inside and outside

There two cycles of five, one within, one without.

The larger cycle is the interaction between ourselves and the world around us. It extends below our feet and above our bodies. The smaller cycle is within our bodies. The classical Chinese position for the Human being is standing with both arms bent, hands facing upwards. This comes from understanding that heaven enters our bodies through our fingers, which need to be raised to receive it, and earth enters our bodies through our toes, which need to be firmly on the ground. All meridians end or begin on the tips of fingers or toes. The five transformations are embedded in this worldview. Metal goes downward below our feet and Water roots in the ground. Wood rises above our heads and Fire connect us to the world around.

There is a second cycle within our torsos. Our internal organs mirror the flow outside with an internal flow. Liver (wood) qi rises in the body to reach the Heart (fire). Lungs (metal) connect to heart and descend the energy to the Kidneys (water), the root of our energy. Our spleen (earth) resides in the middle, gaining nourishment and regulating all of the transformations.

One should also note that the Fire element is doubled: one for each cycle. (More about this in a later post.) 

Our limbs are the link between the two cycles, receiving and sending energy to the outside world. Our torso is the small mirror of the cycle that resides inside of us. Both need to be harmonious and in harmony with each other for health.

Photo courtesy of Muhammad

Metal controls wood: Breath directs wood Qi

Metal provide the direction and the form for wood. Wood energy is directional - it tends to go upward and outward. Metal draws boundaries between internal and external. When we push on something, we exhale to direct the wood energy where we want it to go. We open the boundary to allow the wood qi to extend from our body and influence the world. Two aspects of metal allow us to make use of the power of Wood qi.


Photo courtesy of RyanBSchultz