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

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

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

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