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

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