1 Guide to the 5 Elements

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1 Guide to the 5 Elements Class 4 - Dynamics and the 5 Elements Cindy Black, L.Ac, LMT Founder, Big Tree School of Natural Healing 1 Guide to the 5 Elements

2 Guide to the 5 Elements - Class 4 What we ll cover in this class: Review of the Five Elements Water Review Wood Review Fire Review Earth Review Metal Review The Generating Cycle The Consolidating Cycle Connecting with the Consolidating Cycle Seeing Through the Forms Tao Te Ching, verse 1 Review of the Five Elements Everything that we can see or experience with our senses comes out of something that is pure energy, with no manifestations or polarities; where everything exists and it s all unified into One. We can call it the Tao, the Wu Ji, the One, or Source. There are many names for it. We re working with Taoist cosmology here, where we call it the Wu Ji or the Tao. Then something happens like an event or a split some kind of primal happening that results in the first polarity. It s the first division of the One into Two. Now we have left and right, back and forth, black and white, positive and negative, and so on. The Five Elements arise out of the Two from Yin and Yang. The elements themselves divide into Yin and Yang, but each element also contains Yin and Yang. That s where this material world, that we interact with all day and all night, arises from. The trick is to remember that even as we experience ten thousand things, it s all One. Otherwise, we get caught up in categorizing things into what we like and what we don t like. Since there are an infinite number of things, there s no way to keep up with that; it becomes a full time job and it also increases our suffering. Let s say I get really invested in the idea that I only like chocolate ice cream. What if there s only vanilla ice cream available? Well, that s going to be a really tough time for me. 1 Guide to the 5 Elements

3 Running around trying to get away from everything we don t like is a losing battle. Especially since when we talk about Yin and Yang, one thing is always turning into another. That can get frustrating. The things we like turn into the things we don t like, and the things we don t like turn into the things we do like. We think we have it all figured out and then it changes. One way to avoid that is to seek through the manifestations and try to connect with this bigger picture, remembering that it s all One. Water Review An important thing to remember about Water is that it s a strong Yin element, and it balances Fire in a big way. All of the elements are essential, but Water and Fire are two of the strongest polarities. They are very primary Yin and Yang, and the rest of the elements rely on them in a way. Water is associated with the Kidneys and the Bladder. Its season is winter, so its temperature is cold. The color is black. The tissues are the bones and the bone marrow, and the taste is salty. The sense organs are the ears. Emotionally, it s about primal fear and on the other side of the coin, deep peace. Mentally, it s about this place of no-thought. Water is our life force, and it s connected with beginnings and endings equally. Sitting by water or experiencing the elements in their actual physical forms, can also help you connect with them in a very direct way. Writing about them can help as well. Wood Review Wood comes after Water in the Generating Cycle. So that means Water is the mother of Wood. Wood is glamorized by modern Western cultures. It s about being young, growing, creating, moving forward, being determined, and being assertive or even aggressive. Because it likes to move so much, it s responsible for keeping Qi moving within the Meridians. Wood is connected with the Liver and Gallbladder. Its tissues are the tendons and ligaments. Its sense organs are the eyes, and the taste is sour. The season is spring and the weather is wind. Paying attention to the different aspects of the elements, such as the way Wood likes to move, can help us identify the element at work in our lives. For example, when I m sitting at a table, I have the tendency to bounce my leg or foot. This is Wood showing up and getting in some movement even when I m otherwise sitting still. (I do have a little excess Wood going on.) It s a lot like the way a tree moves with the wind. The tree isn t going anywhere, yet it s moving. That s the idea of keeping the Qi flowing. 2 Guide to the 5 Elements

4 The season of spring is when Yang bursts out of the darkness of winter. That s the energy of Wood. Emotionally, Wood is when you re assertive and determined... on a good day. You re pursuing your vision and making things happen. If people get in the way, then you can respond, communicate, and be flexible. However, if people get in your way on a bad day, then you can get aggressive or angry. It s good to try and connect with your Wood element, so you learn to be flexible rather than stomp all over people. Fire Review Water is the mother of Wood, and Wood is the mother of Fire. Water helps Wood grow and get bigger; and Wood helps Fire grow and get bigger. Fire is the height of summer or the peak of Yang. It s also the only element associated with four Organs the Heart (Yin) and Small Intestine (Yang); and then the Organs which are like the embers instead of the big flames the Pericardium (Yin) and San Jiao (Yang). The tissue is the blood, its sense organ is the tongue, and the taste is bitter. Fire and high summer are when everything has reached the pinnacle of its growth. So, if you ve been growing anger and frustration during your Wood season, then that s going to become rage in your Fire season. Unconditional love is a big emotional aspect of Fire. It s not only about love for one person, it s also about being connected with the bigger picture and your fellow human beings. When your Fire is strong, you re full of love and inspiration. If you don t really feel passionate about anything or aren t inspired, your Fire might be burning a little low. Find a little spark within you and fan those flames. When you re connecting with Fire, pay attention to the day. Notice where your own passion is at as the sun moves through the sky. 3 Guide to the 5 Elements

5 Earth Review Wood helps Fire grow, and fire helps Earth grow or become richer. Earth is associated with late summer. Plants that reached their pinnacle of growth in the summer are finally bearing fruit, and our tables are full of abundant goodness. We have enough to feel satisfied, nourished, and even to share with others. We feel safe and at home. If we don t experience that feeling of having enough or if we re caught in worry and scarcity, then it s time to step back to examine whether we really have enough. If so, how can we balance our Earth so we experience the truth of our abundance? The Yin Organ is the Spleen and the Yang Organ is the Stomach. The tissues are the muscles, the sense organs are the lips and mouth, and the taste is sweet. Metal Review Fire enriches Earth and Earth generates Metal. Metal, crystals, and ore are found in the Earth. So that s how Earth generates Metal, holding it and supporting it to grow itself. Metal is fall, when the Earth lets go of things. Then all that vibrant, green energy goes underground. It s when people release things too, drawing energy and attention inward as the Yin season of life sets in. We re getting older, slowing down, and watching the abundance we ve accumulated in life fall away. That s a scary thing for most Westerners who value the Yang seasons and tend to fear the Yin seasons. There s a lot to be said for getting older. We can spend time in meditation or contemplation. We can connect with our wisdom and really get to know who we are underneath all the fuss of worldly things. We can put down something that s been difficult for us. We can make room for something new. There can be a real sense of relief in Metal, as we stop identifying with things that aren t essential. So those are the Five Elements, and they all balance one another. Living a balanced life isn t about picking an element we love the most and staying there as long as we can. It s about finding a way to embrace all of the elements. It helps to remember that they all come from the same singular source the Wu Ji. 4 Guide to the 5 Elements

6 The Generating Cycle This is the cycle we ve talked about a few times now, where one element gives rise to and supports another. It s also called the Mother and Child Cycle. I m going to use plants as an analogy again. I know you are so surprised, right? A sunflower starts out as a little seed. All its life is contained in this little shell. That s winter and Water. In spring, the sunflower grows; that s its Wood season. It keeps growing and growing until it reaches the peak of its height in the summer, when Fire is strong. The bloom is big and beautiful, but the seeds aren t ripe yet. The ripening happens in late summer, with the Earth element. The seeds are still in the sunflower s head though. When fall comes around with the element of Metal, those seeds fall out of the seed heads, the plant dries up, and it really doesn t look so good; it looks like a dried out husk. Then we re back to winter with the seeds on the ground. We can see the same thing going on in the life cycle of a human being. We start out as a fertilized egg, then it s springtime and we re young. Summer comes, maybe sometime in the middle of our life, and that lasts awhile. Then there is late summer, when we re surrounded with the abundance of what we ve created in life. After that, is fall as we become seniors. Finally in winter, our life force goes back to wherever it came from. It s very human to be attracted to certain parts of that cycle. This is just our senses taking in information, and categorizing things into like and don t like. Yet from the Tao s perspective, we remember that the outward appearance of something is just a manifestation of energy that comes from a unified source. Instead of looking at one season of the plant s life, we can try to appreciate the flower and all of its phases at once. We imagine it as a whole being, instead of what we see in the moment. Sometimes the elements are called Phases, which makes a lot of sense. They re constantly moving, they re alive, and one becomes and supports the next. Without fall and winter, we re not going to have any seeds and we won t have any springtime. We can say that we only start living the moment we re born, and we completely end the moment we die. Although in Taoist cosmology, that s ignoring the existence of the Tao, the Wu Ji, and the significance of Water. This tells us there s something else going on an unseen part of everything that doesn t stop existing. Therefore, this is the Generating Cycle of growth. It s about progress and blooming, manifestation and decline, and eventually death. Even though the Generating Cycle includes decline, it s still a cycle of expansion. I think of it as a Yang cycle, and it needs a Yin cycle to balance it. If all we had was generation and unchecked growth, things would get out of control, right? That s the role of the Consolidating Cycle. 5 Guide to the 5 Elements

7 The Consolidating Cycle The Consolidating Cycle essentially stops things from growing. It can be hard to understand the value of this, especially in the West, where we re all about growth. I was taught that growth and progress are good, and getting smaller or consolidating is bad. Why would we want something bad to happen? Look at it this way: Water consolidates Fire. (Obviously, right?) Fire is a wonderful element but if it couldn t be stopped, we d all be ashes right now. In the same way, if people kept growing physically and if we never reached our peak height, then we d live in this world of different sized giants. Just think about all the different clothes you d have to buy every month. Having limits is a good thing. Water consolidates Fire. Fire consolidates Metal. If you heat Metal to a certain point, it can melt, right? Or it gets flexible and less rigid, so you can turn it into another shape. The Consolidating Cycle works on emotional and mental levels too. If someone in their Metal phase is feeling grief, Fire can soften that with love. Metal consolidates Wood. We can think of this as chopping down a tree with an axe. We can also think about the root system of a tree. It grows and expands in the earth, reaching far and deep. The more the roots grow, the bigger the tree gets on the other side. However, if the roots hit a rock, they can t grow anymore. So, the tree s growth is limited. Emotionally, Wood is doing and Metal is being. If your mind is always caught up in thinking, strategizing, and making things happen; then you can focus on your breath and your Lungs, increasing Metal s presence in your body to calm down the wild Wood energy. 6 Guide to the 5 Elements

8 Wood consolidates Earth. Again, let s think about those tree roots. If you ve got a steep embankment of Earth, you want to put some plants in there to keep the dirt in place. Earth consolidates Water. Water, remember, takes on the shape of its surroundings. It also seeks the lowest ground, so its surroundings are usually Earth. Earth gives Water its shape and holds it in place. That s how we get ponds, rivers, and even oceans. Think of a dam, holding back Water. If that dam breaks, the Water floods everything. Connecting with the Consolidating Cycle To connect with the phases of the Consolidating Cycle, you can spend a day or two really paying attention to each phase. Spend a day just noticing the way that Earth and Water interact; the way that Earth prevents Water from getting out of control and gives it shape. Observe how that limitation benefits the whole operation of your world. We can see the Consolidating Cycle at work in the little things. Imagine that you ve made a cup of tea and it s too hot. What do you do? You can blow on it, but it s more efficient to add a piece of ice or some cold water, right? You ve just consolidated that heat, and that s not a bad thing. Letting the heat go unchecked means you could burn your tongue. Little everyday things help me connect with how the Elements relate to one another. Chinese medicine has a tradition of healing using the Five Elements and their correlated emotions you use one emotion to work with another. A great demonstration of this is in the video Direct Transmission on ClassicalChineseMedicine.org. Emotionally, Water is fear (or peace), and Earth is abundance and security (or scarcity). If someone is experiencing real, deep fear, it sometimes means they re ungrounded. They ve gone off the deep end and are freaking out. One solution to that can be to nourish the person. Remind them of all the good in life and get them grounded in the goodness all around them. If they literally don t have a place to stay or anything to eat, perhaps we can help them find that. It s going to be next to impossible to feel safe without that sense of Earth security. So, everything observable and tangible in this world is really just manifestations of energy. Western medicine is caught up in the forms and the manifestations. It s all about the symptoms you have, and treating those setting a broken bone, filling a cavity, or prescribing medication for high blood pressure those are all manifestations. Yet the root of all of that is energetic, formless, and what Chinese medicine focuses on. 7 Guide to the 5 Elements

9 Seeing Through the Forms It can be confounding to think that the solid things in the world, like the computer or the paper you re reading these notes on, originated in formlessness. How did your paper come from nothing? Well, it s made out of Wood, so somebody found and processed the trees. And where do trees come from? Seeds, right? Well, where did the seeds come from? The trees before them. We could go on a long time in this way. In order to get past the cycle of the trees and seeds, we have to think about the energetic origins of the whole organism of the tree. The idea is that if we can balance the energy, we can balance the manifestations that pop up. Let s imagine somebody with a Fire imbalance. Instead of being a great leader and getting things done, they re being a control freak and they have all this hyperactive energy. Maybe they have sores on their tongue; outbreaks of red, dry eczema; or red blotches on their face. These are manifestations of too much Yang and not enough Yin. So, what are we going to do to balance Fire? Add some coolness, some Water. We re drawn to manifestations because that s what we can experience with our five senses. However, we actually have more than five senses, don t we? We have a sixth sense, which enables us to sense something that we can t otherwise see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. Yet, we still sense it. There s no logical explanation we can give someone else for why we know it. We just know it. Developing our sixth sense is a powerful skill and an important part of progressing with Chinese medicine. Even all of the seemingly intangible things we ve been talking about emotions, ideas, plans, and fears all of that is actually the world of form. Although, how can an emotion be a form? How can a thought be a form? Well, emotions and thoughts all come and go. Maybe you were feeling something strongly earlier today, but you re not anymore. It manifested and then it disappeared. The formless is not only the root of all the manifestation of our physical body, but also of our memories and experiences. So within us, we have both the form and the formless. Trying to connect with the formless part of yourself can be a lifelong practice and an adventure. It can make some people call you nutty, but it usually winds up being worth it. It keeps us from running around throughout life chasing all of these different physical forms that rise, fall away, and change into other things. That can be frustrating and fearful. 8 Guide to the 5 Elements

10 Tao Te Ching, verse 1 I want to end with the first verse of the Tao Te Ching, which sums up everything we ve been talking about in a beautiful way. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of the 10,000 things. Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one sees the manifestations. These two spring from the same source, but differ in name. This appears like darkness, darkness within darkness, the gate to all mystery. If this doesn t make sense to you, don t worry. Most of the Tao Te Ching didn t make sense to me the first 50 times I looked at it. So, let s try it again, this time with a little explanation here and there. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. As soon as you name something, it has a form. As soon as it has a form, it s been differentiated, so it s no longer an undifferentiated form. Once we start naming what comes out of the One, we re no longer talking about the One. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. That s a way of saying that the undifferentiated is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of 10,000 things. Yin and Yang basically give birth to all of the things we can experience in life; all of the manifestations and forms in the world and in ourselves. Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one sees the manifestations. It s not saying desire is a bad thing. It s just saying that by focusing too hard on desiring one thing, you miss everything else that comes your way. You put a lot of value on specific forms, instead of being astounded by how amazing all of the manifested forms are. These two spring from the same source, but differ in name. Mystery and manifestation spring from the same source. This appears as darkness, darkness within darkness, the gate to all mystery. Now everything is absolutely clarified and you ll never have any more questions about it, right? Oh well, maybe not. Thank you for coming on this journey with me! For me, this class and working with you all is one of the many amazing manifestations I get to experience in this life. I encourage you to keep learning and to go out and appreciate all of the manifestations in your own life. Thank you! 9 Guide to the 5 Elements

Guide to the 5 Elements. Su!ort Cal

Guide to the 5 Elements. Su!ort Cal Guide to the 5 Elements Su!ort Cal September 19, 2016 Class Outline: 1. Short presentation 2. Take your questions We are a microcosm of the macrocosm We are mini - universes Weather or climatic factors