The Dance of Life
Emotional ♦ Spiritual Energies & the Five Phases
If we but stopped to pay attention, we see life dancing all about us- and within us. We see cyclical movement, as day becomes night and night becomes day; as the seasons change their colors and their character; as beings are born, develop, die, and return to the earth. We can see the interconnectedness of things, the causal effects of actions, and the harmony of opposites. We see nature in ourselves and ourselves in Nature.
The theory of the Five Elements or (Wu Xing) is both an intricate and elaborate cosmology, as well as a significant set of correspondences informing Traditional Chinese Medicine from 200 B.C. to the present day. The Chinese character that is commonly translated to mean 'Elements' is better understood to denote "Phases' or 'Movements', more accurately suggestive of the cyclical dance.
The Five Phases ♦ Wood ♦ Fire ♦ Earth ♦ Metal ♦ Water
are aspects of Nature and of our Body-Mind-Spirit
Each Phase or Element has a corresponding emotional predisposition. The core emotional energies include the emotion of the healthy balanced synergy, and the emotional response to stress. These stress responsive states are referred to as extreme emotions. Normally, these extreme emotions are appropriate responses to a perceived survival challenge, stimulating the sympathetic nervous system and related Organ -- Meridian systems and parts of the body into activity. As the stressful situation is responded to successfully, the extreme emotions discharge and dissipate and there is a corresponding transformation of this energy into body mind relaxation or parasympathetic response.' If, on the other hand, the extreme emotion is not expressed or becomes chronic due to the body mind being in a continuous low -- grade ' fight or flight' reaction to a stressful environment, then stress turns into distress. These distressed feelings are reactive stages which often result from suppressing normal, although extreme, emotional responses. Distressed feelings typically correlate with physical tension or disease.
It is important to recognize that emotional states arise in response to circumstances and perceptions. They are not inherently 'right ' or 'wrong'. our tendency to judge some feelings as 'good' and others as 'bad' is one of the main impediments to freely experiencing and expressing emotions. "If we could just feel what we feel and allow the natural transformation of emotional states, then we would find ourselves continuously re-entering the synergic were peaceful, harmonious state. "Acceptance is a key to entering or experiencing the synergic states". This is in accord with Buddhist approaches to working with the motions.
As a practitioner of Five Element Acupuncture I observe the Five Phases and notice where energy is moving and where it is stuck. With accurate information, we can act appropriately.
The five seasonal energies are the Five Elements, the stuff of which everyone and everything is made - late summer, the time of harvest is considered the time of the Earth Phase in Nature. Classical Chinese medicine teaches that the balance of these energies is health, and imbalance is illness. The goal of healing is to restore a natural harmony. When this is done, symptoms will disappear automatically since they are only messengers of imbalance.
Chinese medicine notes that the state of the persons elements can be detected through observation of color, sound, odor and emotion.
Chinese medicine attributes healing to the balance of natural energies. In classical times Chinese physicians placed great emphasis on the mind and spirit. These realms are within the province of modern day as well as ancient acupuncture. This tradition holds that the Earth and its creatures are made of the same energy that turns the wheel of the seasons. In fact, the seasons mold human nature. Each of the Five Elements corresponds to a season and energies of these seasons nurture and sustain us in different ways.
When nature is out of balance, we feel a longing that drives everything about us, including our thoughts, feelings, tastes, cravings, voice, skin color and odor. Most importantly, longing distorts our experience of life. Our symptoms merely dramatize the true disease, the need of our soul.
The above information in part is taken from an article published in Massage & Bodywork agazine (dec/Jan 2003): The Dance of Life: Emotional-Spiritual Energies & the Five Phases by Kondanna (Barry Kapke). He is director of the Bodhiwork Institute in Petaluma California and the founder of the Insight Bodywork.
Links: www.bodhi.org www.bodhiwork.org/insight.html www.massageandbodywork.com
