Below is a basic chart that will help you to understand the associations of each element:

EARTH

Emotion: sympathy, rumination, obsession

Color: yellow Season:  late summer Sound:  singing

Odor: fragrant

Distorted belief: 'I am not enough; therefore, I must put others or myself first in all situations.'

Earth in Balance: Feeling complete right now, genuine selflessness, balance between giving and receiving

METAL

Emotion: grief, longing

Color: white Season:  fall Sound:  weeping Odor:  rotting

Distorted belief: 'Life has no value and is meaningless; therefore, I must attach to the material world or renounce it altogether.'

Metal in Balance: Inspiration, value, poignancy, being present to life

WATER

Emotion: fear, anxiety

Color: blue Season:  winter Sound:  groaning Odor:  putrid

Distorted belief: 'My purpose is not powerful enough to change the world. I am subject to the whims of fate.'

Water in Balance: Purpose and potential fulfilled, feeling the fear and doing it anyway, power

WOOD

Emotion: anger, frustration

Color: green Season:  spring Sound:  shouting Odor:  rancid

Distorted belief: 'Life isn't fair. I am resigned to a life of injustice.' Wood in Balance: Creativity, broad perspective, benevolent, visionary.

FIRE

Emotion: sadness or lack of joy

Color: red Season: summer Sound:  laughing Odor:  scorched

Distorted belief: 'Life isn't safe. It's impossible to find real intimacy.' Fire in Balance: Charisma, joy, connection, compassion

According to the five element model, every one of us is predominantly affected by one of these elements and their associations.

Using the wise guidance of this model, we can see how there are precise psychological dynamics at work that perpetuate our physical health problems. As these psychological dynamics are allowed to persist, the five element model clearly shows us how physical pathology will eventually result.

The Clearing Shock

The first priority in treatment using the five element acupuncture is taking the patient out of a state of shock. While most of us think of shock as an overt trauma or accident that would lead to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or something of the like, shock can be much more subtle in its cause and manifestation.  From this perspective, we can define shock as the loss of awareness of present moment reality. This kind of shock leads to many chronic health problems, as the body will eventually mirror the mind. Using various five element acupuncture protocols, the blocked energy of shock can usually be cleared either instantly or within a few weeks of treatment.  When this happens, the patient will typically say something like, 'I feel like my old self' or 'I feel like

I have myself back.' These are classic statements that show the shock has cleared.

The Five element acupuncture suggests that the majority of the people in our society are in this kind of low grade shock. We are surviving, but we are not thriving. We are able to function and make it through the day, but we are not deeply connected with our purpose and living from a place of spirit. This is why 40 million Americans have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and why countless more carry chronic and extreme amounts of stress, pain, insomnia, and hormonal imbalances.

By Brian Musial

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