In Five Element Acupressure the work is done through the pulse.
Your pulse can pull from an organ to another. Sometimes push is needed.
The five fundamental elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are considered essential components of all life and are present in our environment as well as within us. Each element is associated with a season, specific organs, emotions and aspects of the mind body and spirit.
If there is one constant for each of us, wherever we are with the shifting pressures on this planet, its the light. Rest assured the sun will rise in the East and set in the West.
The 5 Element seasons are calculated around the equinoxes and solstices, being pivotal times of light. The effects of diminishing light after the Summer solstice, Dec 22nd, as opposed to the the increase of light after Winter solstice June 21st, interplays with us and our own elements in interesting ways.
The peak of Summer solstice, longest day, is most yang, rendering the Fire Element also at its peak. At a raw basic level, the heart, small intestine, heart protector (pericardium) and triple heater(immunity) need extra care. The flavour of food is bitter.
The shortest day, most yin, being in the depths of Winter resonates with the Water Element containing the kidneys and bladder. The flavour is salt.
The equinoxes having equal lengths of light and dark in the night day cycle are the peaks of Spring resonating with the liver and gall bladder (most wood), and Autumn resonating with lung and large intestine (most metal). In spring, energy is rising, in autumn the energy is falling. The flavour of Wood is sour and the Metal flavour is hot and spicy.
These are four of the elements. There is a fifth, the Earth Element. It governs the stomach and spleen and is our centre. Its flavour is sweet, not to be abused.
Subconciously our bodies are feeling the subtle hints of change well before we are fully emersed in the season. For those that harbour one particular element in dominance, tend to have symptoms and or emotions stirring as its season nears or ends of that element. In a perfect world we'd each have equal proportioned elements gifted to us, rendering ease through each of the season cycles.
The yin organs can be injured by the emotions when life doesn't go as planned. The varying degrees of worry, grief, fear, anger, impatience and hopelessness, to name a few, can present themselves and left unresolved afflicts the organ associated with the emotion.
Rumi's poem "The Guest House" is relatable. It begins;This being human is a guest house. Each morning can bring a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor" Barks, C.(trans.) (2004) The Essential Rumi. New York, NY: Harper one. Kirkwood, J.(2016, p. 314) as cited in The Way of the Five Seasons SD
The Summer Fire Element, heart, is theoretically served by all the other elements/organs, each having a role serving the heart. One word to sum up the collective emotions of the fire element is joy. Or lack there of when out of balance in someone who's constitutional element is fire.
The Earth Element resonates with the archetype of the mother, nourishment, the carer, worry and houses the Stomach and Spleen. Ideally at each season change we return to the Earth and nourish ourselves. We centre. Rest more. The Earth is positioned after the Fire Element when summer does its subtle transition toward Autumn. The direction of energy is changing and its almost ready to let go. Summer has passed.
On the east coast of N.S.W Australia we enjoy the odd cool night with a southerly change and a sense that the heat is finally over, only to be thrown more hot summer days. The to and fro can be tiring with the changeable weather. It does this to and fro at each season change. In winter we're given a welcome couple of warm days, only to be thrown back into the throes of winter.
The Metal element resonates with letting go, forgiving or a let go of tears, and belongs to the Lung and Large Intestine (Autumn). The momentum of energy is in the full swing of falling. Trees are loosing their leaves. Tears tend to fall easlily and can catch us unaware, and not always from sadness, it can be from a deep appreciation of beauty in nature.
The polarities of the Water Element(winter) held in the kidneys and bladder can be courageous risk taking at one end of the spectrum to frozen with fear at the other and all the variables between.
The varying aspects of Wood are full hope when in balance and impatience building to frustration and anger when not, and manifests in the Liver and Gall Bladder (Spring). In Spring the energy is rising with motivation to excercise returned. The plants are bursting with growth.
Pulse positions around the body can pull energy from the excess, and send it to the depleted. Energy can be pulled and pushed at the same time if extra force is needed. A person can be treated at a constitutional level, hips and necks can be released, palpitations can be eased, emotional turmoil can be calmed. Jet lag can be resynced.
The 8 Extra Ordinary Vessels are a specialised treatment within 5 Element Acupressure that work with the deeper expanses of energy in our bodies.
They are formed before the meridians in utero.
If the meridians are likened to the rivers of the earth, the vessels are comparable to lakes or oceans,
They are Extra Ordinary
Its somewhere the psych can be cared for.