Spring- in Chinese Medicine
Spring correspondences- gives new ideas
ELEMENT: wood
SEASON: Spring
DIRECTION: east
COLOR: emerald green
TASTE: Sour/acid
SMELL: rancid
TISSUES: sinews/tendons
FLUIDS: tears
SENSES: sight/vision (striving upwards, cultivate benevolence, harmonize jing + shen)
NATURE: growth, flourish
SEASON: Spring
Climate/Evil: Wind
TIME: 1-3am (gallbladder 11pm-1am)
ANIMAL: azure dragon
FUNCTION: detoxification
MANIFESTS: through the eyes (window of the soul)
SPIRIT: Hun
PLANET: Jupiter
PRECEPT: do not kill
VIRTUE: benevolence, kindness, forgiveness
EMOTION: anger, passive- aggression, frustration, resentment (gallbladder)
SOUND: shouting
Healing sound: SHHHHHH (like comforting your inner child)
QIGONG PRACTICE: Swimming Dragon and Zhuang Zhan (Standing post/tree) Ho'oponopono: I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I forgive myself.
NATURE: growth and facing obstacles
wind moves in unpredictable fashion
external events ask for internal adjustment
decision making, implementing plans
whenever growth is blocked, anger arises
Expectations
Expression
Extroversion
Engage
Enjoy
BALANCED WOOD
acuproacademy
The Balanced Energy of Wood is expansion, growth and movement. The balanced wood type always sees a challenge as an adventure and enjoys pushing themselves to their limits while performing well under pressure. Confident and creative they also possess great humility and can “grow” patiently around any obstacle to reach the “light” or the object of their dreams. They are decisive and know exactly when to make a move and when to hold back.
THE IMBALANCE
Excess:
Aggressive and bullying the excess Wood type is arrogant and pretentious. Their compulsive behavior pushes anyone or anything out of their way with no sensitivity for anyone else’s needs. As a know-it-all they refuse to listen to what anyone else has to say. Too busy to recuperate when ill, there is no sense of when to move forward and when to wait. They tend to be domineering, irritable and prone to violent outbursts.
Deficiency:
Indecisive and ineffectual this type has usually exhausted regenerated reserves after a long period of excessive behavior. Becoming dependent on things with no stability and stimulants to keep going, deficient wood energy leads to a blocked state of despondency, anxiety and restlessness. Low self worth, guilt and shame lead to a downward spiral.
In Chinese Medicine the Liver is responsible for maintaining balance in the whole body and creating a smooth even flow of Qi and blood throughout. When Liver Qi is stagnant a deep state of anger and frustration ensues.
The Gallbladder is known as the Wise Decision Maker, it knows when to store and when to release bile and is thought to moderate rash behavior. Impulsiveness points to excess Gallbladder qi while indecisiveness is attributed to a deficiency.
These two organs see the truth to make wise decisions.
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS-Excess
Muscular tension, cramps and spasm in the head, shoulders, neck, hips, legs, hands, feet.
Sciatica, tendon injuries, headaches, tinnitus, migraines with visual disturbances, emotional P.M.T, digestive disturbances (ulcers, hiatus hernias, heartburn), cysts and cancerous growths, high blood pressure.
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS- Deficiency
Fatigue and lack of energy, fluctuating blood pressure, P.M.S and irregular cycles, insomnia and restless sleep, allergies and oversensitivity to environment, itchy eyes, urethra, anus, blurry vision and sensitivity to light, muscle spasms and twitches such as restless leg syndrome, digestive gas, bloating, hiatus hernia, irritable colon.
Through reading even this brief description of how the element of Wood affects the overall health of the body and mind one can begin to see what an amazing system of diagnosis Five Element Theory can be particularly when working with Vibrational Medicines to balance the emotions and why balancing the mind and emotions affects the physical processes so deeply.
FOOD AS MEDICINE: While this is very individual according to your constitution and whatever imbalances you have a the time, typical foods in the Spring that relate to the liver are- Dandelion, milk thistle, green leafy vegetables, juices of pear, apple, celery, and carrot. Sprouts: broccoli, mung beans, radishes.