Reflexology: The 5 Elements and their 12 Meridians: A Unique Approach. Inge Dougans

Humans draw energy or Chi from heaven and Earth and transform it into an energy system suitable for the body’s organs and their functions.³² Implicit in this is the fact that human beings are interwoven with nature and cannot be separated from it.

      The polarity of yin and yang therefore also applies to humans in terms of the structure and functions of their bodies. It guides the functions of every organ in the body, and organs are paired relative to each other according to the yin/yang principle.³³ Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) uses the principle of yin/yang to analyze, diagnose and treat a disease. Yang symptoms, according to TCM, are fever, sweating, constipation, chronic thirst, dry lips and mouth, dark urine, heavy breathing, rapid pulse and irritability. Yin symptoms are loose bowels, lack of thirst, shallow breathing, slow pulse, lethargy, chills, cold hands and feet (circulation).³⁴ Illness manifests as external symptoms, which is an indication of a yin/yang imbalance inside the body or between the body and its environment.³⁵ In treatment, TCM aims to correct this imbalance, which will bring natural relief of the symptoms. Western medicine, on the other hand, focuses on relieving the symptoms only, irrespective of its cause.

      A healthy body has the ability to adapt rapidly and to alter constantly the proportion of yin to yang (and vice versa). In this way, balance is maintained throughout the body and disease is prevented. A body that lacks the ability to change and adapt will carry an extreme yin or yang polarity. This will cause an imbalance and consequently make the body prone to disease.³⁶ Beinfield and Korngold describe this state of imbalance and disease thus: The man is not sick because he has an illness, but has an illness because he is sick.’ Perfect balance between yin and yang within the body and between the body and external environment, implies a healthy body, mind and spirit.

       The Theory of the Five Elements

      It is said that the theory of the Five Elements or five phases was introduced to Chinese medicine from India. The Five Elements are created due to the interaction between yin and yang, which is why the Five Elements are also considered to be energies. The Five Elements can be viewed as the manifestation and behaviour of Chi within five specific cycles.

      In this way, five interdependent, opposing and complementing cycles (energies) of transformation were identified within the yin/yang principle: birth, adulthood, maturity, aging/degeneration and dying. The Taoists gave these cycles names: birth (wood), adulthood (fire), maturity (earth), aging/degeneration (metal) and dying (water).³⁷ A change in one of the elements will affect all the other elements. The dynamics of the Five Elements describe the process of change within an organism and between an organism and its environment. An ancient Chinese treatise states: ‘By the transformation of yang and its union with yin, the Five Elemental Energies of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water arise, each with its own specific nature according to its share of yin and yang.’³⁸

      Wood is associated with active functions and growth, fire includes functions that have reached a maximum state of activity and are about to decline to a resting period, earth represents a neutral state of balance, metal includes functions in a declining state and water reflects those functions that have reached a state of maximum rest preparing to change direction in activity.³⁹ The Five phases are evident in all aspects of nature: ‘All things contain all Five Elemental Energies in various proportions.’ The seasons manifest through these five phases: spring (wood), summer (fire), late summer (earth), autumn (metal), winter (water). Because human beings are part of nature, these five energy cycles are applied to the human system, their physical, sensory, perceptual, emotional, intellectual and spiritual life.⁴⁰ Ilza Veith writes:

       ‘Man who is said to be the product of heaven and earth by the interaction of Yin and Yang also contains, therefore, the Five Elements.’

      In this light, Five Element theory was extended to include human behaviour.⁴¹ The relationship between the Five Elements forms the basis for the prevention, assessment and treatment of disease, as it describes the physiology of the human body in relation to its environment. The Five Elements are interdependent and interaction between these elements happens in two cycles reflecting our yin/yang nature.

       A generating cycle/yin cycle

      This cycle is also referred to as the ‘Mother-Son Law’, as each element is the ‘mother’ of the next element and the ‘son’ of the previous element. Each element produces the next element and supplies it with energy – wood creates fire, fire creates earth, earth creates metal, metal creates water, water creates wood. In the context of the natural world, the following cycle occurs: wood burns creating fire, fire produces ashes creating earth, earth holds within it different minerals represented by metal, metal is a mineral of the earth and in liquid form it is similar to water, water gives life to wood which is represented by the trees and plants; the cycle then starts again.⁴² It is important to note that no single element has more value than another. Each element and the functions it performs are important, as they are all interdependent.

       Fig. 2 Generating/control cycle

       A control cycle/yang cycle

      Each element exerts a type of control over another in order to maintain balance throughout the system. If one element becomes too strong it will ‘attack’ and ‘injure’ another element. By the same token, if an element becomes too weak it will be ‘attacked’ and ‘injured’ by another element. This will result in an unbalanced system. In nature, this control cycle is evident in the way that wood controls earth by means of roots keeping the soil in place and preventing erosion; on the other hand, roots can also uproot earth and deplete it by drawing out nutrients from the earth. Earth exerts control over water by providing boundaries, so preventing flooding; however, earth can also restrict water from flowing freely when it dams or absorbs water. Water controls fire by preventing it from blazing and getting out of control, yet water can also extinguish fire. Fire controls metal by allowing it to be flexible and take on different forms by softening or melting it. Metal controls wood by cutting or chopping it down, preventing it from becoming overgrown and allowing space for other living organisms; but metal can also destroy wood completely by cutting too much down.⁴³

       Wood generates fire by controlling earth;

       Fire generates earth by controlling metal;

       Earth promotes metal by controlling water;

       Metal promotes water by controlling wood;

       Water promotes wood by controlling fire.

      The following example illustrates the interaction between the Five Elements from a Western medicine and a traditional Chinese medicine point of view. During congestive heart (fire) failure, changes in the lungs (metal) occur due to the fact that the blood can no longer flow to and from the lungs in order to excrete carbon dioxide and absorb oxygen. The affected lungs will subsequently cause cellular dysfunctions in the liver (wood). The congestive heart failure also causes pressure and congestion in the liver due to blood accumulating in the veins feeding the liver. The malfunctioning of the liver (wood) causes malfunctions in the spleen (earth).⁴⁴

      The yin and yang cycles operate simultaneously, creating a feedback system, in order to bring about and maintain balance in nature and throughout the human body.⁴⁵

      Every person has a natural and spontaneous affinity towards one of the elements. All Five Elements exert an influence in one’s life, but one will be manifest stronger than the others. Together, the Five Elements have a direct influence on a person’s personality, emotions, spiritual needs and predisposition to physical weaknesses. The two opposing but complementary cycles containing the Five Elements, being yin and yang, operate simultaneously in order to achieve balance in nature, as well as throughout the human body. Balance will result in good health, while imbalances between the elements and its two cycles will result in disease.⁴⁶

      A detailed analysis on each of the Five Elements is provided later in this book (see