Finding Balance

By Maria Chah, DOM, AP & Jennifer Troyan

We’ve got some ancient wisdom theory to shower you with this month. Ever hear of the 5 elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water)? This is a guiding principle of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and as the story goes, the 5 elements come from observations made thousands of years ago, of patterns in the natural world and how it relates to the seasons and nature. It is believed that everything in the universe comes from these 5 elements (including us).

The 5 elements are also based on Yin-Yang*(and balance relating to all things in life):

  • Foods you eat
  • When foods are harvested
  • Seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall)
  • Temperatures inside your body
  • Weather - temperatures outside (environmental)
  • Organs and tissues in your body
  • Directions (North, South, East, West)
  • Emotions
  • Color
  • Taste

If you’d like to learn more about the 5 elements, start here. For additional reading material, go here. Keep reading on and go back to check out these articles for more insights.

As you can see it is all encompassing. Learning about the 5 elements is a chance to get to know yourself. By doing so, you will enhance or deepen all the relationships in your life. It all starts with you.

To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom. ~Socrates

*Yin-Yang and Balance: The duality of all things in the universe and finding balance of everything within your life and in the world. This is a super basic definition, and we can write another 20 articles about this topic alone so stay tuned for more on this in the future.

An easy way to provide understanding of Yin-Yang is this: Be like water and go with the flow.We all know the symbol of the black and white spiral with the dots in it - that’s the symbol for Yin-Yang. When you aren’t in balance you can tell, or you may feel it. Have no judgment with yourself; rather observe yourself and adjust along the way. Of course, TCM applies many deep meanings to these concepts. The idea that there are masculine and feminine sides to all things. It is in everything, within each of us, and can be a great self-regulation tool for finding balance in everything.

Lao Tzu, the Chinese Philosopher said, “Harmony and moderation make for a happier life.” Keep this in mind and know you are all right!

Main image courtesy of rawpixel

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To learn more about our services, please contact our office at 561-249-0447 for a consultation on how to start your annual wellness optimization. During the consultation, we can provide guidance on the best treatment modalities to improve or enhance your state of wellness the TCM way.

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