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The tongue is the flower of the Heart. From the Chinese medical perspective, every organ has an associated sense organ. The sense organ associated with the Heart is the tongue. That is why it is said that “The tongue is the flower of the Heart.” Across many cultures and traditions, we hear about the…
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The Wood Element is a time of explosive growth. Spring is the season of the Wood Element. We use the same energy that seeds use to sprout up through the hard dirt towards the sun, to move ourselves toward our goals and dreams. That energy is “Wood energy.” Wood energy is forceful and moves up…
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Winter is the season of the Kidneys. The Kidneys are the Yin organ of the Water Element. Every Element is associated with a season, and winter is the season of the Water Element. Because of these associations, we know that winter is a great time to accentuate the Kidney Organ System. Three ways to nourish…
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Welcome to the Metal Element. It’s Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Each of the 5 Elements of Chinese medicine is associated with a different season. Metal is the Element associated with Autumn. This is the time of the year that the trees are letting go of their leaves, and plants are condensing their energy into…
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From the seeds and roots held steady in winter, new growth emerges in spring. I’ve been around for decades and witnessed this event many times. However, it wasn’t until Khadro pointed out that the seeds we plant in our Water Element (which correspond to Winter) will grow in the Wood Element (which correspond to Spring), that I really…
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Aroma Qi Therapy is a modern blending of ancient Taoist philosophy and plant medicine. Aroma Qi Therapy was created by Terese Miller, Doctor of Oriental Medicine. Since plants and Qi are two of my biggest interests, I was eager to talk with Terese about her work. Below are some of my questions followed by…
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A Quick Reference Guide to the 5 Elements: Fire – Extroversion, love, joy, warmth, heat Earth – Satisfaction, nourishment, center, abundance Metal – Courage of one’s convictions, inward, letting go, boundaries Water – Introversion, quiet, Life Force, creativity, cold Wood – Growth, birth, outward, expanding
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It’s summer, the height of the Fire Element. I notice once the Summer Solstice has arrived, the grass stops growing so quickly (the passing of Spring Energy) and the pace of people also slows down. The change from frantically attending to our gardens in the Spring, to sipping iced tea on the porch with friends…
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The plants are making their way up through the soil, reaching for the sun. It is spring, and time for the sprouts of winter’s seeds to push up and out, expanding back to life. We might notice a similar energy within ourselves, a desire to get going, start new things, turn over a new leaf,…
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Qi is energy. Our bodies, thoughts, and emotions are manifestations of energy. From this point of view, we can see that treating anything other than the Qi is treating symptoms rather than the root cause. Sometimes symptoms are so severe that obviously treating the symptom first makes the most sense. However, to alleviate further occurrences and…
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