How to balance the 5 elements

Why would you benefit from working with the elements?

Our ancestors lived mostly in alignment with the natural world. They got up when the sun rose, went to bed when the sun set. They ate according to what grew in the season they were in. They ate a mostly plant based diet. They exercised more. They had a community to give emotional and physical support.

Even though our societies are living longer now, are they healthy? Why has work / life balance become such a sort after goal?

In ancient China there were people who had time to sit in nature and contemplate themselves in the bigger picture of how the earth worked - the microcosm within the macrocosm. They found five elements - fire, earth, metal, water and wood, to represent what was happening. They then went on to show how each element supports the next in cycles and what happens when there is too much energy in one element, depleting the energy in another. The concept is one of creating balance and harmony in your body.

If there is too much water (kidney and bladder organs), it puts out fire (heart and small intestine organs). Emotionally, fear (water element) kills joy (fire element). In balance, fear turns to creativity and there is joy.

If there is too little water, then wood (liver and gall bladder organs) doesn't grow. If you're not well hydrated then the liver can't properly detoxify the blood. A toxic liver can make you livid/angry. This shows that an excess in one element can cause deficiency in another.

Keeping your body in balance in a constant work in progress. There is no 'quick fix' for long term wellbeing. Wellbeing must become the way you do life in order to experience balance, harmony and ease.