Guest guest Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 Dear Marcos and All, I was reading in the Chinese Traditional Medicine archives starting with message 13, Letter from China, and message 21, Chinese Food Cures. These threads were extremely interesting but I've come to realized that this is a complex subject. Does Henry C. Lu's " Chinese Natural Cures " explain the five elements in simplied terms? Thanks, Danamarie " I need to clarify something: Are damp-foods mostly greasy? I don't prepare any greasy foods - I tend to cook low-fat and whole foods: fruits, vegetables, grains; and at times, fish. My children however like the taste of beef and chicken so I try to buy organic. Do you have additional information about foods and their relationship in Chinese healing? " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 Chinese Traditional Medicine , " das4145 " <asenat45@h...> wrote: > I was reading in the Chinese Traditional Medicine archives starting with message 13, > Letter from China, and message 21, Chinese Food Cures. These threads > were extremely interesting but I've come to realized that this is a > complex subject. Does Henry C. Lu's " Chinese Natural Cures " explain > the five elements in simplied terms? I want to tell the TCM students on the list that I highly recommend learning 5 Element Theory. Learning 5 Element Theory can give you that extra edge when it comes to treatment - especially the treatment of " knotty " (complex) cases. Knowing 5 Element Theory can give one a different (and sometimes more effective) approach. (More about that in a moment.) It's also possible using 5 Element Theory to figure out some acupoints that will be successful in treating something. Voice of experience here. When I started doing acupressure on myself for some very severe headaches, one of the points I used was Small Intestine 3 based on 5 Element Theory. It helped a lot. SI 3 is not one of the points recommended in general texts on treating headaches with TCM. But later on when I had access to more in-depth material, I saw that SI 3 is used to treat certain headaches. By knowing and using 5 Element Theory, I didn't have to wait until I had access to more in-depth information and stumbled across it. In between headaches. Dagmar's Letters from China are excellent. I highly recommend them. Especially the material on the elements. They can help readers get a " feel " for the elements and how to apply this knowledge in healing. The 5 Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The order is important (as readers will see in a moment). Each of the Elements has 2 Organs associated with it (except for Fire which has 4). To keep this simple, I'm only going to list the Yin Organ associated with each Element and not the Yang Organ. The Yin Organs are: Wood (Liver), Fire (Heart), Earth (Spleen), Metal (Lungs), and Water (Kidneys). Again, note the order of the sequence - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. 5 Element Theory recognizes something called the " Mother-Son " relationship. Wood is the " mother " of Fire, Fire is the " mother " of Earth, Earth is the " mother " of Metal, Metal is the " mother " of Water, and Water is the " mother " of Wood. (A one time there was a picture of this in the Files section. Hopefully it's still there.) Anyway, whatever is done to the Mother will affect the Son in the same way. If one tonifies Wood, Fire will also be tonified. If one sedates Metal, Water will also be sedated. Mother-Son. One of the best examples of the Mother-Son relationship and its treatment is Liver Yin Deficiency. Water (Kidneys) is the mother of Wood (Liver). The best way (usually) to treat Liver Yin Deficiency is to tonify the Kidney Yin. Considering that the Kidneys supply Yin (and Yang) to the rest of the body (including the Liver), treating the Mother is especially important in this case. Supplementing Kidney Yin and strengthening the Kidneys in order to treat Liver Yin Deficiency is a very simple example of 5 Elements. However, there are some scenarios in which treating the Son directly would cause problems in another Element and its Organ. In these cases, treating the Mother is a way around this problem. Let's say the Son needs to be tonified, but doing so directly would weaken another Organ which is already too weak. (The Victor-Vanquished relationship.) The way around this is to tonify the Mother. Since whatever one does to the Mother also affects the Son in the same way, the Son gets tonified but without the problems to the Organ which would be suppressed more if the Son was tonified directly. (I'm simplifying things a lot here.) For readers who are interested in Feng Shui, you'll be seeing 5 Element Theory a lot if you go into Feng Shui in detail. Feng Shui is the Chinese art of placement. Where to situate a house or other structure, what colors to use in particular rooms, etc. in order to maximize harmony. BTW, not all 5 Elements Theory holds up in reality. But the insights it can give into ways around some treatment problems can be invaluable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Hello, I'm about to graduate in May with a chemistry degree but I'm looking forward to studying TCM in the fall, unfortunately I haven't decided on a school yet. Any advice on the best schools throughout the nation would be great. I have only recently become incredibly interested in the five element theory but I haven't been able very much information on the TCM schools that incorporate this theory. Is studying this theory something that is usually done after 'traditional' TCM studies? Thanks for any advice you can give you on schools; I'm willing to move anywhere! ~ELle --- victoria_dragon <victoria_dragon wrote: > > > Chinese Traditional Medicine , " das4145 " > <asenat45@h...> wrote: > > I was reading in the Chinese Traditional Medicine archives > starting with message > 13, > > Letter from China, and message 21, Chinese Food > Cures. These > threads > > were extremely interesting but I've come to > realized that this is a > > complex subject. Does Henry C. Lu's " Chinese > Natural Cures " explain > > the five elements in simplied terms? > > I want to tell the TCM students on the list that I > highly recommend > learning 5 Element Theory. Learning 5 Element > Theory can give you > that extra edge when it comes to treatment - > especially the treatment > of " knotty " (complex) cases. Knowing 5 Element > Theory can give one a > different (and sometimes more effective) approach. > (More about that > in a moment.) > > It's also possible using 5 Element Theory to figure > out some acupoints > that will be successful in treating something. > Voice of experience > here. When I started doing acupressure on myself for > some very severe > headaches, one of the points I used was Small > Intestine 3 based on 5 > Element Theory. It helped a lot. SI 3 is not one of > the points > recommended in general texts on treating headaches > with TCM. But later > on when I had access to more in-depth material, I > saw that SI 3 is > used to treat certain headaches. By knowing and > using 5 Element > Theory, I didn't have to wait until I had access to > more in-depth > information and stumbled across it. In between > headaches. > > Dagmar's Letters from China are excellent. I highly > recommend them. > Especially the material on the elements. They can > help readers get > a " feel " for the elements and how to apply this > knowledge in healing. > > The 5 Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and > Water. The order is > important (as readers will see in a moment). > > Each of the Elements has 2 Organs associated with it > (except for Fire > which has 4). To keep this simple, I'm only going > to list the Yin > Organ associated with each Element and not the Yang > Organ. The Yin > Organs are: Wood (Liver), Fire (Heart), Earth > (Spleen), Metal > (Lungs), and Water (Kidneys). Again, note the order > of the sequence - > Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. > > 5 Element Theory recognizes something called the > " Mother-Son " > relationship. Wood is the " mother " of Fire, Fire is > the " mother " of > Earth, Earth is the " mother " of Metal, Metal is the > " mother " of Water, > and Water is the " mother " of Wood. (A one time > there was a picture of > this in the Files section. Hopefully it's still > there.) > > Anyway, whatever is done to the Mother will affect > the Son in the same > way. If one tonifies Wood, Fire will also be > tonified. If one sedates > Metal, Water will also be sedated. Mother-Son. > > One of the best examples of the Mother-Son > relationship and its > treatment is Liver Yin Deficiency. Water (Kidneys) > is the mother of > Wood (Liver). The best way (usually) to treat Liver > Yin Deficiency is > to tonify the Kidney Yin. Considering that the > Kidneys supply Yin > (and Yang) to the rest of the body (including the > Liver), treating the > Mother is especially important in this case. > > Supplementing Kidney Yin and strengthening the > Kidneys in order to > treat Liver Yin Deficiency is a very simple example > of 5 Elements. > However, there are some scenarios in which treating > the Son directly > would cause problems in another Element and its > Organ. In these cases, > treating the Mother is a way around this problem. > Let's say the Son > needs to be tonified, but doing so directly would > weaken another Organ > which is already too weak. (The Victor-Vanquished > relationship.) The > way around this is to tonify the Mother. Since > whatever one does to > the Mother also affects the Son in the same way, the > Son gets tonified > but without the problems to the Organ which would be > suppressed more > if the Son was tonified directly. (I'm simplifying > things a lot here.) > > For readers who are interested in Feng Shui, you'll > be seeing 5 > Element Theory a lot if you go into Feng Shui in > detail. Feng Shui is > the Chinese art of placement. Where to situate a > house or other > structure, what colors to use in particular rooms, > etc. in order to > maximize harmony. > > BTW, not all 5 Elements Theory holds up in reality. > But the insights > it can give into ways around some treatment problems > can be invaluable. > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Chinese Traditional Medicine , Michelle Legatt <ellepvh> wrote: > > Hello, > I'm about to graduate in May with a chemistry degree > but I'm looking forward to studying TCM in the fall, > unfortunately I haven't decided on a school yet. Any > advice on the best schools throughout the nation would > be great. I have only recently become incredibly > interested in the five element theory but I haven't > been able very much information on the TCM schools > that incorporate this theory. Is studying this theory > something that is usually done after 'traditional' TCM > studies? > Thanks for any advice you can give you on schools; I'm > willing to move anywhere! > ~ELle I think most TCM schools incorporate the five elements in their regular curricula. There is also a branch which is not traditional called Five Element Acupuncture which also has a list on . That modality dianoses and treats using a more emotional approach than TCM. Go to http://www.acaom.org/ and browse their list of accredited schools and courses. Many of them will have websites which give information about themselves and their orientation. Good luck, sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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