Emotional Experience and the Five Elements
A few weeks ago I cancelled Qi Gong for the week in order to give a presentation of the work I’ve been doing with emotional experience and the Five Elements. Kenneth S Cohen talks about this subject in his book, “The Way of Qi Gong”. Here’s his introduction:
“We can see that qigong approaches the emotions from a very different place than traditional psychotherapy. Qigong considers the way emotions affect posture, breathing, and visceral health. Rather than viewing psychological problems in terms of past influences on present behavior, qigong focuses exclusively on present energy blockages. Frequently, psychological problems seem to just evaporate as physical tension dissolves.”
Having a Qigong practice that incorporates the Five Element Theories, like the Qigong of Fabien Mamam, helps to unblock these sticky emotional areas one may be confronted with. For example, if you need to be more grounded in your life, working with the energy of the Earth element may help one feel more nurtured, while also giving a sense of boundaries. As you work on balancing one element, this balance carries over to other elements. See below for the chart on how categories of emotional experience relate to the five elements.
Of course, working with a talented therapist who is verst in traditional Chinese Five Element Theory is extremely beneficial in making sure that as blockages are cleared, there’s a sense of release and freedom in the body, mind, and spirit. I think a very individualized journey as far as which approach is necessary – add whatever you want to add to the mix: acupuncture, past life regression therapy, Bert Hellinger’s family constellations work, mindfulness meditation, etc.
Courtesy of the artistic and graphic skills of Jes Franklin.
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