One of my favorite aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is the emphasis on attuning the body and emotions to the energetics of each new season. Within TCM, the Five Rhythms or Elements reflect a rhythmic pulse of all life that influence human events and cycles. This energy flows through the entire body and leaves its imprint on every energy system. The law of Yin and Yang weaves through each rhythm, becoming the natural order of the universe, becoming the foundation of all things, Mother of change and the root of life and death:
Yang is the energy, the vital force, the potential.
Yin is the substance, the foundation, the mother who gives rise to all potential.
Metaphors for describing these five distinct patterns were originally drawn from elements of nature (water, wood, fire, earth and metal) and from the seasons (winter, spring, summer, late summer and autumn). Each meridian vibrates according to one of these Five Rhythms or Elements—i.e. Bladder + Kidney = Water.
Although we have all five rhythms within us, a primary and secondary rhythm most heavily influences individual health and experience of this lifetime. For example, when in balance, the Water Rhythm easily flows through life, he is the philosopher and is a wellspring for new ideas. When out of balance, the Wood Rhythm becomes commanding and experiences emotional and/or physical symptoms such as anger, rage, jealousy, gallstones, knee pain, tendonitis.
Like the background music during a movie, a person’s primary rhythm, in combination with the changing rhythms of life’s seasons, directs the tone and mood of the entire energy system and sets the atmosphere of the life being lived. The Five Rhythms Model provide a lens for understanding and working with chronic health issues, behavioral patterns and emotional challenges.
The five-rhythm cycle is best understood in the macrocosmic view of the elements
Earth represents Late Summer and stabilizing, grounding, nourishing energy: The ripe apple
Metal represents Late Fall and contracting energy: Trees falling their leaves to conserve
Water represents Winter and descending energy: Rain falling or water seeking low ground
Wood represents Springtime and uprising energy: Plants bursting through the soil
Fire represents Summer and ascending energy: Flames reaching to the heavens
Would you like to flow through the seasons with more grace?
Do you want to build resilience in mind, body and spirit A N D have fun doing it!?
The 5 Rhythm Model provides a lens for understanding and working with chronic health issues, behavioral patterns and emotional challenges. This autumn, I will begin teaching workshops at both Yoga Sanctuary and Gilda’s Club TC, to explore and tap into the healing energy of each season. Through the past five years of study and personal practice, I have experienced again and again - when we explore and directly apply the resonance, characteristics and primary concerns of the rhythm during its own season, the impact permeates deeply into the body, mind and spirit to re-pattern actions, emotions and health imbalances.
The rhythms have so much to teach us!
Join me during these potent times of the year, to become more whole and live in greater resonance with the natural order of the nature, heaven and earth.
“In the universe, the pure Yang Qi ascends to converge and form heaven; while the turbid Yin Qi descends and condenses to form earth. This movement helps create the rhythm of the seasons, enabling earthly beings to manifest. Birth in spring, growth in summer, consolidation in autumn and storage in winter. By possessing this knowledge, you can coordinate your activities around these cycles and benefit from them, as all human life is interconnected with its environment, heaven and earth.
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