The 5 Elements: Whom to treat

Three rules that come out of the circle

The system is not used to classify: it is used to decide whom to treat. These three rules cover most decisions and all three come from looking at the drawing.

Child in deficiency

tonify the mother

Mother in excess

drain the child

Over-acting

loosen the one pressing, support the one crushed

Common mistake: Applying the mother rule to an excess picture. Tonifying the mother of a full child makes it worse.

Chronic cough with a weak voice, dry skin and poor digestion for years. Where do you start?

1. With the Lung alone, since that is where the symptom is
2. With the Kidney, since all chronic things are Kidney
3. With the Spleen, metal's mother, which explains why the child cannot hold up

An irritable bowel that flares in tense periods and eases on holiday. What do you treat?

1. Earth alone, tonifying the Spleen steadily
2. Both: loosen the wood that presses and support the crushed earth
3. Wood alone, since tension is the origin

Which rule would you apply in each case?

• Tired eyes and brittle nails in someone with chronic cold low back painTonify the motherDrain the childLoosen the one pressing
• Insomnia with agitation in someone with a very tense Liver and headachesTonify the motherDrain the childLoosen the one pressing
• Gastritis that always follows difficult meetingsTonify the motherDrain the childLoosen the one pressing
• Dry skin relapsing every autumn in someone bloated after mealsTonify the motherDrain the childLoosen the one pressing
• Palpitations and flushes in someone with dryness and night thirstTonify the motherDrain the childLoosen the one pressing
• Red eyes and light sleep in someone whose heat rises in the afternoonTonify the motherDrain the childLoosen the one pressing

Digestion that collapses whenever there is tension. Build the name of the broken relationship.

Order the controlling cycle starting from wood.

1. Wood controls Earth↑↓
2. Earth controls Water↑↓
3. Water controls Fire↑↓
4. Fire controls Metal↑↓
5. Metal controls Wood↑↓