The Water Element: Kidneys and Bladder
The water element is the foundation of yin and yang and is full of contradictions: deep and shallow, gentle and powerful, clear and murky, still and moving. Water is the essential basis of our physical substance. In the human body, water governs the deepest structures and tissues — the bones, their marrow, and the spinal cord.
The movement and flow of water enable its cleansing ability; similarly, its energy purifies by supplying the power to prevent stagnation in the mind and body. Qi that flows without stagnation is pure Qi. The continuous flow of water represents power, which, in turn, gives the human body its strength and energy.
The Kidneys
The kidney system encompasses all life functions and relates to an individual’s basic constitution. The kidneys are the foundation of the body’s yin and yang, containing our ancestral inheritance of yang in the form of source Qi and yin in the form of essence. The kidneys are responsible for growth, reproduction, bones and marrow, hair, and ears. Because they govern the bones, lower back pain and brittle bones can be symptoms of an imbalance in the kidney or bladder.
Hormones
Hormones are considered one of our principal sources of impetus. They not only provide sudden bursts of energy when needed, but also stimulate growth, sexual maturity, and reproduction.
Stress
The kidneys help us adapt to stress. In the cycle of the meridians, the kidneys and bladder relate to impetus — the ability to respond to stimuli and summon energy when required. They express the functions of purification and impetus.
Fear
Our impetus is typically produced by either will power (the spiritual power of water) or fear, which is its emotion.
Water Qualities
The water element also relates to will, determination, and intensity. The color or water is blue/black, its sound is groaning, its taste is salty, and its season is winter. The water climate is cold, and its time of day is between 3-7 p.m.
Meridians Significance and Function
The kidney and bladder meridians dominate the center of the body, representing the energetic core of our being. They embody our core essence, acting as the central channel that aligns with the upright Qi between heaven and earth.
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The Wood Element: The Liver and Gallbladder
The wood element represents the force of nature, embodying growth, expansion, and resilience. The plant world, which symbolizes wood, has a collective energy, with a natural urge to reproduce and establish itself. The liver and gallbladder are referred to as « The General » in ancient writings. When plants grow together, they demonstrate a strong sense of community, harmony, and adaptability.
Wood is flexible because it is alive and dynamic. The ability to plan and make decisions is a characteristic of the wood element. Plant life is also naturally organized; the energy of wood allows us to reach our fullest potential for self-expression when used wisely.
The Spiritual Capacity of Wood
Wood houses the ethereal soul, or Hun. The liver plays essential roles in connection with both the blood, which it stores, and Qi, which it keeps flowing, embodying both storing and moving functions.
Functions of the Wood Phase
The wood element controls the eyes, tendons, and nails. Disharmony in the liver can lead to stiffness in the muscles and a lack of flexibility in both body and mind. The liver meridian functions as the long-term planner of our actions.
The gallbladder stores and excretes bile, regulating and releasing it along with other secretions essential for digestion. Together with the liver, it governs the tendons and elasticity of the muscles. The gallbladder also makes moment-to-moment decisions, acting as « The Lieutenant. »
Wood Qualities
The movement of wood energy is upward, and its associated emotion is anger. The color of wood is green, its sound is shouting, its taste is sour, its season is spring, and its climate is wind. The time of day associated with wood is from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.
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The Fire Element: Heart, Small Intestine, Heart Protector, and Triple Heater
Fire is the ultimate yang, with its domain in heaven, where we see the sun, moon, and stars and from where lightning descends. The essence of fire’s power lies in its yang capacity to transform; fire destroys one form to create another. Fire is a dominant symbol in religious imagery, with light as its accompaniment, often used as a metaphor for divinity. Gazing into fire is one of the best ways to attune the conscious mind to the unconscious.
The heart is central to the fire element, housing the Shen, or awareness, and symbolizing light and the divine spark. As the emperor of the body, the heart requires protection. Each of the other fire element meridians acts as a protector or messenger to support the heart and extend its influence.
- The Small Intestine: The small intestine protects the heart by assimilating only what is healthy, similar to an official taster who intercepts harmful substances.
- The Heart Protector (Pericardium): Also called the heart constrictor, it assists the heart with its pumping action and physically protects it, surrounding it with Qi to shield it from injury. It also safeguards the heart’s blood and Shen. The heart protector supports blood circulation in the large vessels, influencing overall blood conditions.
- The Triple Heater (San Jiao): Like the heart protector, the triple heater represents a function rather than a physical organ. It works alongside Ming Men to distribute source Qi, coordinating fire and water as yang and yin energies in the body. As the pathway for source Qi, it acts like a feed system, carrying the initial spark to each organ. The triple heater functions as a warming force across the three « Burning Spaces, » supporting metabolic activity by transforming fire energy for the body.
Spiritual Capacity of Fire: Shen
The spirit or mind, called Shen, is the fire element’s spiritual capacity. The movement of fire energy is outward, and its yang nature makes it tend to rise upward when unbalanced. Uncontrolled fire, or pathogenic fire, can produce symptoms in the upper body, such as headaches, red or painful eyes, mental restlessness, agitation, and insomnia, as the fire rises to disturb the Shen. When in balance, fire energy radiates outward, extending its influence to all parts of the body.
Functions of the Heart in TCM
The primary function of the heart in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is to provide a home for the Shen. The tranquility of the heart is supported by its blood, which is produced there. When heart blood is deficient, symptoms such as dizziness, insomnia, depression, poor memory, anxiety, and palpitations can occur. Repressed emotions can cause stagnation of Qi and blood in the chest, leading to discomfort or fixed pain. The heart is also responsible for speech, expressed through the tongue, and conditions involving the heart are often accompanied by sweating.
The Small Intestine Functions
The small intestine main functions are receiving, filling, and transforming. It receives food from the stomach and, under the spleen’s guidance, separates pure from impure substances. Similarly, fluids are separated into their pure components. Working with the heart, it integrates emotional and sensory input, contributing to blood formation. Tension and pain in the neck and shoulders are often associated with the small intestine meridian.
Triple Heater and the Three Burning Spaces
The triple heater functions across the body’s three « Burning Spaces, » areas where it exerts its warming force to support metabolic activity. It clears heat, wind, and obstructions, aiding circulation and protection.
- Fire Qualities: Emotion: Joy, Color: Red, Sound: Laughing, Sense Organ: Tongue, Taste: Bitter, Season: Summer, Climate: Hot, Time of Day: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
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The Earth Element: The Spleen and Stomach
The Earth element is the foundation of existence, embodying stability, support, and nourishment. The solid, dependable quality of the Earth provides a sense of security. In a person, healthy Earth energy enables the capacity to support, comfort, and nurture, akin to the way a mother cares for her child. Earth represents fertility and is the source of plants, which nourish us. It supports the growth of life, both physically and mentally, fostering fertility in body and mind. Through receiving — absorbing lightning, grounding electricity, and soaking in rain — The Earth nourishes itself and, in turn, supports all forms of life. This theme of nourishment is central to the Earth element and the spleen and stomach meridians, symbolizing the ability to receive, process, and give both physical and emotional or intellectual nourishment.
The Spleen in TCM
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the spleen oversees the entire digestive process, from appetite to elimination. It is the primary source of Qi derived from food. Its main function is to process food and fluids, distributing the essential elements throughout the body. The spleen transforms the pure essence of the food it receives from the stomach into food Qi (Qi/Chi = energy), which then travels to the chest to combine with air Qi and create usable body Qi. The spleen also helps the stomach extract the pure essence from the food, which the heart further processes into the blood. Additionally, it extracts pure fluids from food to moisten the lungs, which distribute them to the skin. Thus, the spleen is responsible for the transformation of food into Qi, blood, and pure fluids and, along with the stomach, for their transportation throughout the body. For this reason, it is called the « Root of Post-Natal Qi. »
- Digestion: A weak spleen may lead to tiredness after eating, fullness or discomfort after meals, abdominal pain, bloating, or inconsistent bowel habits. Loose stools with undigested food indicate a lack of spleen energy to fully process and absorb food. Constipation can also be a sign of spleen deficiency.
- Fluids, Dampness, and Phlegm: If the spleen cannot effectively transform fluids, it may lead to thirst, water retention, or urinary problems. Fluids that are not processed properly accumulate as internal dampness. This can manifest as excess weight, joint stiffness, swelling, vaginal discharge, difficulty urinating, or diarrhea. When dampness persists, it can become phlegm, appearing in the lungs, as fatty lumps, or as swelling.
- Physical Energy: If the spleen fails to transform food into Qi, fatigue sets in. Malfunction in any of the meridians can result in tiredness and weakness.
The Stomach in TCM
Together with the spleen, the stomach forms the basis of Post-Natal Qi, derived from food and fluids. The stomach is also a crucial source of yin, serving as the primary gate for fluids throughout the body.
- Descending of Food and Food Qi: The stomach provides the principal force behind the downward movement of food and food Qi through the digestive system. If the stomach Qi is weak, food may stagnate, causing fullness or bloating after eating, or it may rise upward, leading to belching, hiccups, nausea, or vomiting.
- Upright Posture: The stomach meridian helps maintain an upright posture, supporting the entire front of the body, including the neck and head. Issues with the face, jaw, throat, breasts, abdomen, groin, thighs, knees, and feet can often be treated through the stomach meridian.
- Earth qualities: spiritual capacity – intellect, movement of energy – stillness,
emotion – reflective thought, color – yellow, brown, sound – singing,
sense organ – mouth, taste – sweet, season – the last days of each season,
Earth time – 7–11 a.m.
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The Metal Element: The Lungs and Large Intestine
The metal meridians are associated with value and essential purity. The lungs take in the pure Qi of the universe, while the large intestine expels all that no longer serves the individual’s life process. Together, both metal meridians facilitate exchange.
Rhythms – The metal phase governs rhythms, including breathing and sleeping.
The lungs in TCM – The lungs encompass the entire respiratory system, including the nasal passages and throat. Alongside the spleen, they are a primary source of post-natal Qi, drawing in the Qi of heaven, which requires no processing. Along with the heart, the lungs form part of Zong Qi, or « Big Qi » of the chest, governing the circulation of both Qi and the blood throughout the body.
Respiration – The lungs’ primary function is the intake of Qi through respiration.
Governing Qi – The lungs are responsible for taking in Qi through breath and dispersing it downwards and outwards. Thus, they govern the Qi of the entire body. Fatigue or lack of vitality can indicate lung imbalance. Poor circulation may occur if there is insufficient Qi to bring warmth or blood to the extremities. Lung Qi deficiency often results in pallor, weakness, and shortness of breath.
Protective shield – The lungs generate defensive Qi, protecting against harmful external influences like weather. Weak lungs and defensive Qi can lead to lowered immunity.
Regulating water – The lungs receive fluid from the spleen and disperse it throughout the body, regulating water passages. Often, urination or sweating patterns are disrupted when lung Qi is weak. When the lungs are blocked and not dispersing fluids to the skin, there may be no sweating. Chronic lung deficiency can lead to dryness in the skin, hair, and lips.
The skin – The lungs rule the skin, which shares a similar function of gas exchange. Chronic skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis often correlate with lung disharmony.
The nose – The lungs open into the nose, so blocked or runny noses, sinus issues, or sneezing are often lung-related.
The throat – Lung disorders can affect the throat, leading to soreness, hoarseness, and cough, earning it the title “Gateway to The Lungs.” The lungs also influence the voice, as lung Qi strength determines vocal strength. A loss of voice or weak, quiet voice can signal chronic lung imbalance.
The large intestine in TCM
Intestinal function & elimination – The large intestine absorbs excess fluid from the fecal mass and propels it toward the rectum for elimination. It supports elimination through the skin, bowels, breath, and mind. Large intestine points are used to help expel external pathogenic influences at the onset of illness.
The nose and face – The large intestine meridian ends next to the nose, making it useful in treating sinusitis, sinus headaches, fevers, or common colds.
Metal qualities: emotion – sorrow/grief, sense organ – nose, color – white, sound – weeping, taste – pungent, season – autumn, climate – dryness, time of day – 3-7 a.m.
Cet article ne constitue pas un avis médical. Il est essentiel de consulter votre médecin avant d’arrêter tout médicament ou de modifier votre traitement.