Breaking Out of Stagnation with Five Element Acupuncture
Lori Horan, N.D., L.Ac.
After graduating from art college 2 years ago, Mary had trouble getting motivated. She had been sitting on a great idea for starting her own jewelry business for years, but she just couldn’t find her “mojo” for taking any action. Mary was also suffering from uterine fibroids and debilitating fatigue. Taken together, these symptoms are known in Chinese medicine as “stagnation.”
Stagnation can take many forms: physical symptoms are fatigue, pain and growths (like fibroids). In the spirit, it might be experienced as flat-line desire, disconnection from one’s goal, or by being drained of energy through useless pursuits. In Mary’s case, we were able to use Five Element acupuncture to move her “blood stagnation” and to boost her “inner fire.” Within three months she had abundant energy and was self-employed.
Five Element Acupuncture is a comprehensive style of acupuncture that can be used to treat far more than just physical problems. It excels in freeing up the creative life force that empowers you to transform your dreams into life actions. By removing energetic blocks in the body, it is possible to free up your life force to move beyond stagnation in your psyche and actually accomplish what your spirit envisions you to do.
Five Element uses a method of constitutional diagnosis. Your unique characteristics are compared to one of the elements found in nature (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). It uses information such as the sound of your voice, the color of your skin, the dominant emotions that you experience, etc., to determine your constitutional type. Once your type is determined, treatment focuses on removing blocks and increasing communication in the body where it is needed. The result is a freer, more empowered you.
In Mary’s case, her “Fire” element was weak, and her predominant emotion was joylessness. By treating her fire organs (heart and small intestine), she was able to feel inspired again, and able to circulate her blood as well as her enthusiasm. A “Water” constitutional type feels fear as a predominant emotion, and fear can be the limiting factor for breaking out of patterns of stagnation. By treating the organ most associated with fear, the kidneys, the magnitude of fear will diminish, and an individual can make choices without fear as the core motivation.
“Wood” types feel anger and frustration as their predominant emotions. By treating the organ associated with anger, i.e., the liver, it allows a “Wood” person to uncoil from a frustrated position and move forward.
A few years ago I treated a patient who was a writer who felt “writers-block” while working on his book. For years he had hobbled along with his writing, often taking month-long breaks as he grappled with his depression. He had all the characteristics of a Metal constitution, such as residual grief from earlier losses and chronic bronchitis. After boosting his metal energy, he was able to complete his book and has written another since. This is the power of Five Element acupuncture.
Are you doing something you wish you could stop doing but can’t? Do you have something that you absolutely want or need to do that you just can’t bring yourself to do? Or are you spending major amounts of energy on something that you just aren’t sure you should keep doing? If you feel blocked or stagnant in your life in any way, Five Element acupuncture can help. Call Dr. Horan for your constitutional diagnosis and treatment.