Nurturing Spirit Acupuncture Healing ~ Growth ~ Vitality

Your Health & The Seasons

Articles about the Five Elements

The foundation of my training is in Five Element acupuncture, which uses the seasons and the environment around us as a model for understanding our bodies, minds, and spirits. By learning more about the Five Elements, you can discover how to restore balance to aspects of your health that have become imbalanced, just as you would work to restore balance in an ecosystem that has been disrupted.

The Five Elements and their corresponding seasons are Water/Winter, Wood/Spring, Fire/Summer, Earth/Late Summer, and Metal/Autumn. Below are links to articles I have written explaining the energy of each element and how that relates to your physical, mental, and emotional health. Eventually I'll have an article for each season. For now, here are the ones I've written, downloadable as PDF's:

Water / Winter

The Water element corresponds to the kidneys, adrenals, and bladder, sense of hearing, and the emotion of fear. It strongly influences the health of the knees and lower back. It relates to themes of power, drive, ambition, wise use of resources, and finding a balance between activity and rest. If any of these areas of your body and your life need attention, read the article to learn more about your Water element and how to support its health.

Wood / Spring

The Wood element corresponds to the liver and gallbladder, the sense of sight, and the emotion of anger. It strongly influences the health of the eyes as well as the joints, tendons, and ligaments. It relates to themes of vision, planning, decisiveness, change, growth, and moving smoothly toward your goals. If you are feeling challenged in any of these areas, read the article to learn more about the Wood element in you and how you can support its healthy functioning.