The power of Spring energy

Unleash your inner warrior – the power of Spring Energy and the Wood Element

Spring season with its vigorous, exuberant energy is finally here, and with it comes the energy of the Wood element. Spring season brings forth a sense of renewal, growth, and vitality that can be felt all around us.

This blog post is my interpretation and conclusion drawn from the various sources I’ve studied about the subject of the Spring season and the Wood Element, in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) philosophy.

It may be worth noting about the mind-body connection that has always been self-evident to Chinese. What happens in our mind, happens in the body, and the bridge between the two, is the meridian – an energy pathway – that runs through our body. The main meridian is divided into 12 sections based on the organ they govern.

The Wood element is one of 5 elements in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Wood is associated with Liver meridian and its organ network, including Gallbladder meridian.

Wood Element is associated with the warrior archetype, representing strength, courage, and justice.

No matter what’s your primary element, we all have Wood energy in us. Wood is about mobilizing our inner and outer resources. By embracing and strengthening your Wood, you can move out of stagnation, overcome your-self-criticism and most of all, do what is just for yourself and others.

How do you recognize the Wood type

Wood personality is often described being direct or assertive; expressing thoughts and rights with self-confidence and without violating others. Woods are also visionaries and mobilizing for action through planning.

That is spot on but it requires some more substance around it to understand why. In my experience, the driving force that makes most Woods so efficient is that their actions stem from a deep knowing of what is just and equal, the feeling of doing what needs to be done.

Furthermore, Liver holds our purpose, the divine plan for us, so it makes sure those actions are in alignment with the purpose and the common good. If it’s not, the overworking and mental exhaustion admittedly shows up in the physical wellbeing as well.

When I think of a strong Wood personality, Dr. Max Goodwin comes to my mind. He is the main character in the (NBC) drama New Amsterdam, where he’s a medical director of a public hospital in New York.

When Dr. Max Goodwin asks, “How can I help?”, he means it and immediately makes a plan to resolve any injustices. Without hesitation, he puts the plans into action, no matter the cost. And by doing so, tears up the hospital’s bureaucracy while making a difference even in just one patient’s life.

He’s a modern-day hero who acts with a purpose and a strong will to fight for justice. If you’re like me and enjoy watching that series, you must have a lot of Wood Element in you!

The warrior archetype is closely linked to Wood element as it embodies traits such as courage, justice, and optimism. But because Wood types enjoy working and therefore always do more and they do it in the ‘now’, they are often successful coaches, entrepreneurs, and visionaries.

By embracing these forward-driving attributes, you too can become warrior in your own right, conquering any obstacles on your path towards a future goal!

So let’s delve a little deeper into how to get your Wood Element in balance and start living in alignment with your purpose.

Balanced Wood gets a lot done without stress and anxiety

In TCM, each Element has an organ network as their dedicated workforce. Liver is the Wood elements organ network (including Gallbladder) and its superpower is, that it always has a plan.

When your Wood is healthy, the Blood and Energy flow evenly in your body. You know your individual plan and it’s in alignment with your divine plans, your life purpose.

All parts of the organ network know what, when and how to do their job, as well as have the contingency plans in case the unforeseen happens. Combined with the optimistic nature, it allows a Wood personality to relax and feel confident for the future.

Liver together with Gallbladder, empowers the ability to see clearly and react promptly in changing situations as well as any adverse, time sensitive situations. Whereas Water withdraws and Fire panics, Metal agonizes, and Earth worries – Wood may gather pressure, but maintains clarity of mind and acts swiftly.

Yin and Yang Wood

Liver organ network’s energetic responsibilities are to awaken, mobilize and coordinate our physical processes. Therefore, imbalances in Wood element show up as either diminished capacity-, or obstruction of Liver/Gallbladder. In practice, diminished capacity often shows up as procrastination and self-criticism, whereas obstruction shows up as uncontrolled aggressive behavior.

What is interesting to me, is to notice how Wood deficiency makes us lean towards our “parent” element in 5 elements cycle, which in this case is Water. Whereas Wood excess tends to assimilate its “child” element, Fire.

Therefore, it’s not always easy to identify the primary Wood personality. Some have a tendency towards deficiency, whom I call Yin Wood types, due to their Yin nature: they are self-reflecting, hidden and internalizing. They have a softer voice and more delicate features.

The ones that have tendency to Wood excess, I call Yang Wood types, since their behavior is more Yang in nature: outgoing, revealed and hyperactive. They are loud and have more coarse features.

Water element’s feeling when it’s out of balance is fear. Wood personality, which is in balance a fearless motivator, becomes fearful when deficient in Wood, and over-thinker unable to get things done. It’s like a Wood infused with Water.

In opposite to deficiency, Wood excess makes us lean towards our “child” element in 5 elements cycle, which is in this case Fire Element. Fire out of balance is joyful but constantly seeks stimulation, burning the candle from both ends. Similarly, excess Wood is outgoing and driven but uncontrollably pushing its limits until it explodes. It’s like a pressure cooker on hearth.

Still, both Yin and Yang Woods have the same tendency of immersing themselves into work, fiercely defending any causes they believe in, actively fulfilling their life’s purpose.

How to recognize imbalances in Wood Element and balance it

In this post I talk about imbalances of Wood as deficiency and excess. In practice, imbalances that are chronic, often involve two or three organ networks and to get to the root of the issues, it requires energy testing, that all EEM practitioners are trained to utilize in their sessions.

Wood deficiency

When the Wood element is deficient, Liver’s capacity is diminished, and it is unable to efficiently lift the blood- and energy up to the far reaches of the head and extremities. Consequently, we have low blood pressure, weak digestion, and become uncertain of ourselves, tentative and aimless.

Wood types enjoy work even so much that we forget to eat and exercise, spending all day at our computers until late at night. Too much work takes a toll on our Liver and makes it unable to do its job properly. We often get eye strain or even loose eyesight and our upper back gets tight and spasms. We over-plan and we’re driven by over-perfectionism leading to situations where our work never gets to completion because it’s not perfect enough. This leads to poor self-esteem.

How to balance Wood deficiency

1. Start by flushing the Liver meridian, here Donna Eden shows you how: https://youtu.be/adGxh6DdQQ0?list=PLC_78_m58jGaEpG8gWo2zFj2nIhlm7aBY

2. A good protocol to try when you’re feeling self-critical, is to hold the Liver neurovascular points on the hairline and main neurovascular points in middle of forehead, right above the eyes. You can use a flat hand or hold with the tip of your fingers and thumbs.

• Allow yourself to feel any self-blame or remorse while holding the points for couple of minutes

• Look back and start listing positive things about yourself and accomplishments, even the smallest ones, until you feel better

Wood Excess

In the case of Wood excess, Liver’s function is obstructed causing pressure and tension in the body and anger takes over our mind. We may have tightness, tension or pain in the chest area. We can feel pressure in our eyes and have frequent headaches, often one sided on the temple.

When Wood Element gets extravagant, we become volatile, but still able to exert self-discipline to maintain self-control to a certain point. Therefore, at work we can be dedicated and successfully show results but when the stress builds up during the day and we’re finally able to loosen our inhibitions at night, we have a need to let that pressure out. We either let it out little by little by criticizing and judging others or explode in rage over minor issues.

How to balance Wood excess

1. If you recognize pressure building up during the day or volatile behavior, try blowing it out. Here’s how: Blowing out the anger and frustration: https://youtu.be/k4_hciSPcgM

2. Another good protocol to try when you notice you’re overly judgmental or critical:

• Do the blow out first (above)

• Hold neurovascular points on the outside corner of the eyes and middle of forehead, right above the eyes.

• Replace any negative emotions with alternative positive ones.

  • Allow yourself to feel the anger and judgement while holding the points for couple of minutes

  • Start listing as many positive things you can about the subject of your anger, even a smallest things. Keep repeating those until you feel better.

Nobody is being volatile or bossy by choice. Neither self-critical procrastinator. The great thing about energy medicine is, that once you recognize an imbalance, you can address it efficiently through points on your body. If you feel like the suggestions here don’t help, try again. If it still doesn’t and the imbalance seems to be of a chronic kind, look for an Eden Energy Medicine practitioner near you.

This is the time of renewal and growth, and embracing change

So, are you ready to unleash your inner warrior and harness the power of Spring energy? Don’t let this season pass you by without taking advantage of its transformative potential. Spring is the time when we have a lot of Wood energy flowing in our bodies, therefore, it is also the best time to balance your Wood element.

By balancing your Wood element, you can tap into a wellspring of creativity, determination, and vitality that will help you overcome any obstacle and achieve your goals.

Healthy Wood goes for the growth:

• You live in a state of real creativity and mental agility, also called the flow- state

• You have clarity of mind and you use it to learn and evolve

• You’re appropriately direct and assertive in your actions and set healthy boundaries

• You see a bright future and make plans that are in line with your thoughts and feelings

So, take a deep breath, step outside to do some energy balancing, and let the energy of Spring infuse your being. You won’t regret it!

And if you truly want to harness all the magic of spring and Wood Energy, think of your goals from the perspective of the common good: Ask with Dr. Max Goodwin’s words: how can I help?

Further reading:

Harriet Beinfield. “Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine”.

Eden, Donna with David Feinstein Ph.D. “Energy Medicine”.

Dondi Dahlin “The Five Elements: Understand Yourself and Enhance Your Relationships with the Wisdom of the World’s Oldest Personality Type System”.

Charles A. Moss. “Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance”.

www.acupuncturetoday.com

5 Elements acupuncture: The Five phases – Acupuncture Points (acupuncture-points.org)