One of my patients asked me what I meant by 'Element' when I describe myself as a Five Element practitioner. It's a good question. I started to say that all things in nature are made up of the Five Elements - but realised that this was misleading. Put that way it sounds like things are literally made up out of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood like those models of molecules we had at school with red, yellow, white, blue and green balls connected with toothpicks. This is clearly not so.

The Five Element model, like the theory of yin/yang, came from the observations the ancient Chinese made of nature. The Five Elements are a model for understanding the way the natural world manifests through the succession of the seasons, the behaviour of animals, the development of plants and the changes that occur in our bodies. Human beings are part of nature and the theory is that if you understand how the greater universe works you can gain insight into how the human body works. In nature the seasons follow one another - the spring is followed by summer, summer by autumn, autumn by winter. Plants grow, flower, bear fruit, store their energy for the winter, then grow again in the spring. Humans and animals follow a similar pattern - if we are following nature. The ancient Daoists in China believed that the failure to follow nature - what they termed the Dao, 'the Way', inevitably led to ill health. If you follow nature you are going with the flow of the Dao and you will be in harmony with the universe. Your body will be as it should be.

Each 'Element' is a particular quality of energy, what the Chinese call qi - which can be observed in nature and a can be observed in human beings. The acupuncturist's job is to observe how a patient is - how balanced the Elements are. If they are not in harmony there will be signs. Different Organs resonate with different Elements - the Lungs and the Large Intestine associated with Metal for example, the Bladder and the Kidney with Water, and problems with these Organs may show up on the pulses. If a certain Element is imbalanced there may be signs such as particular colours on the face or certain qualities of speech or emotion which the practitioner may notice during the consultation . The Five Elements control and support each other in complex ways. By the use of needling and of moxa the practitioner tries to bring all the Elements into equilibrium. When the Elements are brought into a better balance the theory is that the patient will begin to feel better 'in themselves' and the body will have a chance to heal itself. I believe that many of my patients have experienced this for themselves.

I can recommend a good book on this subject which gives a lot of information but is still accessible for the lay person - Five Element Constitional Acupuncture by Angela Hicks, John Hicks and Peter Mole. Churchhill Livingstone, 2004 ISBN 0443071705