What Is Five Element Acupuncture?

Five Element Acupuncture is a style of Acupuncture based on the premise that this world, nature, and us as a part of it, all consist of a balance of Five Elements, of which one element predominates in each person. This predominant element is called the Causative Factor, or Constitutional Type of each person. There are no set points for each person used in Five Element style treatments, rather, treatment is based on the underlying Causative Factor of each person, and acupuncture points used are chosen accordingly.

What Are the Origins of Five Element Theory?

The exact origins of Five Element are unknown, but are believed to date back to somewhere between the 4th and 6th century B.C.Chapter 64 of the classic text the Ling Shu clearly sets out the concept of the Five element types, including the concept of each element having within it the other Five Elements - an endlessly detailed microcosm potentially giving rise to a mixture of 25 different constitutional types,depending on the precise mixture of the elements in each individual.

Five Element theory can be found in China, Japan, Tibet, Korea, and indeed most Asian or Oriental cultures, and is used in Feng Shui as well as Oriental Medicine diagnosis and treatment.

What are the Five Elements?

The Five Elements are;

• Fire
• Earth
• Metal
• Water
• Wood

Why is it important to know our Elemental Type?

Each Element governs and corresponds to a season, a colour, an odour, an emotion, a distinctly different sound in the voice, and specific bodily systems and organ functioning. Knowing the type of a person helps inform the patient and practitioner about their strengths and weaknesses, both physically and psychologically, and helps inform strong appropriate treatment strategies. It can help the practitioner understand their patient better too, and help them more appropriately - each according to their own specific needs.

Every element has within it the seeds and nature of the following element - this is known as The Sheng Cycle, translated as The Law of Mother Child, Fire creates and feeds Earth, ( the next element along the cycle), Earth then creates and feeds Metal (the next element along), Metal creates and feeds Water, Water creates and feeds Wood and Wood creates and feeds Fire - back to the beginning. This recognition of all things being connected, interdependent and affecting each other is intrinsic to Oriental philosophies .

Susan Nelson-Sheldon is one of a  small number of practitioners in the U.K. who has trained and qualified in both Five Element and T.C.M., she firmly believes that fusing the two systems together produces the strongest, most powerful elegant and precise results.