Classical Five Element Acupuncture (CFEA) is a holistic system of healing that focuses on treating the person rather than the illness. Treatment is aimed at restoring and maintaining harmony of body, mind, emotion and spirit, as well as harmony between the individual and their environment.
The Five Elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water – exist in everything and everyone. They are the fundamental energetic qualities that make up all of nature. Each of the elements has its own particular quality or flavour, and Five Element theory describes the dynamic interplay and manifestations of the elements, both in nature and in us.
Whilst we each have all Five Elements at work in us, CFEA identifies one element in particular as the causative factor (cf) or root cause of our dis-ease. We may have been born with it, or it may have developed in early childhood, but all our disharmony stems from there. Importantly, it also provides a route back toward wholeness.
It is this focus on diagnosing and treating the cf (root cause) that makes CFEA different from other forms of acupuncture. Diagnosis is based on the assessment of subtle but objective information provided by the body itself. When imbalanced or under stress, each element reveals itself through a corresponding colour, sound, odour and emotion. As a practitioner, I rely on my senses in order to see, hear and smell the direct messages from the body that indicate which of the five elements is the root cause of your imbalance.
One of the real gems of CFEA is its capacity to work with the spirit and to help resolve the issues that arise when spirit is not fully integrated into our lives. This is a common part of the disease picture in the modern world, where we seem to be more disconnected from ourselves, our environment and our fellows than ever before. We tend to be more human doings than human beings, and CFEA can help us to reconnect with our Hearts.
