The Five Elements of Chinese Medicine: The Fire Element
The 5-element system has been used for 2500 years to help treat a variety of health problems by individually and naturally restoring the body’s natural rhythms. As balance is restored through this gentle system, we can express our built-in capacity for boundless and radiant health.
The fire constitution relates to the season of summer. Imagine how summer feels to you: warmth, bright sun, excitement, activity, and expansion. The emotion related to fire is joy. The main organs associated with the Fire constitution are the heart and small intestine. Fire, like summer, is warm, extroverted, brilliant, radiant, and expansive. Just as the summer sun gives life and vitality to the entire earth, the heart controls and governs life within our bodies, pumping the living blood of life through our circulatory system.
Fire types are natural leaders: they are passionate, articulate and have that ineffable gift of being able to inspire large groups of people through inspiration, magnetism, and sheer charisma. Often, fire types are incredible bridge builders. Fire types make tremendous sales people.
When the fire burns too brightly, we can quickly zap the reserves in the rest of our body. Thus, fire types when out of balance can exhaust themselves and “burn out” those that are closest to them. They may “fall in love” with new ideas, people, concepts, and dreams only to burn out and feel hyperactive, nervous, unpredictable, and exhausted. That beautiful charisma and magnetism can quickly turn into depression, isolation, and weakness.
Many fire types will crave stimulants and have a natural predilection towards addictive tendencies. Imbalanced fire types love the feeling of being “high” and they love the excitement and rush of euphoria that comes from new relationships, new jobs, and new possibilities. Often, they spend more time in an exciting fantasy world than they do in the real world.
Common health problems that fire types experience are cardiovascular disorders, anemia, hypertension, anxiety, depression, urinary tract infections, hot flashes, canker sores, hives, frequent nightmares, digestive problems, insomnia, heart palpitations, hypoglycemia, and nervous exhaustion. On an emotional level, they will feel that life, people, and experiences are not safe and that it is impossible to find real intimacy. When in balance, fire types have balanced energy levels, graceful charisma, joy, connection, and deep wells of compassion.
Thus, this model allows us to observe and understand the precise psychological, spiritual, and energetic components of symptoms that we experience.
In order to maintain balance fire types require self-care. Acupuncture and gentle forms of chiropractic like Network Spinal Analysis are incredible tools to restore balance based on constitution. Whole food, plant based vitamin and mineral complexes such as B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin C can be very helpful Supplements such as hemp protein and flax seed oil can be helpful. Certain herbs can also be very helpful to balance the fire type. Certain Chinese herbal formulas are unparalleled in their ability to restore balance. Individual herbs such as Schizandra, Hawthorne, Licorice, St. John’s Wort, and Rehmannia, can be exceptionally helpful. Consult the staff at Marlene’s or a qualified health provider before taking any supplements or herbs.
Fire types require the silence and space of deep contemplation to help direct their creative impulses from a deeper purpose. Just like a wood stove has a vent system to slow down the blaze, fire types need to tap into the quiet resources of their soul in order to engender a grounded expression of their natural fire. Burn out is a function of a forgotten purpose.
The diet of fire types should avoid over consumption of alcohol, coffee, black tea, hot, spicy and sweet foods. Often, fire types do well eating a lower calorie, plant based diet with healthy sources of fats and proteins. Fire types do terribly with over consumption and the Standard American Diet. Fire types benefit from calmer exercise programs like daily walking, yoga, tai chi, swimming, hiking, and a weight training programs such as the “Slow Burn” method.
Dr. Matt Lyon practice acupuncture, herbal medicine, and Network Spinal Analysis. You can download his free eBook at www.drmattlyon.com.
