In the time-honored and strikingly sophisticated "five element theory" of traditional Chinese medicine (known as wu zing and probably conceived around 400 B.C.), each of five basic "elements" is associated with a primary impulse or rhythm found in nature (represented by the metaphors of water, wood, fire, earth, and metal). These impulses (a more precise translation than elements is "phases in dynamic motion") have two distinct varieties, one being more active and outwardly focused (yang), the other being more passive and inwardly focused (yin). Each of twelve major energy pathways or meridians is associated with one of these primary impulses in its more active or more passive state.

The characteristics of each meridian and its functions reflect the characteristics of its element. When an imbalance arises in the energies of a meridian, this may be a precursor to physical illness related to the meridian’s element and function, but it is also often expressed more immediately through the activation of a specific emotion. For instance, the "water element" meridians, not surprisingly, are kidney and bladder. The emotions that are associated with water element fall along the continuum from fear to intelligent caution. Imbalances in the kidney meridian, which is the yin aspect of water element, lead to an internal fearful state. Imbalances in the bladder meridian, which is the yang aspect of water element, lead more to reactive fears as events unfold.

Why: Central meridian runs up through five of the body’s seven chakras, or energy centers. When central is in its flow, the major energy bases are nourished and the sense of being "centered and secure" is prominent. When central is disturbed, you cannot access the strength that comes from your major energy centers, leaving you feeling vulnerable and actually being vulnerable.

Why: The bile produced by the liver to break down fats, toxins, and stomach acid is stored in the gall bladder, ready at a moment’s notice to do its nasty work on complex foods. The gall bladder meridian goes through the gall bladder, surfaces at the outer eye, and is associated with looking outward. The combination of this surveillance and propensity to rip things apart, when the gall bladder’s energies are disturbed, can escalate from a tendency to pass judgment to a monolithic rage toward whoever or whatever crosses its path. When gall bladder meridian is in its flow and its power to destroy toxins secure, it can look toward the world with kindness and mercy.

Why: Governing meridian runs up the spine. It is the energy BEHIND you. When this energy is in its flow, it makes your posture straight. You stand tall. You have power. When it is disturbed, what appears as a lack of courage is actually a lack of energy traveling up the spine that would give you the power to be brave.

Why: Intense feelings go straight to the heart. It sets the mood for all the organs. When the heart’s energies are in their flow, love and joy flourish. When overwhelmed with pain or grief, the heart aches and can literally break.

Why: The kidneys are a phenomenal disposal system, filtering toxins from the blood and urine, and ridding them from the body. If the energies of kidney meridian are disturbed, this critical, life-sustaining task is disrupted. No other organ can accomplish what needs to be done, and a disturbed kidney meridian labors in fearful isolation. The shame of failing to keep you alive hangs in the outcome. When kidney meridian is in its flow, this isolation and shame, looming as potentials, are countered by gentleness and understanding, as if speaking to a frightened child.

Why: Some of what was taken in for the purposes of nutrition cannot be used and must be expelled. After the body’s multi-system process of sorting through what to keep, the critical job of the large intestine is to make a final determination about what is not needed and to let it go. When the energies of the large intestine meridian are in their flow, the waste is easily and naturally sorted from what needs to be reabsorbed. It is released back into the world. When the energies are disturbed, waste and sustenance are not clearly distinguished and the urge is to hold on, to retain what is toxic because it has not been differentiated from what is needed.

Why: The liver is the largest organ in the body, with hundreds of functions. Removing toxins is among the most important. Liver meridian also governs the eyes and is associated with an inner seeing, as if the eyes are turning back to look at oneself. When the propensity to break down poisons combines with sight turning inward, rage directed toward the self is the disease of a disturbed liver meridian. When liver meridian is in its flow, poisons of body and mind are comfortably removed and a kind eye turns within.

Why: Lung meridian breathes in the energy of life, bathes every cell in that energy, and releases the residue back to the world. Each out-breath is based on faith that an in-breath will follow. When lung meridian is in its flow, faith is easy as each release is followed by new inspiration. When this energy is disturbed, the release seems a threat, the desire is to hold on, letting go means loss, grief follows, detachment is the reflexive defense.

Why: The pericardium is the buffer between the beating heart and the other organs. Like a good secretary, it must make clear choices about how the boss’s energy and resources are managed. When the pericardium meridian is in its flow, discernment thrives and decisions support the heart’s needs, which reflect the soul’s longing. When the pericardium meridian is disturbed, the demands from without and within become overwhelming, and the heart and soul’s needs become lost in the confusion.

Why: The job of the small intestine is to decide what to do with the food. Sorting through chemical complexity that is sobering to imagine, the small intestine must make instant decisions about what will become you and what will be eliminated. When the energy of small intestine meridian is in its flow, decisiveness prevails, choices are easy. When this energy is disturbed, even the simplest decision will divide you.

Why: The spleen and the pancreas are the body’s great metabolizers. The useful life of a red blood cell is but a month, and the spleen (along with the liver) is involved in the breakdown of 10 million worn-out blood cells a second so their materials can be used in the creation of 10 million new blood cells the next second. The pancreas secretes insulin that converts sugar to energy, and it secretes other hormones and enzymes that metabolize other foods, converting it from what was outside of you into what is you. The spleen-pancreas meridian is involved in metabolism of all forms, from food to emotions to experience. It is oriented to recognizing possibility in the other, the other’s value (whether a sugar molecule or a rival colleague) as a potential resource toward the greater good. When this meridian is disturbed, it works even harder to find what is right in the other, with compassionate perception overwhelming even its own needs and interests. Fairness toward the self as well as to others is the mark of a spleen-pancreas meridian in a balanced flow.

Why: The stomach stores the source of the body’s energies. When all is well and its energies are in their flow, there is trust that the next meal will come. When stomach meridian is disturbed, the body’s source of energy is threatened, and worry, gloom, and fear may become obsessive.

Why: Triple warmer governs the fight-or-flight response out in the world, the immune response to internal invaders, and the survival habits that are induced by threat. When this meridian is in its flow, we are cradled in a sense of safety within its protective hands. When it is disturbed, all systems go on alert and defense is elevated above any other purpose.