Posted on September 24, 2022.

In studying the 5 Elements of Chinese Medicine, I’m learning how to clear and balance energy in myself and others. I decided to study this so I could feel more in control of my own energy.

Maybe you feel drained of energy most of the time and are wondering why you don’t have the pep you’d like to have to do what you want to do. In our dense earth plane, it is easy to pick up negative energy and thoughts from the collective, news, and people we interface with. But we also create our own energy problems without being consciously aware of it through our own thought patterns, beliefs and emotions.

When energy is brought back into balance, things can change. To really thrive, it is important to learn how to manage your own energy. When we grow up, we often don’t see people who know how to model how to effectively manage their energy. Maybe you have witnessed this - any thought that comes along can sweep some people away in it. They treat the thought or feeling as true when in fact it is just a thought. So maybe we think this is how things are meant to be and we don’t know any different.

Please note that I am not suggesting that anyone repress their feelings. This never works and can lead to health problems and repeating behavioral patterns. Instead, we allow the feelings to move through and process quickly. Every time you have a feeling, it moves the Chi (life force) in your body which can be either detrimental to you or healthy, positive and affirming. The goal is to become more and more aware of how a feeling is affecting you and ways to work more effectively with your feelings and thought patterns.

If you struggle with fatigue or feel scattered with your energy, it is my hope that this article will help you become aware of the 5 most common thought patterns and emotions (based on Chinese medicine) that cause imbalances in your energy and your life.

Water (Emotion: Fear)– Any issues where fear might be blocking you from moving forward and progressing in your life. When you feel stuck in fear, it affects your feelings, choices and perceptions. This can be related to inherited issues, unhappy relationships, a job you hate, fear of being judged, insecurity or abandonment issues. It comes from a lack of trust. It can feel like deep exhaustion. When you feel fear, you feel your Chi (life force energy) drop from your brain. You can’t think clearly when you are terrified (like deer in the headlights inside of your mind.) You may feel your energy pooling down in the lower part of your body when your chi drops.
Wood (Emotion: Anger) – Chi rises when you are angry. Anger creates tension in the body that needs an outlet. Your face gets flushed as your life force energy moves up. Your body tends to move toward the person you are angry with. Often, we try to suppress anger or we express it in a destructive way.
Fire (Emotion: Over-excitement, Panic, Shock) – When we are panicked or overexcited, our Chi scatters and we lose control of our energy. It is a flare of emotions that goes all over the place. It can make you feel dizzy or faint. Your attention scatters and you can’t think straight. Your heart beats fast and your breathing speeds up.
Earth (Emotion: Worry/Rumination)– When you are worried, your Chi gets stuck. You go around and around in your head with the worries. Your thoughts go out to everyone else. The Chi gets blocked and stops moving -like mental clutter. If there is clutter in your home or in your mind, the Chi can’t move clearly. It can be hard to make decisions and think well. Often this is related to someone you constantly worry about. This is not the same as fear or anxiety. It’s heavy and you get weighed down with the worry. The Chi stops moving when this happens and it gets stuck. Do you find yourself giving heavy sighs?
Metal (Emotion: Anxiety or Overwhelm) – This is where many anxious empaths find themselves. You may worry that you aren’t doing something right or that you aren't good enough. It can relate to life purpose, authenticity, or recovering from loss (grief). In Chinese medicine, in this state it is said that the Chi disappears. It can feel like you aren’t in your body or hovering half in and half out of your body. It can feel too uncomfortable to feel all the feelings. This can happen with social anxiety. It can feel like you want to be up and out of your body.

Instead here are 5 Ways to direct your Life Energy and work with your thought patterns in a more positive way.

Water -The opposite of fear is courage. Courage comes from deep inside of us. The depth of the courage is what makes it possible to get through a difficult time. It gives you the determination and tenacity to get through. It gives you the wisdom to know that this too will pass and will give you whatever is necessary to keep you going through. Take the Chi that drops with fear and go deeper. This is how you move beyond the fear and access the wisdom and courage.
Wood - The healthy form of Anger is drive. You can take the anger and do something about it to speak up or to make a change happen. You follow the energy forward but in a healthy way.
Fire - Allow the scattered energy from Panic/Over-excitement to turn to Joy and the thrill of doing something new. During the day, your fire element is meant to be out there and mixing with other people. At night the fire energy is meant to come back home and calm and settle you like glowing embers. You can visualize the fire in your heart reaching a place of peace. What do you love to do that is calming and soothing? Imagine doing these things and that will help your energy regain its balance.
Earth - The opposite of Worry is grounding yourself. This requires you to bring your awareness back to your center. Bring your energy down into your abdomen. Send your chi down into the soil and feel yourself rooted there.
Metai - The opposite of Anxiety is rising above it. Imagine yourself on an Upper floor or on a Mountaintop with a higher perspective until the problem you are anxious about seems really tiny. Now you have a big picture view and you realize that a month from now, you won’t even remember this or a year from now this will be nothing to you.

Exercise: For the next week, pay attention to how often you find yourself experiencing any of these 5 thought or emotional patterns that cause you to feel depleted, or out of balance energetically.

Awareness is the first step in the healing/energy balancing process. Peace, love and blessings.

Source: Wellness Hub