The Eight Principles

Fundamental parts of traditional Chinese acupuncture and its specific role in helping to maintain good health and a person’s well being: the eight Principles; the three treasures and five elements

Three treasures
We are powered by what is known as the three treasures: Jing, Qi (or chee), and Shen.

Qi is vital substance, Jing is our energy or vitality and Shen is the psyche.

Five elements
The five elements, according to classic and traditional acupuncture philosophy are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Physical and mental constitution of everyone can be described as a balance of the elements in which dominate itself one or more. The proportion of the elements in a person determines the person’s temperament. The condition in Oriental medicine considers as one in which all the five elements are in balance or in harmony. Wood is believed to be the mother of fire and the son of water. Using these relationships one can describe all possible yin-yang imbalances within the body. The thrust of five-element diagnosis is to isolate and treat the imbalanced element, because an imbalanced element is like a weak link in your energetic chain that can undermine the strength of your mind, body and spirit. Excess or deficient points of the five elements cause imbalance of Yin and Yang.

For example: Excess wood will cause extra fire, requiring a water supplement that makes excessive kidney function needful.

Excess wood symptoms

• Anxiety, irritable feeling, angry
• Respiratory or food allergies
• Bitterness in the mouth
• Distention
• Gall bladder diseases
• Acne, rash
• Deficient wood symptoms
• Feelings of despair
• Severe abdominal pain
• Depression
• Intestinal inflammation
• Blurry eyesight
• Dysmenorrhea

Excess fire symptoms

• Heart palpitation
• Stress / insomnia
• Tension headache
• Restlessness
• Dizziness
• Hyperactive personality
• Muscle tension
• Talking fast or loud
• Deficient fire symptoms
• Impotence / lack of sexual desire
• Restlessness
• Frequently waking up at night
• Quivering tongue
• Tightness in chest
• Over thinking
• Dark circle

Excess earth symptoms

• Short breath
• Bitterness in mouth
• Craving for sugar
• Acid reflux
• Frightens of future
• Acidic stomach
• Abdominal disorder
• Deficient earth symptoms
• Inability to gain or lose weight
• Cramp
• Abdominal pain
• Worries and fears
• Poor muscle tone
• Poor appetite
• Hernia

Excess metal symptoms

• Bronchitis
• Coughing
• Wheezing asthma
• White or pale mucus
• Fullness in chest
• Asthma
• Sinusitis problems (headache)
• Deficient metal symptoms
• Dry cough
• Excessive perspiration or night sweat
• Short breath
• Chronic lung infection
• Flu
• Fatigue
• Pale tongue

Excess water symptoms

• Water retention
• Backache
• Neck, shoulder pain
• Enuresis
• Timid / frightened
• Indecisive
• Gall bladder infection
• Deficient water symptoms
• Ringing in the ears
• Osteoporosis
• Impotence (men)
• Less sexual desire (women)
• Prostate problems
• Low back pain
• Frequent urination