As we welcome spring into our worlds and bodies, we also welcome the energies of the Wood Element, and its associated emotion of anger. Anger manifests in many forms. It’s a natural and powerful energy that rises up from our values and our sense of self. We can choose to express our healthy anger clearly, calmly, and with integrity. We allow anger’s upward moving energy to move through and out of our bodies, initiating the powerful changes needed in our lives and worlds. Exercise, fresh foods, nervines, aromatics, and bitters can help support this natural movement.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) Five Element theory, water is the element of winter and it governs the kidney and bladder meridian channels. Welcome to the north, place of coldness, the Great Mystery, that liminal place between birth and death, hibernation, and gentle yet powerful underground transformation. Miles and miles of infinite expansive water flows, seen and unseen, across the planet. 60% of our bodies are water. 

In autumn, seeds drop to the earth and lie still. Similarly, we prepare to hibernate for the winter by drawing inward and consolidating our energy. Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Metal element is associated with autumn. Metal governs the Lung and Large Intestine meridians, with their functions of inspiration and excretion, appropriate storage and release.

The twelve organ systems of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) connect with their western biomedical counterparts, but aren’t limited to western understandings of locations or functions. In TCM, each organ system includes not only the organ’s location, but also primary meridian lines, collateral lines, sinew channels, and more. The Five Elements of Chinese medicine—Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal—and their associated seasonal changes correlate with these organ systems.

In spring, buds burst with potential energy, flowers push up from under the snow, and, according to Chinese medicine, the Wind blows change, energy, and wellness disturbances hither and thither. Spring is associated with the Wood element, in its upward, outward expansion and infinite possibilities.