Fusion of Five Elements Practice
One Taoist practice for making connections between one’s inner world and one’s outer world is the Fusion of the Five Elements practice. Often it’s easier to perceive and understand the outer environment, than the inner environment. For instance, we all see the flowing of the seasons in their cycle from autumn to winter to spring, etc. Daily, we experience the sunrise, midday, sunset, and midnight. We plan our lives around them and make sure our schedules sync with outer yin and yang. But when it comes to monitoring, planning for, and experiencing our inner cycles/energies, it can feel more complicated to know where to start.
The Fusion of the Five Elements, studies and encourages the harmonious interaction of the five elements (water, wood, fire, earth, and metal) inside our bodies. When the elements or energies inside of us flow in a healthy way, a high quality of internal energy is produced. This creative life-force energy nourishes the glands, skin, organs, bones and more. The energy of the Fusion practice can be circulated around the body through the acupuncture channels, the microcosmic orbit, and the inner smile.
As an example, if one has a lot of planning energy and enthusiasm for goal-setting and starting projects, this can be an abundance of wood energy found in the gallbladder and liver. However, of these individuals have trouble seeing these projects through to completion or the harvest phase, this strong wood energy may not find completion in the cycle. The Fusion practice helps to strengthen weak organs, elements, and energies, and encourages flow through the cycle.
The Fusion practice also works on transforming negative emotions and releasing the energy trapped in these unconscious and repetitive patterns. There is, for instance, a lot of energy wrapped up in anger, worry, or fear. When the negative charge can be taken off of these patterns, the energy can be used for healing or other productive measures. The Taoists use the analogy of taking manure from animals and putting it on the garden as fertilizer. Learn more in the book The Alchemist’s Tao Te Ching: Transforming Your Lead Into Gold