Strengthen your Weaknesses
One way Taoist Five Element Theory helps solve weakness in the body is to work backward through the controlling cycle. For instance, if someone has issues with their liver, (described as the wood element), it may show up as anger, lack of direction, or frustration. Taoists would use the controlling cycle to determine that the metal element, the lungs and large intestine, could be over-powering the liver/gallbladder or wood element (“Metal cuts wood” as a learning aid or depiction).
Another way of describing this is that the controlling organ is damaging when the “grandmother” element or organ, damages the grandchild element by pushing too hard upon it. If this is a healthy relationship, the older family member, or organ in the cycle, sets clear boundaries for the grandchild. I’m this way it acts as a check and balance or tough love. If the controlling influence is too strong, the grandchild organ will become weak.
An ‘insulting’ instance is when the grandchild rebels on the controlling influence and turns the grandmother organ’s energy back on itself. In nature, the banks of a river try to control the river, but it rebels by overflowing the banks and washing away the earth. In the body, this represents an imbalance and we can seek to restore the body to balance.
The recommendation is to find balance between the five elements and corresponding organs. There is a meditation called the Fusion of the Five Elements where the different aspects of the body-energy-psychology are encouraged to work together in balance and harmony. This practice is briefly described in pages 144-147 and 153 in The Alchemist’s Tao Te Ching: Transforming Your Lead Into Gold