An Introduction to Energetics
Understanding Your Body's Unique Energetic Patterns
You can access an audio of this post here
While it may appear that our bodies are just physical, they are actually primarily energy. And these energy patterns are reflected in the natural world around us through the elements of earth, air, fire and water, as a metaphorical starting point. Our physical bodies are after all of this earth. We all come into this world with a unique balance of these elements and this is what largely defines our physical body. These elements reflect themselves in the energetic patterns of hot/cold, damp/dry, expansion/contraction as expressed through our bodies.
THE HISTORY OF ENERGETICS IN WESTERN MEDICINE
While it may sound like a new-agey kind of term, the concept of energetics dates back thousands of years. The origins of Western medicine are often tied to Galen, a Greek physician, whose theories dominated European medicine for over 1,500 years. His work outlines the concept of “humoral” medicine, a system of medicine practiced for thousands of years in the mediterranean region, including Egypt and the Middle East. It is system of energy medicine based on the classification of four basic “humors” - sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic. These humors were organized around the four elements - earth, air, fire and water, as well as the four basic patterns of cold, hot, dry and wet.
But it did not begin with Galen. We find many ancient medical systems based on energetic organizing principles that existed well before Galen. Including the Persian system of traditional medicine that refers to these humors as mizaj. And the practice of Ayurvedic medicine which originated in India thousands of years ago based on the concept of balancing the 3 “doshas” - Vata, Pitta, Kapha. As well, the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on a complex and thorough system of understanding and balancing energetics that has existed for thousands of years.
UNDERSTANDING HEALTH, DISEASE AND THE VITAL FORCE
The current prevalent medical model left the concept of energetics behind in the dust when the promise of modern medicine took hold. The current conventional model of medicine is based on a mechanistic view of the body that includes the idea that a single isolated and purified substance might somehow cure what it is that is ailing us. And while certainly these isolated substances have an effect on the physiology, they fail to keep in mind the underlying dynamic of the self-healing and auto-regulating processes in the body. A concept sometimes termed the vital force.
The body is continually working towards a state of health and wellbeing in an orderly and efficient manner that is guided by the forces of nature and of life itself. It is the organizing principle of life itself. There are times when this organizing and self-healing process of the body gets stuck and is not able to clear out or move through some obstacle that dis-ease sets in. This dis-ease or imbalance presents itself through particular symptoms. When we use an intervention that suppresses the symptoms, we are in fact suppressing this life force itself. And while we might be successful in curtailing a particular symptom, the underlying imbalance of the body remains. And this underlying imbalance may then express itself through our physiology in some new and often covert manner. The imbalance remains and the body’s attempts at righting the situation have been suppressed. This can often drive the imbalance deeper into the tissues and into more serious pathologies.
There are times when this mechanistic approach to medicine is life saving. Let’s keep it for those purposes. However, when it comes to the day to day functioning of the body, can we begin to interpret the symptoms that arise as an expression of some underlying imbalance that needs to be addressed? In doing so, we are working with this expression of vitality in our body, which then has the potential to lead to greater health and wellbeing that will serve us moving forward. In it, we need to understand the expression of symptoms as a reflection of deep wisdom in the body, instead of as the problem. And we need to understand and respect that the body is always trying to move towards a state of health.
So bottom line - when the body expresses symptoms - how can we best support the body in what it needs in order to move through these symptoms?
Support the normal physiological processes of the body. Often these normal physiological processes of the body got “stuck” somewhere along the way. Much of what we do in energetic medicine is to help get these stuck places unstuck. Approaching symptoms within the framework of energetic medicine helps us balance the underlying pattern which often helps the body get back on track.
Identify if the symptoms might be due to an excess or a deficiency. These will often right themselves when we deal with the underlying stuckness. But if not - we can support further.
In symptoms of excess, we may need to support the normal physiological processes of elimination in the body. Many symptoms may be a reflection that these processes of elimination are overburdened - think fevers, skin eruptions, mucous production, discharges, diarrhea. Instead of seeing these symptoms as a problem, we can work towards supporting the body’s hard work in attempting to clear things out and stay on top of physiological housekeeping.
If symptoms are due to deficiency, we may need to address that deficiency - be it in an organ system, in the overall vitality of the body, or with a particular nutrient.
UNDERSTANDING ENERGETICS
This understanding around energetics has fueled my love of working with the plants. Each plant has within it a unique energetic blueprint that expresses itself through our bodies. When we choose a plant that is indicated according to our body’s energetic patterns, we can help the body clear through blockages and and regain its full and unencumbered capacity to access its self healing and auto-regulating functions. That’s why I love working with plants.
Much of our understanding around the energetics of plants has been reclaimed and reintegrated back into our Western Herbal Tradition over the past 30 years thanks to the exceptional work of Matthew Wood. He uses the term “tissue states” to refer to these patterns of energetics, naming them excitation/heat, depression/cold, atrophic/dry, tension/wind, damp/relaxation, and stagnation. I continue to learn a great deal from his work, as well as from herbalists influenced by his work including Lise Wolff and Jim McDonald. I am indebted to them for my understanding that continues to evolve and grow.
THE SIX TISSUE STATES
The six tissue states as described by Matthew Wood include:
Excitation/Heat - related to inflammation, irritation, expansion and autoimmune tendencies. Often associated with a tongue that is elongated and red.
Depression/Cold - related to depressed tissues, a lack of reaction and stagnation of blood. Cold and pale tissues, cold extremities. Often associated with a tongue that is pale and possibly a bit purplish.
Atrophic/Dry - related to contraction and wasting of tissues, difficulty assimilating nutrients, withering, deficiency and dryness. Often associated with a thin tongue that may sometimes be cracked from dryness.
Tension/Wind - associated with stress and tension in the nervous system and the gut, body tension, spasm, contraction of muscles, chills. May be associated with a trembling or shaking tongue.
Damp/Relaxation - may be associated with relaxed tissues, tendency to prolapse, loss of fluids in sweating or diarrhea, clammy hands, congestion of fluids in the body. Often associated with a moist swollen tongue
Stagnation - associated with stuck patterns and lack of movement and flow. May relate to blocked channels of elimination. There may be a significant white or yellow coating on the tongue.
THE TISSUE STATES REFLECTED IN THE THREE “DOSHAS” OF AYURVEDA
For those of you familiar with the concept the the three doshas of Ayurvedic medicine, let us use the framework of these three doshas as a way to demonstrate the application of the tissues states to body types. Ayurveda is based on the concept that we all come into the world with a body type that reflects some interplay of these three doshas and various influences over the course of our lives can throw these respective qualities out of balance. The goal of Ayurveda is to help bring balance to the doshas in support of good health
Vata is related to the element of air and expresses itself as cold, dry and tense.
Pitta is related to fire and expresses itself through heat, sometimes accompanied with dryness or tension. It can be also be prone to congestion or stagnation especially through the liver or cardiovascular system.
Kapha is related to earth and water and expressed itself as cold, damp, and relaxed and may be prone to becoming congested and stagnant as well, often expressed through the lymphatic tissues.
THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS
The framework of the four temperaments is a modern day rendition of Galen’s four humors. Their correlations are as follows:
Sanguine is referred to by the same name, Sanguinous, having to do with the heart and arterial system. Associated with the qualities of heat and active congestion.
Choleric is referred to as Bilious, having to do primarily with the liver and metabolic processes. Associated with the qualities of hot and dry. The stagnation, often affecting the liver, creates overall tension in the tissues.
Melancholic referred to as Nervous and having to do primarily with the nervous system. Associated with the qualities of cold and dry. Stagnation manifests primarily as tension in the tissues often leading to tissue atrophy.
Phlegmatic referred to as Lymphatic and having to do with the lymphatic and venous systems. Associated with the qualities of cold, damp, relaxed tissues that have a tendency to passive congestion.
These four temperaments are a lens through which we can understand the tissue states more clearly. This framework came to me through my studies with the brilliant late Dr. Guéniot. It is to him that I owe much of my understanding of energetics and humoral medicine. This understanding has had a significant impact on how I do my work - seeking always to address the imbalance in the body from an energetic perspective. I will share with you an in depth description of the four temperaments next week. Stay tuned.
BRINGING IT HOME
Start to observe for signs of hot, cold, dryness, damp, tension, congestion and stagnation in your own body and in the world around you. The more we begin to observe and understand these patterns, the easier it becomes to know how to best support our bodies for optimal health. Learn more about plant energetics so that you can begin to understand which plants and which flavours are most appropriate for your unique body type.
Over time, we will continue to explore further these concept regarding energetics and tissues states so that you can more easily see the patterns that reflect what is going on in your body. Once you develop a clearer understanding and appreciation for these energetic states, you will have a better sense of how to choose the best plants and foods to support your health and wellbeing.