Course Content
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Introduction - Navigating the course and the basics of Gua Sha
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The Fascia as a pathway for fluid and nerve impulses
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The Triple Warmer/San Jiao and its relationship to the Fascia
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Wood Element and its relationship to the connective tissue and tendons
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Gua Sha for breaking a fever and inducing sweating
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How Gua Sha is beneficial for the Triple Warmer and Gallbladder meridians
The Wood Element
The wood element
The season of spring is related to the wood element. It is the time that everything comes to life. It starts to move, it starts to grow.
The wood element is about movement, about action.
Physically in the body, the Wood element is related to the tendons, but also to controlling the movement of Qi and blood.
If you consider the wood element, the liver and gallbladder are the organ and meridian pair that are represented. The Liver is the Yin aspect - dealing with the anterior aspect fo the body,the deeper interior parts, while the Gallbladder is the Yang aspect, the exterior and posterior aspect, more connected with the physicality and action of the tendons
The wood element enjoys actions that are smooth and regular.
When we observe the gallbladder meridian, we can see the direction changes in the channel where the tissues change. This makes it difficult for the lymph and blood to move freely when there is any kind of distortion.
An example of how the body acts as a reflection of nature:
Example: If you have a tree or you have some firewood there how are you going to break the wood up? What are you going to do? How are we going to break up that wood?
Say we're on a hike and, and there's a tree down in the path... how are you going to remove it?
chop it up.
What tool do we use to do that? How are we going to chop the wood? With a saw, an ax. What material is made of?
This is metal.
In TCM it is understood that there are relationships between the elements, they all must work cohesivley for the system to function optimally. It is understood that metal cuts wood. In traditional Chinese medicine, metal originally was actually stone.
So, stone or metal is the perfect instrument to break up wood. I discuss the specific tools in more depth in in the online Gua Sha course, feel free to review that lesson.
Another key aspect of the wood element, is that is commonly involved with one-sided issues in the body, specifically when it is the right side. So, when a client has a one sided headache, or sciatica (usually one sided) etc., the wood element and particularly the Gallbladeer channel should be considered.
When treating one-sided conditions, it is a good idea to treat the unaffected side first. Research shows that treating the unaffected side has a positive effect on the affected side, reducing the symptoms so that it is more comfortable to treat the affected side. Another benefit of treating the unaffected side of the body is that it offers a baseline for what is considered normal for that client.
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