Earth
Earth is an element of fertility, cultivation, femininity, and wrath. Earth governs the Spleen and the Stomach. The Spleen, a yin organ, regulates digestion and the metabolism. It also holds the flesh and organs in their proper place while directing the movement of ascending fluids and essences. Mentally, the Spleen aids in concentration. Imbalance of the Spleen leads to chi deficiencies, diarrhea, organ prolapses, and headaches. The Spleen Meridian begins at the big toe, moves to the inner aspect of the leg, up to the front of the torso, and ends on the side of the trunk. The Stomach, the most active yang organ, breaks down food and controls the descending movement of chi. Imbalance of the stomach leads to vomiting and belching. The Stomach Meridian begins below the eye, moves down the front of the face, torso, to the outer part of the leg, and ends on the third toe.
Read more about this topic: TCM Model Of The Body
Famous quotes containing the word earth:
“Are we not madder than those first inhabitants of the plain of Sennar? We know that the distance separating the earth from the sky is infinite, and yet we do not stop building our tower.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“the plump of my belly, the
hollow of your
groin, as a constellation,
how it leans from earth to
dawn in a gesture of
play....”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“I am not aware that any man has ever built on the spot which I occupy. Deliver me from a city built on the site of a more ancient city, whose materials are ruins, whose gardens cemeteries. The soil is blanched and accursed there, and before that becomes necessary the earth itself will be destroyed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)