Do you believe in people "types?"
Eastern medicine is a metephorical science and teaches about the interaction of mind, body and spirit and, in doing so as has sorted people into 5 basic body types named after the elements. The following list shows very basic attributes and a couple of samples.
- fire:usually tall and thin, these people seem to be erratic in their movements(like a flicking flame) Brad Pitt, Linda Hamilton.
- earth:usually shaped more roundly, these people walk with a roll(a ball bouncing down a stony path). Danny DeVito, Rosie O'Donnel.
- metal:usually appear compact, these people move like they have a purpose(even if they don't)and remind me of a suit of armor. Charles Bronson, Gillian Anderson.
- water:usually tall and bottom heavy(water sinks), these people move with grace(fluid). Edward Norton, Sandra Bullock.
- wood(air):usually large upper body and slimmer lower, these people move like they own the world(a tree spreading over everything around it). any WWF wrestler.
Of course there are people who fit into more than one type (I am basically water with fire and wood tendencies)
and this gives us the multitude of physiques and personalities you see around you.
The interaction of these types can be displayed in a chart as follows.
fire
/ | \
/ | | \
/ | | \
wood------|-----|-----earth
|\ | | / |
| \ | | / |
| | \ / | |
| | \ / | |
| | / \ | |
| | / \ | |
|| / \ ||
water-----------------metal
The chart shows the support (outer pentagon) and control (inner pentagram) of these types, it works clockwise.
e.g. a water person would support a wood person but would control a fire person so if your fire, water is not your type. (unless you like to be controlled)
There are a whole list of attributes to go with each type, e.g. emotions, foods, home styles, and even the organs of the body. It has also been established that people of a particular "type" tend to have similar medical problems, e.g. water types tend to have ankle / lower back problems, earth types with weight gain.
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