The Five Movements model, combined with earth’s upward and heaven’s downward forces, provides the foundation for the body-reading signals and life enhancement tools presented in this book. The “Five Goings” is probably the most accurate translation of this traditional system that is now more commonly known as the Five Elements, the Five Transformations, or the Five Phases. For thousands of years people utilized this model to integrate their everyday world with the natural order of universal forces that create the day/night cycle, the seasons of the year, and all the cyclical forces of nature. Physiological, psychological, political, social, geographical, climatic, and astrological influences can all be related to these quintessential life movements.

This model depicts life as a constantly changing cycle of flowing (winter or water-like), rising (spring or tree-like), radiating (summer or fire-like), grounding (early fall or earth-like), and gathering (late fall or metal-like) movements. A healthy person experiences a balance of all five energies throughout the hours, days, seasons, and years. Each phase contains different characteristics of yin and yang. For example, while summer and winter both embody elements of yin and yang, (expansion/contraction, hot/cold, dry/moist) our overall feeling in these seasons is very different.

These movements reveal five metaphorical variations of the two primary forces offering an expanded view of the yin/yang model. As we learn to identify these movements in our lives, we will discover when they are lacking or excessive, and how to balance them.

"Between the extremes of yin or yang/black or white Lies the Five Movements bridging the space with a rainbow’s light SK" (from a metaphor by Fafi Yousry)

Flowing: Dreams and Destiny
The flowing movement is often associated with water. Planet earth began as land immersed in water. Every human life begins as an embryo encased in amniotic fluid. Blood is our internal ocean- nourishing, cleansing, and strengthening our bodies through the filtration and mineral balance functions of the kidneys and bladder. “Flowing” is cultivated in a resting state similar to sleep or hibernation where energy is regenerated and stored like a seed, dormant underground, awaiting spring.

The flowing movement is flexible and adaptable. Like water, which assumes the shape of any container, “going with the flow,” allows us to easily adapt to all life circumstances, courageously following our dreams. At night we lie horizontally immersed in the flow of dreams, floating in the stream of cosmic consciousness. The darkness of night and winter provides the ideal environment for rest and regeneration.

A modern metaphor for the kidneys is that they are like battery packs, storing regenerative energy (derived from sleep, meditation, internal breathing, and sexual circulation exercises) in the form of a metaphysical “elixir” called “Jing Chi Essence.” This creative essence charges our will, motivates us, and connects us to a bigger picture of life. The famous phrase from the Star Trek series captures the courageous spirit of flowing energy: “To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before.”

If the free expression of this energy is blocked or deprived, instead of flowing forward, it is common to move backward, reacting to change with tentative behavior, fear, resistance, or even paranoia. An extreme example is the experience of being suddenly awakened from a deep sleep. Disorientation, a rush of adrenaline, and a shocking scare are common reactions when our flowing energy is interrupted.

When the flow is lacking, we watch our backs. At a party, the people who are standing with their backs against the wall are protecting their vulnerable kidneys by keeping stress at a safe distance in front of them where they can see what is coming. After a drink they may loosen up and more easily flow into the stream of activity. In contrast, people who demonstrate vital flowing energy move with ease in an environment of new people, changes, and situations. They welcome surprise as an exciting catalyst for creative growth.

Rising: New Growth
Rising energy is characterized by spontaneous upward growth- like the growth of trees. Dormant in winter, the seed now sprouts, rising and growing into a tree, lifting its branches upward embracing the warm brightness of the sun’s rays. Spring is here! Land arose from water to create a new environment. From the darkness of the womb, a baby breaks mother’s water, propels through the birth canal, and emerges into the light of the world. The rising movement is cultivated by acting on new ideas that generate our creative power.

With spontaneity and freshness, the liver controls 589 functions-450 different tasks every minute. With the assistance of the gallbladder, it masterminds the direction of our life path. Our bodies, after a deep night’s rest, awaken. Now we are ready to add direction to our dreams. Ideas spark action, motivating us to create new structures- launching pads for our exciting discoveries.
When driving somewhere, excited about our new ideas, people are anxious to arrive quickly, avoiding any obstacles (Sunday drivers, traffic lights, road construction.) When encountering a traffic jam, the liver energy may contract because its desire to go full steam ahead is denied. Stop, start, stop, start; like an overheated radiator, one may blow up, honk the horn or scream. Or, we cool off and patiently trust our arrival has been detained for a good reason.

When rising energy is blocked, one may become frustrated, impatient, and angry. Pressure and control restrict the liver’s spontaneity. Frustration is either turned inward giving the appearance of being in control, or it rises, expressing itself through shouting or violence.

At a party, the person exhibiting rising energy assumes a straight posture, is tastefully dressed in contemporary attire, and personifies the attitude “everything is on the up and up.” This person likes to direct others with upward, cutting hand gestures. A rising voice pitch at the end of sentences accents her enthusiasm. When genuine, the overall body expression conveys a bright spirited personality. However, tightness and clenching of the hands, throat, or jaw may indicate a strained or artificial expression of rising energy.
When rising energy is freely expressed, organization and decision-making are creative and spontaneous. We are driven to birth our new ideas with a sense of perfect timing and coordination.

Spring freshness caresses every pore
Meet it. I must.
Catch the Sun
Awakening, Rising – I REACH…Yes!
-SK

Radiating: Passion and Excitement
Like a fire burning with awe and excitement, radiating energy accelerates spring’s growth, blossoming into summer’s colorful bloom. A baby’s inquisitive attention is easily distracted in a myriad of directions as she responds to the excitement of her new surroundings. Infusing every cell with passion and energy, the heart circulates life essence through the blood, animating the body with a sense of spirit. At noon, and in summer when the sun radiates its highest intensity, we are animated with effervescent joy and enthusiasm.

The radiating movement is cultivated through the passion generated by expanding new ideas. Our enthusiasm overflows to express our inspirations. An original idea is now expanded into infinite possibilities. A whim develops into a passion, a talent, a career, travel, a web page, a book, an international corporation.

Exaggeration of the radiating movement can result in hyperactivity, scattered attention, lack of completion, and mood swings with intense highs and depressing lows. People demonstrating excess radiating energy are the “life of the party,” often dressing and acting outrageously. Like fire, they need fuel to burn, which sometimes takes the form of recognition and admiration.

Laughing or chuckling after sad statements indicates an imbalance in the radiating movement. Making fun of situations through sarcasm, cynicism, or ridicule often dissipates the deep truths that, if taken seriously, could cause emotional pain. This may explain why people laugh at political jokes that depict the fragile, vulnerable state of our country. The Chinese referred to this “inappropriate joy” as a disturbance in the “Shen” (spirit).

People exhibiting balanced, radiating energy magnetically attract others with their warm, charismatic nature. Instead of a heart fire burning chaotically out of control, theirs is more like a tempered candle flame, or the slow burn of the fire in a hearth. The ability to breathe, stay open, and maintain a dynamic brightness circulates emotional warmth evenly throughout the body.

Grounding: Focusing Our Desires
The grounding movement brings inspiration down to earth focusing it into specific action. An essential component of this movement is relationship. Life on planet earth is supported through the inter-relationships between all life forms. The child and mother nourish each other through their physical and emotional bond. As summer excitement fades, fall slips in quietly, magically painting the leaves to earthy shades of orange, gold, and red. After Mother Earth has nurtured the growth of a tree through spring and summer, the leaves descend, sheltering and nourishing the earth for the coming cold season.

The grounding movement is cultivated in the step-by-step nourishing of our inspirations. We focus our enthusiasm, center ourselves, and carry out our goals. The digestive and immune resources supply the sustenance to carry through our desires. Food descends to the stomach satisfying the hunger of body, mind, and soul. The spleen produces white blood cells fortifying our immune system to neutralize germs, viruses and potentially destructive influences from our external environment. The pancreas stabilizes blood sugar to maintain our steady endurance. When the sun begins its descent, we focus our resources on accomplishing goals during the remaining daylight. However, too much attention on focused desires can lead to rumination, worry, and heaviness. Ideally we strike a balance by efficiently prioritizing desires, coordinating with others, and implementing our plans.

When our personal resources are plentiful they overflow in generosity connecting us to others. If the grounding movement is lacking or blocked, a person may go beyond a healthy request for support, and instead rely on others to sustain him. An extreme expression of this energy is self-pity, neediness, martyrdom, and victim consciousness. When a person feels empty she often looks to others for the fulfillment of her physical, emotional, and energetic needs. When asked, “how are you feeling?” this person replies in a heavy, sinking voice, “Oh, I’m okay; BUT my mother, my car, my boyfriend, etc. are all causing me a lot of pain.”

A Grounding imbalance
may feel like one is helplessly
sinking in quicksand “needing”
a savior to rescue the victim.

When grounding energy is freely expressed, our inspirations are in alignment with others and our plentiful resources overflow, leading to generosity and compassion. At a party, this sweet, nurturing quality is demonstrated by “the hostess with the mostess,” who listens compassionately, takes care of everyone’s needs, fills everyone’s plate, makes introductions, and creates an environment of safety and comfort. Grounding energy compels us to listen, support, and empathize because it fulfills an essential human requirement- connecting and growing with others in the spirit of cooperation and bonding.

Gathering: Completion and Letting Go
The gathering movement completes our efforts, consolidating our dreams into a final, tangible product. The solid reality of manifestation is represented by metal, the hardest, most condensed of all elements. At sunset we complete the day’s tasks. In late fall, we gather and store the year’s harvest. The knowledge gained through the other four movements culminates into an awareness of our own direction—a pathway to a deep truth within our soul. Our uniqueness is revealed. Trees have many similar characteristics, yet an oak tree is different than a palm. Each child has his own personality. And every culture has its own unique customs. The gathering movement is cultivated through the self-satisfaction experienced when completing our dreams and inspirations- the finished product.

At birth, the lungs are activated when we gather our first breath independently from our mother. The large intestine gathers and consolidates waste into the final product of digestion. The ability to consolidate life movements into a solid form characterizes the gathering movement imparting a “solid as a rock” or “rock of Gibraltar” quality. When our words are backed up with dependable actions, we are expressing balanced gathering energy.

Another characteristic of the gathering to completion movement is “letting go”—exhalation and elimination. Just as the lungs and the large intestine coordinate the functions of gathering and letting go, the gathering movement tells us when to rely on the past and when to explore new options.

Stagnation in the gathering movement is expressed as a feeling of “stuckness,” and in behavioral traits such as constriction, over-analysis, obsessive logic, self-blame, and an orderly, detailed categorization of circumstances into fixed truths—right or wrong, black or white, good or bad. Decision-making is often motivated by a compelling desire to control others as a means of asserting one’s individual beliefs. In a gathering mind-set it is common to revert to the predictable, and pragmatic methods from the past. If steps a, b, and c yielded a certain outcome before, then is it wise to always repeat this “tried and true” pattern over and over again? Remaining stuck in the past may result in accumulating unresolved feelings leading to behavioral and physical constipation.

At a party, this person observes and gathers information. He moves and dances with mechanical, stiff motions. When asked how he is enjoying himself, he replies in a monotone voice, “Oh, I’m having a great time.” A person expressing balanced gathering energy is solid, dependable, devoted, attentive to the essential details, manifests goals through perseverance, and knows when to let go of the past, change, adapt, and move on to new dreams.

Do the Crashing waves of your life yearn for the stillness found in the deep, still waters of spiritual regeneration?

Like the stimulating freshness of spring wind you are ready to play free of structure, in the spontaneous spark of new ideas and creative growth

Does the calamity of intense extremes — Up and Down evoke the desire for a gently inspiring warm caress that impassions every cell of your hungry soul?

Like colorful rustic autumn leaves falling to nourish the barren ground perhaps you seek the sweet embrace of a safe intimate union.

As you approach the sunset of long days or many years, does the flurry of scattered directions drive you to finally harvest the manifestation of a Lifelong Goal?

Which of these do you crave most? Or could you integrate them all with added depth?
Walk the path now, plunge if you must, Breathe, have Faith, and Trust

SK

In body-reading classes and workshops I illustrate the behavioral qualities of the Five Movements with popular film and television scenarios.

FLOWING: Characters who explore the unknown with a flowing confidence leave the logical and enter the world of dreams. Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz leaves home and enters the illusive world of fantasy. Dorothy and the Scarecrow face the Wicked Witch with courage and determination. Ultimately, flowing energy triumphs as water melts the witch into oblivion. Star Trek’s Enterprise and crew “Boldly go where no one has gone before.”

RISING: Captain Kirk of Star Trek spontaneously directs his crew through perilous challenges throughout the universe. Cary Grant with his tall fresh tree-like stature maintains his cool while solving Alfred Hitchcock mysteries. The Wizard of Oz at a moment’s notice figures out clever solutions for the predicaments of the other characters.

RADIATING: Robin Williams plays diverse roles that fluctuate between great extremes from a serious sentimental psychologist to an animated flamboyant comedian. The Cowardly Lion craves attention to fuel his passionate nature. Scotty in Star Trek expresses his enthusiastic pride for the Starship Enterprise and with bursting excitement protests the ship’s limits: “If I push her anymore she’ll blow for sure Captain.”

GROUNDING: Dorothy compassionately puts the needs of her friends ahead of her own. Dr. McCoy always asserts the importance of human bonds, “Jim, these are human lives we’re talking about.” In Star Trek: The Next Generation Counselor Troy is an “empath” who intuitively feels and listens to the emotions of her crewmembers.

GATHERING: Mr. “Spock” lives in the predictable world of logic, devoid of spontaneity or laughter. “Data” and the “Tin-Man” search for emotional, heartfelt experiences to infuse their mechanical existence with warmth and flair.

The Five Movements in Relationship

The Five Movements model can enhance our understanding of relationship dynamics.

Flowing relates to the source of all life and in relationship symbolizes a deep soul level connection between people. The intuitive “gut-feeling” recognition of this shared universal consciousness motivates people to explore a common dream.

Rising relates to the fresh sparks of people discovering their common directions, parallel paths, and similar ideas. When educational, cultural, social, ideological, or recreational life activities align, people are drawn to partnership.

Radiating relates to shared inspiration, enthusiasm, and excitement. The sparks of commonality (in rising energy) expand, igniting feelings of passion and intensity exploding into an airy and breathless feeling of “flying in love.”

Grounding relates to the step-by-step daily nourishing of a relationship. When passion is supported by empathetic listening, persevering actions, and genuine caring, the heart’s intensity becomes grounded in the warm connection of human bonding.

Gathering relates to our unique nature reflected through the mirror of relationship. The consistent cultivation of the other four movements harvests a deep dedication and devotion that sustains relationship.

A healthy expression of all life’s movements leads to balance and wholeness. When one or more of these movements is missing, it is common to search for a person and a relationship to provide the missing element(s). A person who is easily inspired (radiating) may look to someone else to fulfill his need for completion (gathering). A person who is predictably organized (gathering) may search for someone to fulfill her need for fresh innovative ideas (rising). In these types of relationships, two half partners combine hoping to create a whole relationship with the idea that 1/2 plus 1/2 equals “Oneness.” I find however, that relationship dynamics more often resemble a multiplication equation where a 1/2 times 1/2 equals 1/4. People who depend on a partner to fulfill themselves usually end up feeling less complete over time.

Does dependency on another consume our autonomy, leaving us more undernourished than before we entered the relationship? When relationships support, inspire, and catalyze each individual’s personal growth, unity/oneness is established through interdependence.

The components of this chemistry include a balanced expression of the five movements in each partner.

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