Qigong and the Five Elements

In qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), you have the five elements, Wu Xing, of: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Wu Xing can also be translated as the Five Phases, as they relate not only to the elements but also to the rhythms of the seasons and even the time of day. The theory is that the changes we see occurring in the external world are duplicated within our human bodies and minds. We simply replicate the patterns already happening in nature