Chinese Medicine for Beginners: Use the Power of the Five Elements to Heal Body and Soul

This was a birthday present given to me by my mother in 2003. I am only just getting around to saying how helpful it has been because I am recommending it to someone else. I have actually been doing the exercises in the book off and on for years.

The book is a lucid presentation of 5 element theory. The author's style is direct and conversational. He starts with a few comments on his early years in Vienna, and travels around the world learning holistic medicine. He specializes in acupuncture. With this brief introduction complete, the author presents each of the 5 elements in chapter long essays. Each chapter describes the elemental 'personality', signs of balance or lack of same, then related organs and meridians. He concludes with some exercises for strengthening the organs nurturing transformations related to that element. There are some black and white photos of a model demonstrating exercise positions. He concludes with a brief discussion of the 4 linkage cycles: 1. Mother-nurtures-child: Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water 2. Grandmother-guides-child: Wood-Earth-Water-Fire-Metal 3. Rebellious-child-overwhelms-grandmother: Metal-Fire-Water-Earth-Wood 4. Mother-killing-child: Water-Metal-Earth-Fire-Wood (I've paraphrased for the cycle names) Five-element theory can be a very complex subject. This book does a good job of making it understandable to the western reader.