Command points: 2. Tonification and sedation points

Element points are used both to tonify and to sedate the energy of a patient's guardian element, and are chosen as a frequent alternative to source points.  Tonification is selected as treatment when our pulse-reading tells us that there is more energy in the mother element of our patient's element than in the element itself.  It is then preferable to draw energy from the mother element to the guardian element by needling its tonification points rather than its source points, since this is a way of spreading energy evenly between mother and child.  We should remember that the aim of all five element treatment is to balance the energy so that it flows smoothly from element to element.¬

When we decide to use a tonification point, we select the element point of the mother element.  For example, the tonification points for an Earth patient will be St (XI) 41 and Sp (XII) 2, the Fire points on Stomach and Spleen.

 

It is much more usual for the guardian element to reveal its imbalance as weakness rather than by showing an excess of energy, which is why tonification rather than sedation is overwhelmingly used in five element acupuncture.  If there is any excess energy in the guardian element it is also likely to be dispersed through the standard procedures that we use to clear blocks.  The initial check for Aggressive Energy may show that some pulses seem to have excess energy, but the AE procedure encourages this excess to disperse through the needles to the outside air.  A Husband-Wife block may reveal excess pulses on one hand, and in the case of Entry-Exit blocks the exit points of one meridian may show that they are retaining a build-up of excess energy which is prevented from releasing itself by passing it on to the adjacent entry point.  These are just temporary signs of blocked energy, and each of these blocks can be cleared, not by using an element's sedation points, but through specific procedures.

 

For the the purposes of five element treatment, I think we need to ignore the category of sedation points, and concentrate instead on the frequent use of tonification points.