FACULTY: Rupesh Chhagan, CHT, TCMP
LOCATION: School of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at Pacific Rim College, 560 Johnson St #229, Victoria, BC V8W 3C6
MODE: In-person
The Five Element Map: Understanding Health and Disharmony
The Five Element Map offers an elegant framework for understanding the human experience through the lenses of health and disharmony. Each Element—Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal—is associated with specific mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical qualities. This map not only reveals where imbalances may lie, but also guides us toward what is needed to restore harmony.
In this course, we will focus on the foundational concepts of each Element and explore their deeper associations. These include developmental psychology, the functional expression of emotions linked to each Element, and relevant skills drawn from Hakomi, a mindfulness-based experiential psychotherapy. These tools will help us engage with the emotional patterns each Element represents.
Course Learning Approach
Learning will be facilitated through a combination of embodied and experiential practices, meditations, lectures, partner exercises, practice sessions, and demonstrations. Students will deepen their personal relationship with themselves through a lived, embodied understanding of each Element.
On a professional level, students will expand their diagnostic capacity by exploring the psycho-spiritual associations of each Element. They will also develop practical skills for working with patients in mindfulness, using techniques drawn from both Hakomi and Chinese medicine.
Course Schedule
March 21–22: Water
July 11–12: Wood & Fire
October 3–4: Earth & Metal
Each weekend builds upon the previous one, introducing a new Hakomi skill. By the final weekend, students will be equipped with a complete set of skills for working directly with a patient’s Qi in a collaborative and mindful way.
Over the span of three months, students will learn the foundations of building a therapeutic alliance using Hakomi principles. Key relational skills such as tracking, making contact, and directing awareness will be taught. These allow for present-moment, direct exploration of Qi flow. Application of these skills in acupuncture treatment will be demonstrated, along with time for hands-on student practice.