Five Element Wisdom For Unblocking Manifestation

Since a few weeks before the start of the Year of the Wood Snake, I’ve been on a manifestation marathon—and it’s been incredibly healing, rewarding, and empowering.

Manifestation is truly a journey into the subconscious. It asks us to look closely at the wounded parts of ourselves that have quietly shaped our behaviors, often without us even realizing it.

As a Chinese medicine provider, studying and practicing manifestation has been fascinating. I’ve started to see clear connections between common manifestation blocks and the five element archetypes. A patient may be constitutionally one element but diagnostically another element may be more relevant to the presentation. I’m finding the same holds true with manifestation work.

For example, I’m a textbook Wood type—when I’m out of alignment, I default to classic Wood patterns: frustration, defensiveness, bitterness, resentment. But in order to unlock my own manifestation work, I had to confront and clear some deeply Metal wounds—feelings of low self-worth and undeservingness that were quietly running the show.

This journey into the subconscious has expanded my perspective and brought a whole new layer to my treatments. Things have started to shift in a big way.

Now, when a patient tells me they’re feeling anxious or stressed, all I hear is: “I’m not manifesting the life I truly want.”

And that’s okay—because now we have tools to realign. We’ve got this.

Unblocking Wood

Wood imbalanced people feel very stuck and frustrated in the face of hardship.

It is critical for wood types to have clarity around their expectations and boundaries and the ability to communicate them.

When balance is restored to wood, they realize that their frustration is just their body’s way of telling them that it’s time to move on.

Once they quit wasting their time, manifestation comes easy.

Unblocking Fire

Our inner fire element craves connection and the feeling of being truly seen and loved.

When fire is out of balance, it can manifest as a deep struggle with feeling lovable and unworthy of genuine intimacy. This often leads to patterns like seeking approval, choosing emotionally unavailable partners, and chasing the honeymoon phase.

When we restore balance to fire, we trust our inner radiance and understand who is actually worthy of our affections.

Unblocking Earth

A lack of proper nurturing & nourishment from a parent or caregiver during childhood can lead to a lack of trust in adulthood.

When one doesn’t harbor an inner sense of trust and knowing that the universe ultimately has your back, the default is to worry obsessively.

Working with the earth element will settle down the constant rumination, overanalyzing and obsessive thinking. With a little trust and clarity they will find themselves able to take aligned action.

Unblocking Metal

Metal types struggle with low self worth. They do not manifest because their subconscious believes that they simply are not deserving of their manifestation.

Shame and guilt is often at the root of low self worth. When they resolve their shame, they can step into their confidence and integrity, letting go of the impulse to settle for less than they truly deserve.

Unblocking Water

Rooted in fear, hypervigilance is a form of anxiety where one tries to predict and prepare for the worst case scenario.

This tendency to catastrophize is a way of coping with the fear of having the rug pulled out from under them.

Working with the water element to heal this imbalanecd state brings the water imbalanced patient into a deep sense of stillness and safety.