Phlegmatic: Western Energetics

PHLEGMATIC: PHLEGM

Now to the water element and the Phlegmatic temperament which is characterised by wet and cold. It is the phlegm humour or fluid.

Phlegm is not just phlegm as you know it, which is mucus, it’s actually the plasma and the lymph and interstitial fluids, all the clear fluids throughout the body. It is the cerebrospinal fluid and the synovial fluid between the joints. The primary purpose of these clear fluids in the body is to help to detoxify and hydrate. They help to keep the body moving, albeit slowly, as it is a very slow-moving fluid. The phlegm fluid is nourishing, hydrating and cool.

Phlegmatic people also move slowly. They’re methodical in their approach to life. Phlegmatics are willing to take their time. They tend towards overweight or underactive metabolic conditions because their natural state is to move slowly. Phlegmatics are happy to listen to others and go with the flow. They’re known as a stable introvert, so they might not mind the isolation so much as their natural state is introversion, so they’re happy at home or with their creature comforts.

If you’re treating someone who is predominantly phlegmatic, they tend to only like to make one change at a time. If you give them too much to do at once, they’ll just get overwhelmed and they won’t do any of it. Phlegmatic practitioners will do best to remember that making one change at a time is unique to this (their!) constitution.

Phlegmatics are very compassionate and make great practitioners, because they’re patient, methodical and very caring and extremely empathic.

They need to keep moving and even if it’s slowly, just keep them moving. They feel worse by cold and wet foods, which are classically dairy and wheat. You can tell a phlegmatic tendency in iridology with the presence of a lymphatic rosary. 

If you are a Phlegmatic practitioner, because you’re naturally caring, make sure that you set your boundaries in practice. I recommend to not take on too many patients and at the end of the day have a bit of a routine after clinic to highlight those physical and energetic boundaries. Ideally involving water, which is your element, such as a shower, swim or your favourite room cleansing spritz!

Want to learn more? Join the Western Energetics course and get a comprehensive and practical clinical understanding.