By KATE POSS
Special to The Record
While practicing holistic healing work with animals for more than 35 years, Elizabeth Johnson learned we can help our furry friends be their best if we discover which of the five elements of Traditional Chinese medicine they are: wood, fire, earth, metal or water.
In her book published last September, “Know Your Dog’s True Nature: Understanding Canine Personality through the Five Elements,” Johnson distills what she has learned through her years of experience with the “five element” personalities.
She said she’s “humbled and grateful” by the success of her first book that is “traveling around the world” and has found appeal among its readers. Besides her animal practice here on Whidbey Island, Johnson is a former veterinary technician, wildlife biologist, TEDx speaker, the current vice president of Global Wildlife Resources and partner of two rescue dogs, Wilbur and Pretzel.
“After reading it, you may take a deep sigh of relief, and say to yourself, ‘That is why my dog is doing that!’” writes Dr. Allen Schoen in the book’s forward.
A pioneer in integrated veterinary medicine, Schoen is also a professor, author and founder of the Conscious Animal Lovers Movement or C.A.L.M. He is also Johnson’s mentor and friend.
“Her simple solutions will help provide needed balance and harmony to your lives together,” he wrote. “This cooperative healing message can change our world in so many ways.”
The five element theory dates back more than 5,000 years and is commonly used in acupuncture and acupressure practice. Five Element Medicine is based on the understanding of the cyclical flow, movement, change and balance of life energy, or Qi. It also houses the “fun” piece – the archetypal personality traits which helps us understand “why they do what they do.”
Johnson found that once clients learn their animal’s element, they often tell her they observe similar archetypal traits in their family members, co-workers, and friends. This has helped foster understanding with others and soften relationships.
“I would often share with a client the elemental archetype that I believed their animal was, and how that related to our treatment protocol, the animal’s healing, and their needs, wants and support,” Johnson explained.
“On the next visit they’d often say, ‘Now, I understand my husband, or sister, or coworker — he’s a Wood like my dog or horse,” Johnson added.
Seeing the pattern repeat itself among her clients, Johnson finally wrote a book seeking to help humans improve their relationships with their dogs, and hopefully each other. Each element’s traits – both dog and human — are described in separate chapters, including how best to deal with our animal when they are stressed or acting in a way we do not understand. The book contains quizzes on how to determine a dog’s primary and secondary element types, along with balancing acupressure points and tips for caring for rescue dogs and aging dogs.
In the flurry of podcasts, book launch parties, radio interviews, expo talks and social media buzz surrounding her book’s publication last September, Johnson mused on the new world she has entered.
“For a person that has done healing work on animals for many years and is not from the generation of social media athletes, this new way of being seen and heard in the world was all new to me,” Johnson wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, Johnson is already three-quarters into writing her second book, one based on a TEDx talk she gave in 2020 sponsored by Sno-Isle Libraries, entitled “4 Life Lessons From Our Old Dogs.”
For more information, visit Johnson’s website at ElizabethAnneJohnson.com.
Her book is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook online at booksellers around the world and at Moonraker Bookstore in Langley and Kingfisher Bookstore in Coupeville.