Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang

Yin is the receptive, inward movement.   It is often thought of in terms of the feminine, the moon – the shady side of the mountain.  So, we named our new black duck Yin.   Yang is outward, masculine energy.  It is the sunny side of the mountain – the sun.  We named our light-colored duck Yang.  Actually, my son Bobby named them immediately upon seeing them.  He also correctly noted that the light duck has some dark and the dark duck has some light.  This is why you see the white spot in the black side and the black spot in the white side when Yin/Yang is represented like this.

Brothers in Fire

Bobby plays and Andrew coaches.

We love.

We share.

  We feel from the heart.

  We are connected.

  This is fire.

Stabbed in the Back

We devote so much time and energy into a relationship (at home or work).  And then we are STABBED IN THE BACK.  This wounds our hearts (sadness, anger, depression) and is often felt at the level at the level of the diaphragm as a wall which blocks the lower jiao ( area below belly-button) and the upper jiao (Heart/Lung area) from communicating.  Eventually, some folks develop breathing problems and have limited torso mobility.  Some will actually CAVE IN and become resigned.  Have you seen someone hunched over as they walk? GV

GV9 – UTMOST YANG is a point on the spine below the seventh vertebrae.  It is the most Yang point on the most Yang channel of the body.  (The fetal position:  YIN is IN: the front -  YANG is OUT:  the back).   This point  lifts the person up to see a higher place within.

GV10 – SUPERNATURAL TOWER may be used further in treatment to help a person’s heart rise like a tower above it’s current place to see the entire kingdom (the entire self as manifest in body/mind/spirit) so that he/she may let go of the ‘old stuff’ and feel a unity with the greater whole.  A new perspective.

Guilt or Shame being the Possessor

Guilt or Shame being the “Possessor”

The Chinese thought is that disease may be caused by internal or external influences. Traditionally, the idea of possession is just by another ‘ghost’, or ‘gui’. I personally treat a patient for possession if I have any doubts at all. Understandably, different emotions may seem to ‘take-over’ and even get to the level of addiction (western). A gallbladder, which is associated with decision-making in conjunction with the small intestine which sorts the pure from the impure may become imbalanced to create a strong and pervasive emotional cycle. Also, the large intestine may not be functioning to ‘let it go’. So, there can be various causes depending upon the person’s way of living. The wood element, GB(gallbladder) and LR(liver) are associated with JUDGEMENT: fair/unfair, good/bad, right/wrong. The metal element, LU(lung) and LI(large intestine) is associated with WORTH, so the guilt may take the form of: “I wasn’t not good enough. I have to hold on to this.

Basic Wood

Wood

Season:  Spring      Organs:  Gallbladder & Liver   Direction:  East    Taste:  Sour    Orifice:  Eyes   Emotion:  Anger    Sound:  Shout  Parts of the body governed:   tendons and ligaments   External Manifestation:  Nails, Hands, Feet.   Power Granted:  Capacity for control   Smell:  Rancid   Climate:   Wind   Life Aspect Stored in Wood:  spiritual faculties

Wood is like Spring.  It is that new beginning, the first buds of spring.  Everything is UP and OUT.   When we are in balance, we are creative and flexible.  When we are out of balance, we may be stiff and unyielding like an old tree.  Since vision is associated with the Liver,  we may not be able to “see” the forest for the trees.   And, our Gallbladder, which controls decision-making, may not be able to take the step by step decisions which help us to enact our plan.   I often think of Judge Judy when I think of a strong wood type.  Her energy is very very very WOOD.   Emotion is anger, He GB (decision-making) is judgemental and she shouts.  She is UP and OUT.   True to her nature (her Tao), she has  chosen a fitting profession.

Possession

You read it right!  In Chinese medicine, there is a belief that a person can become ‘possessed’.   Now, I don’t mean like in the movies … but, here we go.  This is cool.

I have always found it fascinating that  the traditional Chinese medicine belief is that WHEN A PERSON DIES, HIS or HER SPIRIT MAY NOT LEAVE THIS EARTH. 

IT MAY THEN BECOME ATTACHED TO A LIVING PERSON.

We call this possession.  The attached spirit actually takes over the ‘host’.  (just writing about this makes me think about tapeworms – ewwww!)    So, a person with mental and spiritual resource deficiency is vulnerable to this attachment.  Or, the person may have gone through significant trauma (like, abuse) and become possessed during that period of his/her life.   You can see it in a person’s eyes.  It’s as if they are not there.  It’s like there are sheer curtains which cover their pupils.  What I see is that I CAN NOT LOOK INTO or fully connect with THEIR SOULS through their eyes. You have all heard, the eyes are the window to the soul.

Sometimes they will say to me:  ” I just don’t feel like WHO I AM after the accident.”  And, they continue to hold a job, have a loving family, have friends, engage in an active social life, etc.  Again, this isn’t “The Exorcist”.

I learned that this the first block to be cleared in acupuncture.  Basically, if the person’s spirit is not entirely their own they will not recover.

Feel it Fall

Fall.  Do you feel it?  Yes, I know, school starts.  football.  got it.  I mean … have you noticed that ‘it’ doesn’t feel FUN anymore.  ‘It’ feels serious.  Something fell.  Not the leaves yet.  NOT THAT SERIOUS.  I mean, it’s just not as FUN as it was.  Summer has abandoned us.  Summer is fun and fun is up.

Feel your body.  Is it pulling inward with the cool evenings?  Are you looking at the root vegetables now instead of the lettuce?

We are entering into the METAL ELEMENT.   Letting go.  Breathing.  Falling.

Goodbye summer.