Category Archives: Depression

Resurrecting Spirit

Breathing difficulty, Depression, Psycho-emotional, Spirit, , , ,

As we come to the end of a cold, wet winter in southern Australia, many minds are turning towards spring. Before we leave the winter and the Water Element, let’s have a look at a powerful spirit point of the Kidney meridian.

Lingxu – Spirit Burial Ground – Kidney 24

2.17The character Lingxu is made up of two parts, ling meaning spirit, and zu meaning an old burial ground or a wild wasteland. Ling depicts three shamans dancing, supplicating the spirits for rain.[i] The character for doctor or healer also contains the image of a shaman. All of this puts me in mind of Kaptchuk’s description of JR Worsley, father of the modern Five Element tradition, as the greatest shamanistic healer he had ever seen.[ii]

Worsley’s background predisposed him to regard healing as more than just working with the physical and emotional aspects of a person. His acupuncture work retained the aspects of spirit that were excised by the Chinese communists when they created what they called Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the 1950s and 60s.

Most texts of TCM pay little regard to the esoteric aspects of the Kidney points of the upper chest, utilising them simply for physical conditions related to respiration, chest pain and vomiting. In the Five Element tradition, these points can be used to deeply touch a person at the level of spirit. Perhaps the most powerful of these is Lingxu – Spirit Burial Ground.

Lingxu, K 24, lies in the middle of a string of points that begins with K 22 Walking on the Verandah and ends with K 27 Store House. These points lie in the region of the heart and are a reminder of the significant relationships between Kidney and Heart, Water and Fire, jing and shen. K 22 is the exit point of the Kidney channel, where Qi moves to Heart Protector in the Wei Qi cycle. The remaining points on the meridian represent a mysterious journey of spirit into the darker regions of the human spiritual experience. “The spirit burial ground can appear as a dark foreboding place to those who have not cultivated the virtues of faith, wisdom and reverence for the will of heaven.”[iii]

One of the most profound uses of this point is to treat what is known as a spirit block. This is when the person’s spirit had become disconnected in some way from the bodymind. When it appears that a person’s spirit has died; when his life appears as a dry and barren landscape, lacking in direction and meaning; when the structures of the ego-self have obscured the True Self to such a degree that connection to True Nature has been lost, Lingxu has the capacity to restore a person’s connection to source.

The struggles of the spirit described here recall the notion of the dark night of the soul, first stated in a poem by 16th century Christian mystic John of the Cross. The main idea of the poem can be seen as the painful experience that people endure as they seek to grow in spiritual maturity and union with God. This journey through darkness to the spiritual light can be seen as an explication of these Kidney points of the chest, and of K 24 in particular.

In treating this point, the intention of the practitioner will determine the level of the client’s being that is addressed. If the practitioner uses the point with the intention of clearing a cough and improving breathing, the effects will be restricted to the physical level. There will be a very different effect when the intention is to revive a person’s spirit and his connection with the Tao.

[i] Ellis A, Wiseman N & Boss K, Grasping the Wind, Paradigm 1989, p. 380
[ii] Eckman P, In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor, Cypress 1996, p.173
[iii] Jarrett L, The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine, Spirit Path 2003, p. 452

2.18Location of Kidney 24

Located in the chest at the side of the sternum, the point lies in the third intercostal space and 2 cun lateral to the midline. Note that in males it is one rib space above the level of the nipple. Use direct, moderate pressure.

 

This is an extract from the forthcoming book ‘The Way of the Five Elements’ by John Kirkwood, Singing Dragon Press. Publication date November 21st, 2015. You can now pre-order this book at Fishpond, Book Depository and other online booksellers. (108 days to go!)

Shen – The Spirit of Fire

Anxiety, Confusion, Depression, Five Elements, Heart problems, Insomnia, Joy, Psycho-emotional, , , , , , ,

In the final posting about Fire points for this summer, we look more deeply into the nature of this Element by looking at the spirit of Fire.

sun on hand gestureShen is the spirit of the Fire Element. As the most yang of the spirits is the one closest to heaven. Indeed it is the heavenly light of awareness and consciousness residing in the heart of each one of us. When the heart is healthy, it provides a place for the shen to rest. But when the heart is unhealthy, disturbed and unsettled, the shen flies away like a flock of birds startled by a commotion.

In the classical literature, shen is used in two ways. In the first, it refers collectively to all five spirits (wu shen), five individual aspects of consciousness, each expressing the nature of its corresponding Element. In the second sense, shen refers particularly to the spirit of the Fire Element. This spirit is responsible for thought, feeling, emotions, perceptions and cognition. The Heart and the mind are so inextricably linked that the shen of the Heart is often translated as mind or heart-mind. The shen of Fire resides in the Heart during our lifetime; upon our death, the spirit returns to the heavenly realm from whence it originated.

The shen is not directly visible, but it is reflected in a person’s eyes as a sparkle, a point of contact, a “thereness”. This inner radiance, called shen ming, is what gives each person his personal uniqueness. It is that which makes each of us like no other.

The shen is reflected also in a settled mind and clear thinking. When it is disturbed, has flown away, the eyes become dull and there is a sense that the person is not quite there. Shock, trauma and abuse are common reasons for the shen to fly. People who have experienced war, imprisonment or torture, or refugees who are fleeing persecution are often likely to have shen disturbance and therefore Heart imbalance.

The spirit of the Heart is responsible for settled sleep, settled emotions, and cognitive functions such as concentration, short-term memory and the ability to think clearly. Shen disturbance can therefore appear as difficulty getting to sleep, dream disturbance, volatile emotions, anxiety, panic, depression and feelings of rejection. Since shen is the mind of the heart, any disturbance will result in disturbances of the mind. Indeed, all mental illness can be viewed as an imbalance in the shen.

A healthy and balanced Heart shen enables the capacity to form and maintain healthy and meaningful relationships. Heart boundaries are clear but also able to adapt appropriately to different relationships. Conversely, emotional problems that stem from relationships such as abandonment and betrayal, weaken the Heart and hurt the shen.

What does shen look like when it is in perfect balance? Such a person is settled, calm and not easily distracted. She sleeps peacefully, undisturbed by dreams. She has an inner light that infuses her with a glow that can be seen in the eyes. She makes eye contact that shows her depth. Her speech is coherent, reflecting a balanced mind. The way she lives her life is congruent with who she is as a person. She gives and receives love with ease. In a way she lives a life of love. She may well be intuitive, her consciousness in open communication with universal consciousness.

A point that strongly influences the shen is Shentang – Spirit Hall. It is the outer shu point of the Heart and lies on the Bladder meridian. Shentang makes direct contact with the heart-mind and has the capacity to restore the shen to the Heart. It brings us back to the centre of who we are in our uniqueness as a drop of the Tao.

When the shen is disturbed and there is anxiety, depression or heartbreak, or when we are resigned, in a state of shock, or without the capacity to act, then Spirit Hall can restore the spirit and encourage participation once more in the richness of life.

Location of Bladder 44

BL 44Shentang is located between the shoulder blades. It is 3 body inches lateral to the midline at the level of the junction of T5 and T6 and at the medial border of the scapula. This point is best held by someone else. To treat yourself, lie on a tennis ball or golf ball pressing into this point. It is best if you can be relaxed so that you can tune into the subtle influences that this point can bring.