Tag Archives: depression

Light My Fire

Depression, Heart problems, Insomnia, Joy, Psycho-emotional, Relaxation, Vitality, , , , , ,

Redheads2 As a teenager, I well remember getting very excited at hearing The Doors song Light My Fire. It literally lit me up, raising energy in joyful, expansive, rippling shivers. I just listened to the song again on YouTube and it still makes me tingle. Music has this capacity to stir the heart, to excite, to expand. So too does love, whether it is a love of chocolate, passion for a vocation or hobby, or desire for another person.

When our Fire Element is balanced we have easy access to these qualities of joy, love, desire and passion. But when Fire is out of balance there can be flatness, dullness, lack of joy and a reduced interest in intimacy. On the other hand, when the imbalance manifests as Fire out of control, there can be hyper-excitement, mania, babbling speech and feverish behaviour.

To treat these imbalances, our first Fire point of the summer is Laogong – Palace of Weariness. This is the Fire point on the Heart Protector or Pericardium meridian and is a power point for balancing the Fire Element. It lies near the middle of the palm and is considered to be a minor chakra. If you hold your palms facing each other you will probably feel a sensation of warmth, tingling, pressure or pulsing. You are activating the Qi at these points. Those who do healing work will often use this point through which to channel healing energy to another person.

When you hold this point on yourself or another, it stirs the Fire in the way you might rake a dying fire into life. It activates and opens the emotional heart. When a person feels no joy in their life, feels flat and depressed, low in spirit and weary of life, then Palace of Weariness can restore vitality, vigour and love for life. It can encourage those who have had their heart broken, crushed or betrayed to enter anew into relationships. It can also support those whose hearts are tender and sensitive,  who wear their hearts on their sleeves or whose hearts need protection.

At the other extreme, this point can calm an overactive heart and quiet a restless mind. For those who suffer from bipolar symptoms, alternating between manic and depressed phases, this is a balancing point. It can also help those who are addicted to falling in love or who fall quickly in and out of love.

Laogong also treats a range of physical conditions that relate to the Fire Element including cardiac pain, epilepsy, palpitations, arrhythmia, fever, nosebleed, mouth and tongue ulcers, and cold hands.

Next time you feel you need help to follow Jim Morrison’s advice to set the night on fire, come on baby, hold Laogong.

 

HP 8Location of Heart Protector 8

The point is located in the palm of the hand, in the depression between the second and third metacarpals. If you make a fist, the point is where the tip of the middle finger touches the palm.

Hold the point for two or three minutes, first the left side, then the right, or until you feel the Qi moving.

Gate of Hope

Acupressure Points, Anger, Breathing, Depression, Digestion, Pain Relief, Point Location, Psycho-emotional, Vitality, , , , ,

Gate 1Depression is an all too common condition these days. Feelings of flatness, hopelessness, pointlessness or simply a feeling of being down and blue are some of the characteristics of depression. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, one of the causes of depression is an imbalance in the Wood Element arising from stagnation in the Liver Qi which can in turn be a result of suppressed anger. Since anger is the emotion that corresponds to the Wood Element, constricted anger can affect its  yin organ, the Liver, resulting in a suppression not only of anger, but of vibrancy, aliveness, motivation and the willingness to move boldly through life.

When healthy, Liver Qi rises up from the feet and legs, through the groin and abdomen to the chest, empowering action and engagement with life. It is akin to the sap rising up a tree to nourish its branches and leaves. A common place for this uprising Qi to become stuck is in the chest at the last point (14) of the Liver meridian, Qimen, Gate of Hope.*

When Liver 14 becomes blocked, there can be constriction in the diaphragm leading to frequent sighing. There may be pain, distension and fullness in the chest as well as epigastric pain, nausea, reflux and vomiting.

At the psycho-emotional level blocked Qi at Qimen may result in an inability to see the way forward in life, feelings of gloominess, hopelessness and resignation. Opening the Gate of Hope can expand the horizons, allowing the person to see the limitless possibility that life has to offer. It provides support to meet the challenges of the world with zest and vigour, direction and purpose.

When Qi moves freely from here to the next point in the cycle, Lung 1, there is inspiration to aspire to greater things, support for the planning and creativity to express these aspirations in the world, and the strength and flexibility to carry them forward. All of these qualities are the gifts that are available to us when our Wood Element is in balance.

At the level of spirit, the spiritual issue of the Wood Element is finding one’s true path in life. What is the essential orientation and direction of your particular existence? What is the path through life that best expresses and unfolds your individual soul? Gate of Hope can support you as you ponder these existential questions.

* Gate of Hope is JR Worsley’s name for Liver 14; its traditional name is Cycle Gate since it marks the completion of the whole cycle of the meridian points which begins with Lung 1.

LV 14Location of Liver 14

The point is located in the sixth intercostal space, on the nipple line, i.e. 4 cun lateral to the midline. First locate the tip of the xiphoid process which is the knob of cartilage that attaches below the breast bone. Move your finger across the ribcage until you are in line with the nipple. Then come up until you land in a rib space. On a woman, this is the rib space below the breast. The point will probably be sensitive. Hold the point with steady pressure for 2 to 3 minutes or until you feel the Qi moving freely. If the point is really stuck, try holding it in combination with Lung 1 which we learned in an earlier post. (See The Breath of Heaven, April 14, 2014.)