It’s been a strange summer in Australia. La Nina has given us more rain and lower temperatures than usual such that it seems summer has hardly started. So it might come as a surprise to hear that summer is drawing to a close. February 4^th, midway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox, will be the start of Autumn, so we are already in the Late Summer season. I should by rights be writing about Earth points. But I too have been caught unawares of the lateness of the season.

Last time we looked at the xi-cleft points of the “Outer Fire” functions of Triple Heater and Heart Protector. Now we turn our attention to the “Inner Fire”, the actual organs of the Fire Element, Small Intestine and Heart. Xi-cleft points are typically used for acute conditions, blood conditions and for emotional overwhelm. Yet as we shall see, the use of the points extends wider than that frame.

Small Intestine 6 ~Yanglao ~ Support the Aged

The name of this point is intriguing. The left-hand character yang is composed of a sheep seen from behind together with spoons of boiled rice. The overall sense is one of gentle nurturing. Meanwhile the right-hand character lao depicts a 70 year-old man whose hair and beard have turned white. Yanglao can therefore be variously interpreted as Support the Old, Nourishing the Aged, or even Debra Katz’s elegant rendering, “The Nourishment and Cultivation of the Elders”. As a whitebeard approaching 70 myself, I find some affinity with these characters.

The organ of the small intestine is indeed devoted to the extraction of nourishment from food. However, the significance of the name lies in the fact that Small intestine 6 treats a range of conditions that tend to be experienced by the elderly: lower back pain, stiff and painful wrists, shoulder pain, joint pain, poor eyesight, deafness, toxicity, confusion and digestive problems. Many of these conditions lie along the pathway of the Small Intestine channel which travels from the little finger, up the side of the arm to the back of the shoulder, through the neck and finishes at the ear.

Yanglao therefore treats pain along the channel, especially in the shoulder and arm, pain so severe is feels as if there is fracture or dislocation.  It also treats lumbar pain with difficulty sitting and getting up, and foot pain with difficulty flexing and extending the foot. The channel connects with the outer and inner edges of the eye, so is known for eye problems, especially blurring and dimness of vision. It is believed to strengthen the constitution and help long standing conditions.

The yang xi-cleft points are known to work at the emotional level. The emotion of the Fire Element is joy, so in cases where there is a lack of joy, an absence of joi de vivre, Yanglao is good for raising the spirit. It is particularly called for when cynicism, sarcasm and bitterness from past experiences have replaced joy.

A psychological function of the Small Intestine is sorting. Just as the organ itself sorts the components of our food, absorbing that which is nourishing and passing out that which is not, our mind also sorts out the good from the bad experiences of life. When we are weighed down by the negative and have difficulty seeing the positive, Support the Aged can benefit us, no matter how old we are.

Heart 6 ~ Yinxi ~ Yin Cleft

We now reach the fourth of the Fire xi-cleft points. I’ve left this point until last because the Heart is the most delicate, most precious of all the organ-channels and must be approached with care and sensitivity. The ancient classic, the Ling Shu, (chapter 71) tells us that the Heart is the shelter of seminal essence and spirit and any appearance of injury there causes the spirit to depart. Injury therefore appears in the Heart Protector and it is that which must be treated. Some practitioners take this teaching to heart and do not use points of the Heart channel at all. I do treat Heart points, but I do so with the care and sensitivity they require.

Because xi-cleft points treat acute conditions, Heart 6 can be used to address heart pain, stabbing pain in the heart region, chest fullness, palpitations, racing heart from fright, epilepsy and loss of voice. Blood diseases are typically treated using the yin xi-cleft points. However for Blood conditions of the Heart, it is the Heart Protector that is better treated for reasons discussed above. It does however treat night sweats, dry mouth, insomnia and anxiety.

When a person has depleted their inner resources and there is a feeling of “running on empty”, Heart 6 is called for. The original meaning of the word yin was “the shady side of a mountain”. Yinxi can provide a cool and shady respite from the agitated mind, a calm space in which to rest, restore and find a new sense of perspective.

Location of Small Intestine 6

With the hand resting palm downwards, place a finger on the styloid process of the ulna, the large bump on the back of the wrist towards the little finger side. Now bring the hand so the palm is resting on the chest. Your finger will now be in a hollow on the radial (towards the thumb) side of the styloid process. This is Small Intestine 6.

Location of Heart 6

Find Heart 7 on the inner wrist crease, between two tendons and about a quarter of the way across the wrist from the ulnar (little finger) side. Heart 6 is half a cun (about the thickness of the little finger) proximal to (above) Heart 7.