Explaining Differences

I was talking with my mother-in-law the other day and she was going to see her endocrinologist the following day. While she was visiting a month or so ago, she got a herbal formula and saw a local acupuncturist. She wanted a breakdown of the herbs she had been taking to make sure that they didn't interact with the few meds she was taking. She wanted to go to the Doctor's office armed with plenty of information so the MD didn't put the cobash on her herbs just because she "didn't know". Very understandable.

As I sat down to write out the herbs, I was reminded of 2 things. One that I want to address in this and subsequent posts and another that deserves its own topic. First, in becoming a practitioner of Chinese Medicine and prescribing herbs, (patents and formulas) becoming very aware of interactions and studies that are being done is just as much, if not more-so, our responsibility, not the MD's. This is our medicine, we need to take that on. The MD's are "to busy" or really, probably just not that interested. That statement is really not meant to bash the Western Medical community, it is just a realistic view at how things are right now. We are our biggest allies and need to remain abreast of research to solidify our credibility as practitioners. We are behind the eight ball in our society of science and a+b=c (and only c!)

Secondly, as I started to write out each herb, its nature, flavor, properties, which organs it went to and the "spirit" of the herb, I had to laugh at myself. I was writing about the organs in more than their physical sense and it was hard not to imagine seeing them in that way. But really, in my past life, as a nurse, that was NOT at all how you viewed organs. Each organ was a well oiled machine that performed its functions and somehow the dance of the body worked. The body is amazing, but to look at the energetics of it? Why? It didn't matter. But, I am here to say, after 3 years of immersion in Chinese Medicine, it DOES matter. Very much, actually. I am constantly amazed at conclusions that Chinese doctors made thousands of years ago, with little to no knowledge of the cellular level or how disease processes worked. They had it right and that is proven over and over again by studies that are done today. So every time that I hear that Chinese medicine is new, I have to laugh. WE are new to Chinese medicine.

Sorry about that tangent. That was not where that last paragraph was supposed to have ended up. What I was getting at, was that while writing out her herbs and descriptions I found myself wondering what her doctor would think of the energetics of the organs and the herbs that I was writing about; tonify the Spleen, regulates the middle Jiao, nourish the Kidney yin, tonifies the essence, calms the Shen.... I found myself leaving some of it out and simplifying things a bit, so her doctor would hopefully be able to understand what I was saying. So, just in case her endocrinologist ever reads this blog (haha!) I thought I would go through each organ and focus on it's energy and role in the body. I think that this will probably take more than one post, so I will just take it one at a time.

Before I get going, just a brief overview of the organs. They are called the Zang-Fu Organ. Zang means solid and Fu means hollow. So, logically enough, they are divided into Solid organs (Heart, Liver, Kidney, Spleen and Lung) and the Hollow organs (Large Intestines, Small Intestines, Pericardium, GallBladder, Bladder and Stomach). Then Zang organs are considered more Yin and the Fu organs are considered more Yang. There are also 6 extraordinary organs and those are: brain, bone marrow, blood vessels, uterus, bones and GallBladder (yup, it doubles!).

I love the Heart and it is the "Emperor", so I am starting with that organ. The Heart is home for the Shen. The Shen is the First Spirit in the body and has 2 parts to it. There is the Yuan Shen, or the original Shen, and then the Zhi Shen which is the spirit of the Heart's more worldly functions. The Zhi Shen is connected with mental activity and thinking and controls the physicological and emotional activity as well as our learning and long term memory. They both live in the Heart and the Yuan Shen is "in charge" of the Zhi Shen to keep it from overthinking adn over-analyzing.

It incorporates all five mental and spiritual aspects of the body (the Hun, Po, Yi and Zhi). The Heart is derived from prenatal essences as well as postnatal essences. It is outwardly manifested in the face (look at complexion color) and opens into the tongue. It dominates the blood and vessels. The Heart governs the blood in two ways. First, the transformation of food-qi into blood takes place in the Heart. Secondly, the pulse and blood flow, or circulation, is controlled by the Heart. The Heart is also the influence for the sweat. The hair is the odds and ends of the blood and the Heart controls the blood flow, so they are connected.

The Heart houses the mind (problems like insomina, confusion, illogical speech, forgetfullness are all related to the Heart) and the Shen (which is the spirit mind). The Shen is reflected in the eyes. The Shen, in one sense, indicates the whole of mental faculties which "reside" in the Heart. In a broader sense, the Shen indicates the whole sphere of mental and spiritual aspects of a human being, as I mentioned briefly above. The emotion that is most connected with the Heart is joy. It is difficult to explain why joy would be cause for disease, because a normal state of joy is not in itself the cause of disease, but when it becomes an excessive craving for excitement, this can injure the Heart. In Chinese Medicine, joy is considered the same as inordinate craving which stirs up the Minister fire. This flows upward and overstimulates the mind. Think about children and joy. When joy is too much and leads to overexcitement, it usually ends in tears.

Other Heart Relationships:

1. The Heart's smell is scortched
2. The Heart's color is red
3. The Heart's taste is bitter
4. The Heart's climate is heat
5. The Heart's sound is laughter

When using the Heart Channel for treatment of problems or disorders, it has the actions and indications for:

1. Treating pain of the chest and Heart and diorders of the Heart rhythm. All points of the Heart channel (except for QingLing Ht 2) threat either pain of the Heart and chest, or palpitations and other disorders of heart rhythms.
2. Regulating and calming the spirit.
3. Treats disorders of the tongue adn speech
4. Treats disorders of the throat like pain, swelling and congestion
5. Treats disorders of the eyes
6. Treats disorders of the skin and complexion, especially the face.

(Thanks to Peter Deadman and "A Manuel of Acupuncture" for that list)

According to my QiGong teacher, the Yuan shen (or the original shen) finds its home in the Heart after the first trimester (which is when the heart begins to beat) and distributes spirits to the five organs. The organs don't need their spirit to develop physically, but they don't truly come alive until they receive their spirit from the Yuan shen. These organ spirits are controlled by (or should be controlled by) the Yuan shen. The Yuan shen also animates the Heart. It is connected with the sky and the heavens.

So, that is what I have for tonight. I know that there are lots of gaps in there, so help me fill them in! Or correct any mistakes that I have made!