Regulation of Chinese Medicine in Aotearoa NZ

Artist’s impression of the quasar 3C 279. ESO/M. Kornmesser - Public Domain.

Chinese Medicine is a holistic system of medicine used to treat a wide range of health conditions. It encompasses many therapeutic modalities within its practice, including: acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage therapies such as tui na, gua sha, cupping, and blood letting techniques. In July 2023 the Chinese Medicine profession in Aotearoa New Zealand officially became regulated under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act). Chinese Medicine is now a regulated profession similar to other health professions such as midwifery, nursing, and osteopathy. It is now a legal requirement that all Acupuncturists, Chinese Herbal Medicine practitioners, and Chinese massage (tui na) practitioners who are practicing in Aotearoa New Zealand must be regulated with the Chinese Medicine Council. Details of registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners, including their scope of practice are publicly available on Chinese Medicine Council website.

The Liver in Chinese Medicine

The liver in Chinese medicine relates to the season of spring, to new beginnings and the dynamic movement of wind and growth seen in the environment. Within the Chinese system of Five Elements, also called Dynamic Agents (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal), the liver corresponds to the wood element. The liver therefore has a natural affinity to the inherent qualities of the plant kingdom. Bamboo is a revered indigenous plant in China and many other eastern parts of the world where it has many uses and is rich in symbolic and spiritual meaning. Bamboo is symbolic of the dynamic nature and flexibility of wood. To be flexible, able to move with the wind, sensing the ecosystem of the forest or garden, and yet rooted in the ground, this is the ideal nature for a plant in the environment. It is also the ideal nature of the liver when it is functioning well in our own body. In this article I will discuss in more detail the functions of the liver in the body and how the liver relates to the rhythms and changes in the environment, to our emotions, our dreaming, and our soul or spiritual life.

New Beginnings, New Life

Spring is the season in which we see new life emerge after winter. The blossoms are flowering, new green shoots are forming, and the plant kingdom begins a phase of natural upsurge from the earth after a period of hibernation in winter. The liver is naturally very active during spring. The liver is also very active during the first month of pregnancy, when there is a meeting of the egg and sperm and a process of differentiation and embedding into the womb takes shape. This meeting of egg (yīn) and sperm (yáng) is the creation of something entirely new. New life always looks different to the fully grown version, this is a characteristic of the dynamic and mutable nature of the liver, able to change into new forms. The dynamic nature of the liver also relates to wind in the environment. It was observed in Chinese culture that wind was more commonly seen during the spring, and was thus related to the liver and plant life. Wind in the environment helps plants to grow, to adapt, or to die. It blows the cobwebs away in our homes in spring, and in our bodies and psyches where stagnant emotions or thoughts, or decaying creations we have held onto, are being asked to be blown away and transmuted by the wind. Around the time of the spring equinox there is greater momentum to change and to clear out what we no longer want to take with us into the summer time and the year ahead, whether that is physical or metaphoric. This is why it is common to do a spring clean, or a ‘detox’ in the spring to cleanse and refresh the liver for new life.

Almond Tree in Blossom - Photography by Rose Skerten

Monarch in Cosmos - Photography by Rose Skerten

Spring New Life - Photography by Rose Skerten

Functions of the Liver

The liver has a functional role in dynamic growth in the body, and metabolising the form of things. We know from a biomedical perspective that the liver plays a big role in metabolic process in the body, and converting food and medicines into other forms the body can use or must excrete due to overload and toxicity. In Chinese medicine the liver is known to be a vessel which stores blood, and has a role in sending the blood in a smooth even flow to other areas of the body and muscles. From a Chinese medicine perspective the liver’s function includes more than the known physical nature of metabolising molecules, and storing and distributing blood. It has a highly important role in our mental, emotional and creative life. Just like the plant kingdom is highly sensitive to the environment, the liver responds to our emotions which are woven into the physical aspect of the functioning of the liver. We now know from current research on the Polyvagal Theory that there are nerves in our body which are responsive to our emotional states and are interconnected with the organs in our body. Chinese medicine has known for a very long-time this understanding of an interconnected system. Our bodies are interconnected with the environment we live in, our social environment, and our emotions and mind-spirit can influence our body in both a subtle and deep interconnected physical way.

The liver in Chinese medicine has a primary role in processing emotional states and regulating our response to stress. The liver helps us to experience an emotional state, for example to feel sad or frustrated and then to allow the mood in our body to shift to any other emotional state which may be present such as joy, peace, pleasure, deep grief, anguish, fear, rage. Babies and young children very evidently show us this flux in emotional state, and the potentially for fluidity of the liver energy. In our modern day, where there is a dominance of the rational mind and a distancing from the emotional body we have often developed ways to keep ourselves from feeling our emotions in our body. Often these ways of staying disconnected from our body occur outside of our conscious awareness. We have come to learn these deep patterns from our ancestors, the traumas our ancestors experienced, from the early formative life experiences we have in the womb and as babies, and from traumatic experiences we may personally encounter in our life. There is a high cost to our mental and physical health from not feeling the full-range of our emotions and being present in our bodies.

The liver has a close relationship with the gall bladder, such that they both require each other in order to function well in life. In our mental life it is the liver which makes plans, analyses and assesses circumstances, whilst the gall bladder is the organ which has clarity to make a clear decision and to follow through with a decision in a satisfying way. Sometimes we may not have thought through a decision, and despite the gall bladders clarity to make a decision the outcome may turn out not in our best interests because we lacked the livers capacity to assess and plan. Or we may be so good at strategy and planning, but lack clarity or feel impotent to make a decision. So both the liver and gallbladder require each other to effectively feel empowered and grounded to move through our life circumstances we encounter. It is always a continuous balance between the two, but sometimes it is helpful to notice if there may be a pattern in our life where we have little ability to plan, or feel overwhelmed by decision making.

The liver also has a role in reproductive health and sexual desire, alongside the heart and kidney. The liver is the organ that could be said to most strongly say yes to life, to eros in the body. In this way, it is supported by the kidney which provides the foundational will power, and the heart which opens to love. Thus the liver function is intricately woven into the primal experience of sex and reproduction.

Emotion of Anger and the Expression of Benevolence

As well as having a role in allowing all emotions to be felt and expressed. When we feel violated, disempowered, or hurt the liver has a natural expression of feeling angry, frustrated, irritable, agitated, grumpy, resentful, furious, enraged e.t.c. We can release this anger in an aggressive or mobilised way through physical force, the tone of our voice and our speech (i.e. shouting or a ‘fiery tongue’), or we may internalize the anger and experience the energy in a more passive or covert way.

“Anger (怒) is fundamentally an impetuous thrust that pushes life upwards. In fact the Chinese character is not always translated as anger, it can just be the effort to make things rise”.

The Secret Treatise of the Spiritual Orchard: A translation of Neijing Suwen - Chapter 8, by Claude Larre and Elizabeth Rochat de la Vallée

Anger which is unable to be expressed outwardly may also show up as feeling depressed or feeling inertia in the body. Sometimes anger may just manifest as a feeling of fire or heat in the body, or as conditions in the body that express with redness and heat internally or on the skin surface. When the liver is able to feel and express anger in a safe way, it allows the possibility for other emotions to be felt such as joy or sadness and eventually a state of expressing kindness or benevolence.

Conditions related to the Liver

As well as conditions in which there may be excess heat in the body due anger in the liver, there are many liver disharmony conditions which are known to be due to excess internal wind in the body. A very simple example of this is excess gas in the body with burping or farting. This kind of manifestation of wind in the body may be fairly short-lived due to something we have eaten or the way we eat, or it may be a chronic pattern of disharmony due to liver internal wind. Other examples of conditions in which the liver expresses to much internal wind can include: high blood pressure, tremors, seizures, stroke, Bells Palsy, Parkinson’s, chronic muscular spasms, migraines and some headaches can also be due to internal wind rising to the head. The wind may make us irritable if our liver is unable to move through our emotions smoothly and feels stuck. The liver is also deeply connected to the eyes with many conditions affecting the eyes, such as: eye infections, blurred vision, dry eyes, glaucoma, and visual disturbances or hallucinations, also reflect the health of the liver.

Food and Medicinals

The colour which resonates with the liver is green. Green is typically associated with spring, when green leaves begin to grow and flourish. Foods which are green in colour resonate with the liver, for example all green leafy plants, green tea, barley grass, algae, and cruciferous vegetables are great for the liver. As well as foods which symbolically look like the liver, or foods which are said to nourish the blood. An example of this are Go ji berries. Whole foods which are rich in anti-oxidants, i.e. many fruits and vegetables, are often associated with having a nourishing effect on the blood and particularly influence the Spleen and the liver. The flavour which pertains to the Liver is sour, so all foods which are sour flavoured directly influence the Liver evergy. We can crave to much sour flavoured food, which is a sign our liver may be not in balance with the other organs in our body, or we may have an aversion to the sour flavour which is also a sign the liver is not in harmony in the body. The liver may also crave fried or fatty foods when it is out of balance. In Chinese medicine, a moderate balance of flavour and colour in the foods we eat, is what helps to support all of the organs working together in harmony. Provided the soil is healthy, food and herbal medicine are the best ways to augment the body of nutrients. Eating slowly with a connection to the body and minimising stress whilst eating helps the process of digestion allowing the liver energy to move more freely and perform its natural function.

Angelica sinensis or Dang gui as it is named in Chinese is a revered plant known as Female Ginseng. The root of Angelica sinensis is classified as tonic herb which helps to support the blood in the body, has a nourishing effect on the uterus, supporting a healthy menstrual cycle and fertility. It is a herb which is used to tonify the body when it is weak or when there is insufficient blood, especially for the menstrual cycle, as well as during pregnancy and in post-partum recovery.

Matcha Green Tea

Goji Berries

Angelica sinensis root

The hún - Ethereal Soul

The hún in Chinese is translated as the ethereal soul. It is the soul or spirit aspect which is connected to the part of our consciousness that dreams at night and that wanders to other lands, other places within our psyches and spiritual dimension of our being. The hún (ethereal soul) is paired to the aspect of our soul which is connected to the body, known as the po, or corporeal soul related to the lung (see article: The Lung in Chinese Medicine). The hún is called ethereal or non-corporal because it has the ability to move beyond an attachment to the body, where as the po are attached to the body form. When there is disturbances in restful sleep with excessive dreaming, strange bizarre dreaming, nightmares and night terrors, sleep walking, sleep paralysis, or waking with restlessness or distress during the hours when the liver is most active (3 – 5 am), this typically indicates the liver is in some kind of pattern of disharmony, with possible over-activity and processing what is difficult to be assimilated during the waking consciousness of the day-time.

“ The dwelling place of the hún is the blood... When the liver is full of good quality blood, its physiological activity is balanced by the yīn quality of the blood and its mental activity is inspired by the spiritual awareness pervading the blood. Sound projects, reasonable plans, firm decisions, and no emotional blockage are the result.... Then the hún are empowered”

Aspects of Spirit – Elizabeth Rochat de la Vallée

Typically it is deficient liver blood and the subconscious emotional life that results in the hún that wanders and is unable to sleep with peace. Sometimes the hún wanders into past lives, or future lives for the soul to make meaning of passages in this life. Sometimes the hún wanders consciously and sometimes unconsciously, often it is a mixture of both as a creative expression of the souls life.

NURTURING THE LIVER

We can nurture our liver by finding ways to express our emotions, our creativity and courage. Connecting to the vitality and vigour of the living world can help to revitalise our Liver. Immersing our senses and body in the forest, garden or anywhere there is green life and chlorophyll helps the liver feel at home. The animal associated with the liver in Chinese is the tiger, so feeling into the innate qualities of the tiger also help the liver if it feels stuck or disempowered. Physical movement helps the liver when it feels stuck. Observing our dream-life and consciously reflecting on it is also a great way to help the liver unfurl and move through challenging emotions or life experiences.

Acupuncture treatment supports whole body relaxation, helping to promote healthy movement of the liver energy in the body. Spring is a time of year when the liver can be more prone to feeling stuck. An acupuncture treatment in our Tauranga Acupuncture clinic is particularly useful during spring to help with healthy liver functioning.

Koru Unfurling Jon Radoff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

NOTES

Yáng qì is the dynamic energy which corresponds to active processes in the environment and the body which relate to qualities of warmth, movement, expansion: e.g. heat, fire, wind, growth, volcanic and tectonic energy, the sun, the daytime, loud noises, expressive emotions, the fight or flight response in the nervous system.

Yīn qì is the energy which is always in relationship with Yáng qì. It corresponds to processes in the environment and body related to qualities such as slowness, cold, stillness, contraction and consolidation, darkness: e.g. underground, the night-time, the moon, rest, quiet, seeds and eggs which are a consolidation of energy requiring activation of yáng qì to grow, rest and digest states in the nervous system, peaceful and tranquil environments or states in the body, when the body is in a surrendered state and preparing to sleep or die.

Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Breech Babies

DESAIJENIT90, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Acupuncture and Moxibustion are supportive holistic treatments which encourage the optimal position of baby for healthy labour, whether baby is in a breech, posterior or transverse position. Acupuncture is a safe treatment during pregnancy commonly used for many other pregnancy related conditions and symptoms. Acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine needles into specific points on the body to treat pain and facilitate well-being. Moxibustion is a particular warming therapy used in Chinese medicine alongside acupuncture to add warmth and movement to the body.

Moxibustion for breech babies is supported by early research from a randomised controlled study published in the JAMA, which found that moxabustion from 33 weeks helped to turn breech babies in 75 percent of those in the group receiving moxibustion (Cardini, 1998). A recent meta-analysis found that when compared to usual care alone, moxabustion plus usual care reduces the chance of breech presentation at birth (Coyle, 2023).

What is Moxibustion?

Moxabustion, or ‘Moxa’ as it is often known, is a Chinese Medicine warming therapy which involves the burning of the medicinal plant Artemisia vulgaris (known as Mugwort or Ài yè in Chinese). It is a medicinal plant that is a member of the daisy family and is used in Chinese, European and Ayurvedic herbal medicine. The plant can be burnt in its raw leaf form, or it can be burnt in a stick form, known as a ‘moxa stick’. Moxibustion adds warmth to the body at certain acupuncture points to stimulate physiological responses which create movement and activity. For breech and posterior babies moxabustion is often applied to an acupuncture point on the bladder channel (BL.67) at the tip of the little toe. The name of this point in Chinese is called Zhì yīn, which translates as ‘Reaching Yin’. It is a point that is used to help provide additional stimulus and warmth to the Kidney energy in the body, which in turn can help baby to raise its bottom up and somersault into a head down position.

Francisco Manuel Blanco (O.S.A.), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Moxa leaf and Moxa stick - Photography by Rose Skerten

Treatment from 33 wks supports best treatment outcomes

In our Tauranga Acupuncture Clinic, we recommend acupuncture and moxibustion treatment for breech babies starts from 33 – 34 week and weekly treatment continues until baby has turned. The reason for this is that between 33 - 36 weeks of pregnancy, this is the time of the pregnancy when the Kidney channel in the body is the focus of developmental growth for the baby. It is during this time when there is greater potential for the Kidney energy to be treated and for the baby to successfully respond to treatment by naturally moving into an optimal head down position. If treatment is started at 36-37 weeks baby is growing larger and there is a natural shift in the body and mind to a focus on preparing for labour and planning for medical intervention, these factors can sometimes make it harder for baby to have the motivation and room to turn in the later stages of pregnancy. During an acupuncture treatment we also focus on providing relief for any pain, anxiety or other symptoms that you may have.

If you would like to chat about a treatment or book an acupuncture appointment at our Tauranga acupuncture clinic you can get in touch with Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine Practitioner Rose Skerten

References

Cardini, MD; Huang Weixin, MD. Moxibustion for Correction of Breech Presentation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA 1998; 280 (18) :1580-1584.

Coyle ME, Smith C, Peat B. Cephalic version by moxibustion for breech presentation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2023: May 9; 5 (5): CD003928.

The Kidneys in Chinese Medicine

It is the winter solstice as I write this, which according to Chinese medicine is the time of year that corresponds to the kidneys. During winter the energy in the environment descends into the ground and into the roots of plants. Many animals and insects follow this descending movement into the underground to hibernate. It is also the darkest time of year, when the days are short and the nights are long. The kidneys in Chinese medicine relate to: the water element, to the water in our body and all of the ways water is present in our environment, to the root energy in our body, our subconscious experiences, the colour of the night sky, black holes in the cosmos, the cosmic womb deep in our memory, our mother’s womb which is the first watery environment from which we emerge into our life on earth, the empty void and the fertile void in our bodies which births new life. In our body, the kidneys also relate to the ears, our bones and marrow, to the salty taste, our ancestral lineage, our reproductive system, the emotion of fear, feelings of awe, the aspect of our spirit known as the will power, and to a mysterious substance in the body named jīng in Chinese (精), often translated as “reproductive essence”, or simply “essence”. In this article I will describe some of these aspects of the kidneys in more detail.

Isolated black hole lensing a background of galaxies. NASA, Wikimedia Commons

Functions of the Kidneys

The kidneys in Chinese medicine are considered of foundational importance to the root energy in our body, providing solidity and strength through the bones and the will power. They provide an anchor for our connection to earth, our ancestry, but also our destiny through the relationship to our spirit. The kidneys are connected to our primal energy, survival energy, sexual and reproductive energy in the body.

“The kidneys are responsible for the arousing of power. Skill and ability stem from them”

The Secret Treatise of the Spiritual Orchard: A translation of Neijing Suwen - Chapter 8, by Claude Larre and Elizabeth Rochat de la Vallée

All of the major organs in the body have a relationship with the kidneys but the heart and the kidneys have an especially important relationship where they support each other through the interplay of the elements fire (heart - spirit) and water (kidney - jīng). The brain also has a deep connection to the kidneys through the spine and cerebrospinal fluid, and the hormonal systems in the body. The Chinese understood the kidneys to have similar functional roles to what we know about the kidneys from a modern biomedicine perspective, such as: water metabolism, filtration and detoxification of blood, as well as the inter-connected relationship with the adrenal cortex and the neuro-endocrine systems in the body. The cycles of developmental growth throughout life are related to the kidneys functioning. The bones, including bone marrow, and cerebrospinal fluid, the teeth, hair and skin growth and the deep cycles of development are governed by the kidneys function.

The Kidneys and Water

The kidneys correspond to water element (dynamic agent) in the Chinese system of 5 dynamic agents (heart – fire, spleen – earth, lung – metal, kidney – water). Water has particular qualities such as: gentleness, formlessness, mutability, and connects us to the origin and beginning of life. Water is our first experience of life as a baby developing in the womb. For new life to form in the womb, there is a meeting of watery fluid that takes place: the release of watery fluids bathing the egg meet with sperm which swim in the watery semen. This is a combining of kidney energy of yīn and yáng to produce new life. The kidneys, because they are embodied as a duality, also have a relationship to the fire element and the heart. So they are primarily connected to the water element, but are also infused with fire and warmth, and it is the fire and warmth which helps to generate healthy water metabolism in the kidneys.

Water element, watercolour by Rose Skerten

Jīng  - ‘Reproductive Essence’

Jīng is a fundamental substance in the body involved in the functioning of the kidneys. It is translated as “reproductive essence” or “essence”, which gives an idea of the importance and potency of this substance. It is a substance which could be described as both tangible and intangible. Tangible in that it is part of matter, and intangible in that it is like the quality of water, mutable and formless, and it has an alchemical nature which moves into the realm of consciousness or spirit. Jīng relates to the potential of the seed or egg.

Fertilisation by ScienceGenetics, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jīng is all of the creative and intelligent power inherent in a seed which unfolds into its own unique expression through a template, but also through interactions with the ecosystem it lives in. From a modern biomedical understanding of the body we can think of menstrual blood, ovum, semen and sperm as containing jīng . The quality of the eggs and sperm is governed particularly by the functioning of the kidneys. The cerebrospinal fluid is known to be the foundational matrix from which new life forms. Although the Chinese did not have the concept of cerebrospinal fluid, this can be understood to be symbolic of the Chinese understanding of the functions of jīng, and the Chinese understanding of the relationship of kidney to the brain. For the ancient Chinese, jīng was a kind a mysterious substance that had a deep relationship with another mysterious aspect called shén, translated as “spirit”. Jīng is understood to be relatively more tangible and dense, connected to the substance of the body and the characteristics of our ancestry, whereas spirit is something that is more light, ephemeral, connected to consciousness, our destiny and heaven. For the ancient sages, the alchemical meeting of jīng and shén in the body is described as enabling healthy longevity, clear consciousness, and the embodiment of spirit.

The Ears and the Kidneys

The ears are the sense organ which have a deep relationship with the kidneys. The ears as a sense organ are highly sensitive and help us to hear sound, the silence beyond sounds, to perceive danger or threat in the environment, to connect deeply with others through language, voice, melody, prosody and emotional and bodily expression. The ears have a connection to the reproductive essence and our early developmental life as a fetus, we see this very clearly in image of the ear representing a baby in the womb. For this reason, the ear is considered a micro-system of the whole body. Ear acupuncture is a particular style of acupuncture which uses the ear as a micro-system to treat all parts of the body, and to treat neurological patterning which develops in-utero. In this way the ear is symbolic of the kidney’s relationship to reproductive essence and the deep foundational or root energy in the body which provides support for all the other organs.

The Ear as a Microsystem of the Body - Image by Rose Skerten

Foods and medicinals related to the Kidneys

In Chinese medicine the flavour which relates to the kidneys is salty. When we think of salty flavour we often think of foods which come from the ocean, such as: sea salt, seaweed, fish, shellfish, roe. Other foods which are related to the kidney include animal products such as meat, eggs, bone marrow. The kidneys are also nourished by a variety of plant foods, particularly: beans, legumes, seeds, and nuts but also some vegetables. Foods which are black in colour are said to particularly resonate with the kidneys. The roots of many plants are also considered to exert medicinal effect on the kidneys, this is due to the roots of plants corresponding symbolically to the root energy in the body. The root of the Chinese foxglove plant (Rhemania glutinosa - Shú dì huáng), is commonly used for fertility, menstruation and menopause to nourish the kidney yīn.

In Chinese medicine the kidneys are divided into kidney yīn and kidney yáng due to their duality. There are foods and medicinals (plant, mineral and animal substances) which are general tonics for the kidneys, and there are foods and medicinals classified into kidney yīn and kidney yáng tonics. Asparagus, for example is a food which has a medicinal effect on the kidney yīn and helps to generate fluid in the body. Kidney beans and black beans have an energetically nourishing effect on the kidneys in general. An interesting food which specifically nourishes the kidney yáng are walnuts, they provide warmth and nourishment to the brain and marrow. This is a food which looks like a brain with two hemispheres clearly defined in the walnut, and it is an example of a commonly held theory in indigenous and ancient medicine throughout the world, known in west as the “doctrine of signatures”, or in Chinese medicine as the idea of the resonance of qi, the resonance of things in nature which look the same, and the principle of harmony in nature. The ancient Chinese deeply understood about the relationship of the kidneys to brain function, and this is reflected in modern science through the understanding of the importance of omega-3 fatty acids for myelination of nerves and brain health.

Water is of course highly important for the body, with a large percentage of the body being made of water. The kidneys really appreciate good quality mineral or spring water which is filtered by the life force of the minerals deep in the earth.

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Sea salt

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Asparagus

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Chinese Foxglove

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Black sesame seeds

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Walnut

The emotion of fear

The kidneys relate to the emotion of fear, fright and shock. This may manifest in quite a physical way through the lower orifices, such as having urgent urination or diarrhoea due to situations which may evoke fearful memories from the subconscious, for example speaking in public, fear of flying on a plane, fear of heights, or the fear of spiders or snakes. When fear is suppressed in the body a range of physical, emotional and mental symptoms can manifest. Sometimes symptoms of adrenal or chronic fatigue can occur when there has been a period of intense stress where the fear response in the body has not been processed to allow for integration of fear. Fear is a normal healthy emotion when we are able to process it and listen to what it may be asking of us in any given moment. Death teaches us about fear, letting go, surrendering, and the kidney is symbolic of the processes of death, but it is also symbolic of the process of birth and letting new life emerge. When we are a baby we must let go of the watery world of bliss and enter earth world where we experience fear and pain, we all encounter this to varying degrees. For new life to emerge there must be a dying or transformation process to facilitate the development of something new, whether that takes the shape of a new form (e.g. a seed growing into a seedling) or a new experience in one’s consciousness (e.g. a new experience of feeling love in the body).

When the kidney energy is not repeatedly activated by fear and is expressing balanced health, there are feelings of deep connection to all of life, feelings of awe and wonderment, deep feeling of content and comfort in the body, and what might be called a feeling of the embodiment of self, or in other words the meeting and infusing of our spirit in the flesh of our body, so that our souls experience of living is felt in the present moment.

The Spirit or soul Aspect of the Kidneys

In Chinese medicine our spirit (shén) is described as having different soul aspects which correspond with the 5 primary organs in the body (Heart, Lung, Liver, Spleen and Kidney). The aspect of the spirit related to the kidneys is called zhì (志) in Chinese, and has been translated as will. It is the aspect within us that is focused, with intention, with aspiration, with ambition for what we desire to bring forth in life.

“In the character for zhì, the lower part is the heart/mind (心) and above, a character that is classically explained as a small shoot (士) . This represents something that can form a base from which it is possible to grow and develop in the right way”

Aspects of the Spirit: Hun, Po, Jing, Shen, Yi, Zhi in Classical Chinese Texts - Elizabeth Rochat de la Vallée

Within the character for zhì we see the character for heart. Our heart is required to be present and in communication with our Kidneys for our will to be expressed in a way that is sensitive and in harmony with our self, and those around us. This is a life-long learning for most of us, and connects to the dynamic of love and fear, or love and power… love and mercy.

“The quality of zhì (will) is not only measured by its strength, but in the direction in which it orientates the life, thoughts and desires”

Aspects of the Spirit: Hun, Po, Jing, Shen, Yi, Zhi in Classical Chinese Texts - Elizabeth Rochat de la Vallée

We may have strength and intention in a particular direction, for example for power, wealth, prestige, revenge, fame, or we may have intentions and aspirations which have a kind of humble quality and evoke the water element qualities of softness, surrender, going with the flow, respecting others, opening the heart to the principles of heaven. Sometimes we may just be in a place of trying to survive, to stay alive when we are faced with disaster, no home, poverty or famine. To want to live, to want to survive in the face of suffering, is a core quality of the kidney spirit. The openness to death, when it calls us, is also an aspect of the kidney spirit. These are all possible ways the spirit aspect of the kidney may be manifesting in the life of our body.

NOURISHING THE kIDNEYS

The kidneys can be nourished by taking time for quiet space or activities, for rest and sleep. They appreciate deep sleep to support healthy sleep cycles which are in closer rhythm with the sun’s setting and rising. Staying warm if one is sensitive to the cold can help to minimize cold affecting the kidneys. The kidneys may be nourished also through food, herbal medicine, water, sexual empowerment, working through trauma, emotional vulnerability, letting go, softening and contentment in life. Being in water, whether that is in the ocean, lake, river, or hot mineral pools helps to nourish and calm the kidney (unless there is a fear of water, or creatures in the water that is!). The kidneys may also be spiritually nourished by an ongoing contemplation of ones direction and intention in life, and exploring ways to express and embody this in oneself.

Waimangu Healing Waters - Photography by Rose Skerten