Body Wisdom Wheel

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Our bodies are constructed of the materials from the earth – minerals, vitamins, proteins, etc.  Beginning with a single cell from our mother and a single cell from our father, we build our physical body from these materials received from our mother’s body.  Through these materials we begin our energy patterns.  Each mineral, each vitamin, each protein used in that construction is held together by chemical bonds.  These bonds and the atoms that compose them are the basis of the vibrations within us that are identified by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  The identification of blockages in the flow of energy through the body is the function of diagnosis in TCM.  The purpose of TCM is to relieve the blockages and restore health.

The blockages produce pain.  Pain is defined as the stagnation of Blood and Energy.  Energetically moving stagnation is accomplished in many ways – massaging the point of pain or around it, applying cold or heat, chiropractic, acupuncture, etc.  When resonance is an active part of the process, we simply place the substance or a written statement some place on our bodies.  The more accurately we identify the source or cause of the pain (and therefore the substance or statement to be used during the Energy Exercise) the more effective our process will be.

The Body Wisdom Wheel (BWW) is the guide to finding blockages in our own body.  There are 12 separate energies identified on the rim of the wheel.  These energies are the 12 basic or regular meridians of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  They include the major organs of western medicine (heart, large intestine, stomach, liver, gall bladder, lung, small intestine, spleen, urinary bladder, and kidney) and a couple of energies that are only identified in Chinese medicine (Pericardium and Triple Warmer).  Although the Pericardium is an anatomically identified part of the body, the covering of the heart, in Chinese medicine it has a number of other functions that relate only to the flow of energy.  More about this is explained as we learn the Body Wisdom Wheel.

The following Energy Exercise is designed to introduce us to the functions and vibrations of the regular energies of our bodies.  The Body Wisdom Wheel teaches us about listening.  We begin by going within – into our hearts- to listen to the drumbeat which connects us to the Earth.  This rhythm, the first sound we hear in the womb, from our mother’s heartbeat.  In us as in her, it is a reflection of the heartbeat of the Earthmother.

• Step 1.  One of the simplest and strongest connections we have with Motherearth is through stones.  According to the Seneca, stones are the Keepers of the Secrets of the Ages.  Simply put, they were here first and they remember!

  To tap into this wisdom, place a stone of your choice in the palm of your left hand.  Place your right hand over it and clasp your hands lightly together with the stone between them.  Close your eyes and listen to your heart beat.  This brings you into resonance with the earth energy.

• Step 2.  When you feel calm, write “Heart, Insight, Understanding, neurons and electrolytes” on a small piece of paper and rest it on your abdomen, just below your breast bone.

  While the Seneca and the Chinese place the functions of thinking and emotions in the heart, western science tells us that there are cells in our brains, called neurons, that are responsible for the functioning of our organs and the movements of our bodies.

  Neurons exchange information within the neuron community and between neurons and other cells by electrically charged transmitters, called neuro-transmitters.  To function at their best, neurons need electrolytes to pass on the messages through the neuro-transmitters.  In our first look at the Body Wisdom Wheel we will bring each meridian into alignment with our electrolytes so they can come into resonance.  This brings us into resonance within our bodies.

  Combining these two approaches in Steps 1 and 2, yields strong connections within our bodies and between our bodies and our environment.

• Step 3. Read the Heart information and contemplate it for about 20 minutes.  This can be done sitting or lying down.  Many people find it easy to do it in bed before falling asleep or in the morning before rising.  Some find it helpful to do it when they wake in the middle of the night.  The rhythm of the beat of our hearts in resonance with the stone and the meridian energy is restful and people often fall right back to sleep.

This Energy Exercise can be done at any time but to fully experience each stepping stone, it is best to do only one per day.  Sometimes it may take a day or two longer.  There is no rush.  The purpose is resonance not speed.  When you are ready to move on, the wheel moves clockwise so the next stepping stone is Large Intestine – elimination at 5 o’clock.

The 12 meridians form the Stepping Stones of the BWW.  The story here begins at birth with the Heart which is located in the 4 o’clock position on the BWW.  It then continues clockwise with the Large Intestine.

• Heart (Ht, Insight/Understanding):  The Heart receives the Shen with the first breath.  The Shen has been actively creating the body and now for the first time it enters its new home.  Our body is the home of our spirit and the heart is its principle residence though it moves throughout the body in the actions of the 5 Substances.
• Large Intestine (LI, Elimination): The Large Intestine is the main organ of elimination.  The Shen brings with it a new source of yang energy.  As this energy is absorbed by the body’s energy system, it needs a strong outlet.  This outlet is the balance of its energy force, the yin, or the solid waste products of our metabolism.
• Stomach (St, Accumulation): The Stomach is the holding vessel for the food we eat until the Spleen can remove the essential energy from the food before passing it on to the Small Intestine and thus to the Large Intestine to be eliminated.  During it’s sojourn in the Stomach, the food is rotting and ripening to prepare the way for the Spleen energy.
• Liver (Liv, Planning): With the setting up of the basic movement of energy through the body (housing the Shen, elimination and accumulation), the Liver begins to plan what this particular body needs to learn.  It begins with the past, not it’s own which hasn’t been around very long but the past of its two main components: mom and dad.  How exactly should these two major energies balance in this body so it can fulfill its mission?  The Liver has a plan!  The Liver oversees the digestion of certain types of food, namely fats.  The Liver decides where these fats should be stored in the body until they are needed.  The function of fats in our energy systems is part of the story of our metabolism.
• Gall Bladder (GB, Decision Making): Just as the Liver has a plan, the Gall Bladder is responsible for the timing of the plan.  The Gall Bladder stores the bile, one of the 5 Jueyin (Body Fluids).  It chooses when to release the bile into the digestion system to digest the fat according to the Liver’s plan.
• Lung (Lu, Rhythmic Order): The Lung is responsible for ordering the rhythms of all the parts of the body.  As we breath, the pattern of the inhalation and exhalation guides all other rhythms in the body.  When this underlying pattern changes, we react with fear.  These are the scary changes because they are so fundamental.
• Small Intestine (SI, Trust/Sorting): In order to help ourselves make these fundamental changes, we have the energy of the Small Intestine.  This is where we sort through all the food we have eaten and stored in the Stomach to find each nugget of nutrition available.  Likewise, as each new observation, thought or idea comes to us, we sort through it to find the essence of truth hidden within it.
• Pericardium (P, Protector): Through the sorting process our energies determine our foundation.  If we eat healthy food our foundation will be strong.  If we eat unhealthy food our foundation will be like sand.
• Spleen (Sp, Centering/Distribution): As mentioned under Stomach, the Spleen is responsible for the distribution of the Qi from our food.  Do we need more Qi in our legs because we are running up and down stairs all day or do we need more in our brains because we are sitting in front of our computer?
• Urinary Bladder (UB, Adaptability): When our energy is sufficient, we are more adaptable.  Our energy flow is strong because it is able to flow smoothly and easily throughout our bodies.  This is a true Supply and Demand system and the Urinary Bladder is in charge of the balance.
• Kidney (K, Will): With a sufficient foundation the Kidneys don’t need to resort to countermanding the Spleen’s objectives to fulfill the energy needs of the body.  It has the ability to fulfill its combined functions of assisting with breathing (Kidney energy draws the Lung Qi down as we breath in) and also regulating the functions of digestion and elimination with the Heart.
• Triple Warmer (TW, Harmony): The Triple Warmer does not have a corresponding organ in the western medical sense. It is a combination of respiration, digestion and elimination (three burners that warm the body).  It is located on the BWW between the Kidneys and the Heart and it serves as the communication link between the Kidneys and the Heart.

Copyright © 2008 Kali Creation