Mrz
19

THE ENERGY OF A CRISIS

Every crisis follows a certain energetic pattern. If we understand that pattern, we can handle it better. The Five Elements of TCM provide an excellent approach.

In the past, when we could not rely on central heating, triple-glazed windows, down jackets and a never-ending supply chain from pretty much every continent, winter was considered a threatening season. Resources were scarce. The living conditions were hostile. Cold and darkness paralyzed the country and its people. It was necessary to protect, to preserve. Nature is showing us how to do it: everything withdraws inwards, as much as possible, a temporary isolation to sit out the worst. Animals are hiding in caves and holes, under thick plumage or covered in thick furs. In addition: rest. No unnecessary energy consumption. Protect what is there. Watching what you have. After all, you don’t know: one does not know when the universal gas station will open its doors again and one can fill up again.

WHAT WINTER, WATER AND CRISIS HAVE IN COMMON

So winter was once an crucial time, a danger to existence, a threat to body, mind and soul. TCM is an analogy system, based on the precise observation that there are certain similarities in all patterns and processes of life. Like winter, a crisis is also a crucial time. Whether triggered by personal strokes of fate such as emotional or financial loss, illness or death. Whether triggered by local, national or global threats. We are currently experiencing a crisis triggered by a virus, the extent of which cannot yet be estimated. We are reacting to this crisis in the same way that nature reacts to winter. We are reacting in a similar way. We are withdrawing.

We are hiding out. We are hoarding resources. We are more careful with our energy budget. All unnecessary activities are suspended. We don’t spend what doesn’t really need to be spent. So there is an analogy. In TCM, analogies are grouped into superordinate categories: crisis, winter, sickness, loss, separation… All of this has a similar pattern. It is all grouped under the umbrella of the Water Element. Because water always tries to flow back to the lowest possible point: inwards, downwards. Water seeks the deep, the roots, the dark, the abyss. Water eludes our control. Water goes where our fears lie dormant. And that’s where we should start when a crisis knocks at the door.

TOILET PAPER AND THE FIVE ELEMENTS

It was in the media, you experienced it yourself: toilet paper was the big seller among hamster purchases. Pointed tongues say: “Sure, with the vast amounts of food people hoard, at some point you have to shit accordingly.” But there is more to it than that. TCM likes to work with the system of the Five Elements in order to point out the dynamics, connections and interactions of the analogies summarized under the respective umbrella term. The Five Elements are: water (winter), wood (spring), fire (summer), earth (late summer) and metal (autumn). One element follows the other, one element produces the other. The respective interactions are described using archetypical images. It is said, as an example, that winter is the mother of spring. This is also what the farmers say. So say the scientists. A good winter, a good hibernation, these are the conditions for a good spring. Nature, like us human beings, needs an appropriate period of regeneration after a long cycle of exuberant activity: winter, the night of the year. Only in this way can the flora in spring – the morning of the year, when everything awakens – take off vigorously. The tranquility of winter thus nourishes the strength of spring. In TCM we speak of the nutrition cycle. After this cycle, autumn is the mother of winter.

Back to the time of our great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers, back to the time when winter could still bring shortage, hunger and death: when crucial life stages knock at the door, you better prepare for them as best as you can. This was usually done in autumn. Again, nature is showing the way. Hoard what you can. Protect what you can. No, not in Winter. The big shelves of the meadows and woods are already closed then. The shelves are empty. Preparation must be done before Winter. And the better the preparation, the more relaxed one could enter the dark season. Those who correctly understood and conscientiously mastered the task of autumn, could hope for a stress-free winter without a struggle for survival. Enough wood in front of the hut. Enough food in the pantry. Wonderful! So why not use the rest period for a lot of sleep and introspection, according to its quality? That is how it should ideally be.

THE ADDICTION TO THE EVER-PRESENT SPRING AND TOXIC HEAT

But our problem so far has not been the winter. Our problem was – and is – spring. Because globally, in all our actions and endeavors, we are counting on a spring that lasts forever. Everything is supposed to always grow, further and further and further. Everything is expected to become more. More and more and more. The economy, prosperity, personal space. Which in itself is of course completely absurd, because there is NO, please note: ABSOLUTELY NO natural process that has a continuous upward growth curve. That is the principle of Yin and Yang. The world moves in cycles. Even the universe expands and contracts. Only we humans firmly believe that we can define our well-being and meaning by the term increasing economic growth.

It does not work like that. It doesn’t work because every growth also has, and as a matter of fact, must have, its decline. Yin and Yang. Every activity needs its break. Every day needs its night. Every wakefulness needs sleep. Let us remember: winter is the mother of spring. Spring is the child of winter. A child who is constantly overactive will sooner or later wear out the mother (please understand this in the context of archetypes and not as a gender related label), to the point of complete exhaustion. The infinitely abundant maternal energy is a myth. Infinite resources do not exist either. Just as the constantly overactive child devours all the mother’s energy, an exaggerated, since deliberately forced, growth in spring can permanently leach out the ground, especially if one believes that spring can be extended infinitely and panics at the slightest sign of stagnation, i.e. stability instead of growth. Grow. Grow. Grow. That’s Yang. Spring is Yang. Regenerate. Regenerate. Regenerate. This is Yin. Resources are Yin. When Yang dominates, Yin decreases. It is one of nature’s laws.  Yin as an archetype for night and introversion also stands for calm and cool. Yang as archetype for day and extraversion also stands for activity and heat. So if Yang dominates, calm and cool are being used up. 

We have now done this globally for decades. We have consumed the Yin of the earth in a never-ending party. 

But the lack of cooling and rest, generates heat, up to the so-called toxic heat in TCM, a heat that can poison everything. Viral diseases are generally referred to in TCM – an analogy system – as toxic heat. Hence the symptoms associated with it are the way they are. It burns inside the body. From herpes labialis to the corona virus. This could also be one of the reasons why the infection is more dangerous, especially for those people who have less Yin as a reserve. In elderly people, Yin, the body’s resource, is only present in small amounts. Young people, on the other hand, still have enough Yin. To these people the disease is also much less threatening. We do not actually hear a lot about young children being affected. They are virtually bathing in a surplus of Yin. Everything is soft, everything is fresh, everything is alive.

WE BURN

Remember, it’s all about good Yin. Because there is not enough good Yin, i.e. little usable Yin. Inflationary Yin. It is like banknotes without value. You can have so much of it, you can’t buy anything with it. Inflationary Yin in the body is caused by an excess of carbohydrates, for example. Carbohydrates produce an abundance of substance and moisture, but substance and moisture of little value, with little vitality. Could this be one reason why the corona virus affects the pasta and dolce nation #1 so strongly? And should we perhaps not only think of pasta and chocolate when hoarding? Yeah, that’s speculation. However, speculation that does not lack a certain validity. But back to the toxic heat: the dynamics of this state are not only valid in relation to viral diseases. This state is symptomatic of our global situation. 

Climate change? Toxic heat due to an excessive consumption of Yin, the resources of the earth. The forest fires in Australia? Toxic heat with massive Yin deficiency. The mild winter? Toxic heat. And the panic associated with the corona virus? Toxic heat. Will this lead to our bank notes also degenerating into Yin without substance, into inflationary Yin? The probability is high. The world has lost its Yin. It tries to get its Yin back. Yin means standstill. Yin means pause. Yin means shut down. Yin means sickbed. Yin means quarantine.

Did we have had it in our hands? Yes. Just look at the Yin/Yang symbol: if one of the poles becomes too extreme, then it tips over into the opposite. If the Yang becomes too dominant, it turns into Yin. We could have recognized the Yang dominance in time and reacted to it. Without action, you are condemned to react. And an imposed process of transformation is not always as pleasant as the transition from one season to the next, like the transition from day to night. A change of poles can also be very radical. It can be painful. It can be instructive. So back to the energetics of a crisis…

WE WET OUR PANTS

Let’s remember: crucial situations belong to the Water Element. The Water Element also includes: security, insecurity and fear. The Water Element is the element of the abyss. Destabilization of security leads to insecurity and insecurity leads to fear. Of course: it also depends on whether a person has a strong Water Element in him- or herself, because these archetypical basic energies are reflected everywhere, in nature, in us, in our behaviour. A strong Water Element, i.e. a strong basic feeling of security and self-confidence, is not easily disturbed.

On this basis, crises can rather be seen as opportunities. Crucial situations can be a challenge to rise above oneself. 

In general, however, we are in this phase: uncertainty, which leads to fear. Our global Water Element is weakened. When one element is weak, its mother takes over. In terms of the Water Element, it is the Metal Element. The Metal Element must take the weakened Water Element by the hand. The balance shifts: we speak of a water-/metal+ state. Two organs are assigned to the Metal Element: the lungs and the large intestine. The lung is the home of the so-called Po. The Po can be understood as all psychological as well as emotional components, which are assigned to the Metal Element according to the analogy principle. The animal survival instinct also belongs to the Po. The Po is the entity that enables us to take our first breath. It is programmed to preserve the species. If the Po is activated by external threats, whether they be real or not, classic autumn „actions“ corresponding to the character of the Metal Element unfold. We react like the hamster that instinctively prepares itself for the coming winter and cannot have enough nuts collected in its cheeks. You never know. You think primarily of yourself. Because autumn is simply not the time of year when you generously share resources with others. Because, what happens when winter is hard and long? What if it’s all about survival? No. It’s about holding on to every possible resource. You have to squeeze your buttocks together. This is where the partner organ of the lung, the large intestine, comes into play.

The large intestine is almost tensed up in its effort not to let anything go: full control instead of losing control. No, letting things go just like that is not possible. That’s what the large intestine is afraid of. It almost wets itself because of that fear. That’s what we are afraid of. Hence the near-maniacal toilet paper rush. We feel that in the face of a major threat, we are becoming more of a chicken shit again – from an energetic point of view. And we are making provisions accordingly. A weak Water Element. And an overcompensating Metal Element. A clearly comprehensible dynamic based on the system of the Five Elements of TCM.

WITH REASON AND PLAN

In the system of the Five Elements there is, in addition to the nourishing mother-child cycle, also the so-called control cycle. The Water Element controls the Fire Element. The water is Yin. The fire is Yang. Without enough water a fire cannot be controlled sufficiently. Look at the fires in Australia. There it is again, the toxic heat. In TCM, the Fire Element also includes our mind, our consciousness. Because fire is also light, what we see is conscious perception. If the Water Element is weakened by fear, then the mind begins to burn. 

Heat rises upward according to its nature. The heart begins to beat. Restlessness is getting ready. Nervousness. But also confusion and mental instability. Because a fire without control simply blazes wildly, igniting new fires over and over again, and eventually turns into a wildfire that can destroy everything. Welcome to panic mode. Panic mode is a pure fire state. And this state is dangerous. It is not about trivializing the seriousness of a situation. On the contrary. It is a matter of avoiding one thing: a fire that is out of control. Because if this is combined with the animal instinct of the Po, which is purely geared towards self-protection, then we find ourselves in the middle of a fight for survival, a fight for survival that perhaps need not be, which we have conjured ourselves. The energetic state: Water Element-, Metal Element+, Fire Element+.

This reality is already knocking at our door. So we need solutions. The system of the Five Elements offers these. In times of crisis, one thing above all is important: the Water Element needs to be stabilized! Just as the Water Element controls the Fire Element, so the Water Element is controlled by the Earth Element. One can imagine it like this: the Earth Element is like a dam that prevents the river from overflowing its banks. The Earth Element, this dam, ensures that we are not swamped by our fears and thus continue to weaken the Water Element. Just as the psychological and emotional aspects of the Metal Element are grouped together under the term Po, there is a term for the Earth Element. Yi. Yi, this is our ratio. Yi is rational and efficient thinking. Rational thinking helps to control fears. Granted: …it’s not always easy, it’s sometimes impossible… …because often fears are like a tsunami that hits us and carries everything away, whether we want it to or not. So using the ratio will not always work. But in times of crisis it is important to strengthen Yi above all.

How? The Earth Element is also the element of nutrition. So it depends on what we feed Yi with. This is our responsibility. By its nature, Yi is an omnivore. We must therefore be careful and conscious of what we feed it. We must be careful and conscious of the information we feed it as the basis for reflection. We have to be careful and conscious with the media in these times. We have to be mindful and conscious of our opinions in these times. We have to specifically strengthen Yi in such a way that it can stabilize the flow of the quite also justified fears, so that reason thinks ahead and leads the way. 

If we weaken Yi, for example by consuming too much information – all of which needs to be digested at some point – then the Earth Element is no longer strong enough to control the Water Element. Therefore my simple proposal: shut down! Also inside your head. Two media updates a day are enough. And this is not only important in times of crisis, when the news are quickly overtaken and even the half-life of scientific statements is short. We know that we do not know much. Period. Then it is better to feed the common sense: what is to be done? What can I do? What can I not do? And on the basis of these considerations make plans and strategies. Because there is a second element that is good for the Water Element in times of crisis: the Wood Element, the element of spring. After all, until now there has been a spring after every winter, even after the worst, hardest, deadliest of winters. Humanity is tough. You can trust on that.

But we can consciously support the transition from winter to spring. We can nurture the Wood Element. Spring is up to something. Spring wants to do something. Spring brings movement. Spring melts the frozen winter soil. The Wood Element can help us get out of shock. It is about the feeling of being able to act and make decisions. Plans help in this respect. Exactly what is generally recommended at the moment: Plan. Plan your everyday life, plan the coming weeks. Step into action. Whatever. Even job, future and prospects should be gone. Do something. That creates at least a hint of possibilities. And that helps keep the energetic focus out of the Water Element, the element of fear. If you already stretch out one foot towards spring, you don’t have to fear winter so much anymore.

The decision lies with each individual person. And this is an approach that does not only apply to dealing with the whole Corona situation. All crises in life follow a similar pattern. For example: If you are still in shock after your last break up you will find it hard to experience a second spring. You have to want to do it. And take appropriate steps. Therefore from the perspective of the Five Elements there is a clear strategic instruction for crisis management: do not get driven into a state of instinctive panic by the relationship between the Water and Metal Element. Rather, stabilize the Water Element through the ratio of the Earth Element and then pull it towards spring with the power of the Wood Element, even if it is far from being visible on the horizon. After all, the Water Element will regain its power. It will be able to control the fire sufficiently again. The panic will give way. The toxic heat will cool down. In the end, this is also the best we can do for our immune system at the moment. And: the consciousness comes to a rest.

I wish that to everyone in these times. From the bottom of my heart.

Mike Mandl

 

In difficult times, we can support each other.
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Much appreciated ?

Jan
23

THE ORGAN CLOCK IN SHIATSU

The organ clock is an extremely useful instrument for Shiatsu: it points out many equally exciting and efficient connections within the meridian structure, with the help of which we can quickly deepen our approach to treatment. As three selected examples show.

The organ clock describes the daily circulation of Qi in our meridian system. The circulation of energy begins with the lungs and ends with the liver: At 3:00 a.m. the Qi flows via the point Liver 14 to the point Lung 1. Liver 14 – Qi Men – is the „gate of the cycle“, because here one cycle ends and a new one begins. Understanding the organ clock can help us to better attune our everyday life to certain energy phases. For example, the lung time (3:00 – 5:00) is ideal to start the day with gentle breathing and physical exercises. Here we can charge the lungs with Qi, which then flows into our system during the day following the energy cycle. Eating time in the morning belongs to the earth element, which tolerates more carbohydrates than the water element, which prefers proteins and has its energetic abundance in the early evening. In return, coffee should be avoided at lunchtime because it directly addresses the heart. And why sleep before midnight is particularly important is due to the function of the triple warmer (21.00 – 23.00), which can consolidate our entire metabolism if we give it the necessary rest. In this respect the organ clock is a practical and lifelike tool. But also in Shiatsu we can benefit from the connections found in the organ clock. Let us go on a search…

ELEMENTARY CONNECTIONS

In Shiatsu, the system of the Five Elements has been established in order to make energetic dynamics within the meridians and Zang Fu comprehensible. The Five Elements are only one of many possible systems. Interesting in this context: The established presentation of the Five Elements is mainly aimed at the interaction of the Zang Fu, when it comes to disharmonies, Zang Fu pathologies. However, when it comes to psycho-emotional processes, we find many elementary connections in the organ clock. And based on these, we find suggestions on how to deepen our approach to treatment quickly and easily. For this we have to free ourselves from the five elements of thinking. Because in the Five Elements the earth element nourishes the metal element. In the organ clock, however, it is exactly the opposite…

METAL STRENGTHENS THE EARTH

In the organ clock, the metal element comes before the earth element, which means that the earth element receives energy from the metal element. And it is not only in the organ clock that the lungs are at the very beginning, also in our life the lungs are the first organ which comes into his power. The first breath has a very decisive importance for our system, which initiates a chain reaction of physiological processes. The divine breath that brings us to life. Breathing governs the Qi, breathing is Qi and Qi is life. Without breathing we do not survive for long. Without food, on the other hand, we get by for a long time. If we see the earth element and the metal element as sources of postnatal Qi, then the metal element takes over a much more central role. It is also the lungs that supply the oxygen that is essential for our metabolism. Without oxygen there is no combustion. In addition, deep breathing supports intestinal peristalsis. The lung is also our highest organ in the thorax. It is heaven. Then comes the earth. Of course: The large intestine follows the stomach, that’s clear. Here the earth feeds the metal. But the stomach actually feeds the small intestine, earth feeds fire, and so it is in the organ clock. We will come back to this.

Shizuto Masunaga liked to use the image of an amoeba, a single-celled creature, as a representation for his interpretation of meridian dynamics. Every living creature first needs a limit in order to be able to define itself as such, to be viable. In the case of the amoeba, this boundary is the cell membrane. With the cell membrane, a delimitation and a limitation takes place. A delimitation from the environment. A delimitation of what the amoeba actually is. A function of the metal element that is at the forefront of Masunaga’s meridian evolution. Then follows the earth element. Because it is only by drawing boundaries that a living being with needs emerges. Hunger, for example. But the drawing of boundaries is not only necessary to define a centre as such, it also protects it. A castle wall protects the palace. Without a castle wall, the palace is exposed and can be attacked more easily. And exactly in this aspect the metal element strengthens the earth element.

Many people come to Shiatsu to get into their centre or to stabilise it. In the system of the five elements, the fire element nourishes the element of the centre, the earth element. However, it is much closer to life to focus on the metal element to strengthen the centre. Why?

A well-functioning demarcation makes the middle clear: This is my home, this is my home. A weak border results in a palace without a castle wall. A coming and going without control. There can be many border transgressions, psychologically, emotionally. Everyone gets what he needs. Everyone leaves what he no longer needs. Those who cannot separate themselves well are prone to take a lot personally. Those who are not good at demarcation are more likely to lose themselves in the outside world. What’s mine? What’s yours? Where do I stay? Who am I? These are the questions that keep us busy. The search for the lost centre.

The lungs represent the big yes to life and the yes to yourself. The colon says no to things we don’t need or no longer need. The combination of both results in a strong feeling for oneself and one’s needs, in a strong earth element. Furthermore, the lungs stand for an orientation towards the future, the colon likes to hold on to the past. With the earth element, the stomach is the thinker and the spleen is the brooding one. If we are too busy with the future or the past, our thoughts are drawn from the here and now, from the middle. Much of what lies heavy in the stomach of the earth element comes from the metal. That would correspond to the cycle of exhaustion of the five elements. The child exhausts the mother. Conversely, the positive integration of the individual past and a hopeful look into the future can strengthen the Earth. So it is also worthwhile to take a look at the metal element.

As with the Po, the elemental spirit of the lungs. The earth element is often associated with our physical form. Our body represents the earth. However, the Po is considered the architect of form. It stands for our animal instinct. The sixth sense. The fine nose. It knows what is really good for us. In this way he helps to shape the form. A good Po ensures a natural unfolding and development on a physical level. A weak Po can lead to a derailment of the form because we feed against our inner nature or move too little. It is exciting in this context that many eating disorders have their cause in the metal element, above all anorexia, where the metal element draws the line before an appropriate food intake. Again the metal element comes before the earth element. When it comes to earth issues, the metal element is a very effective lever in the treatment to strengthen the centre. This corresponds to the sequence of the organ clock. If we do not pay attention to these connections, it is possible that less movement in the earth is caused by a pure approach.

EARTH STRENGTHENS THE FIRE

In the organ clock, the spleen comes before the heart. There’s a good reason for that. The heart is 90% yang. It needs yin like no other organ. Mostly in the form of blood. Because the elemental spirit of the heart, the Shen, is at home in blood. This provides the spleen. Lack of blood due to Spleen Qi weakness is a very common energetic pattern. If the spleen is weak, the yin organ of the earth has nothing to pass on to the heart. This becomes empty and then runs hot like an engine without oil. However, the causes can also be found in the stomach. The stomach likes to run hot. And the stomach touches the heart with its outer course. With an inner branch it penetrates the heart. Heat in the stomach can quickly attack the heart, because the heat vaporizes the Yin, which so necessary for the heart.

Either way, the key symptoms are: jitteriness, emotional sensitivity, restlessness, memory problems and difficulty sleeping through the night despite great fatigue. The Shen is growing restless. He’s losing his home. He gets nervous. He’s becoming unstable. He flickers wildly around. All in all, a state that one would not exactly call centered. In the cycle of the Five Elements, the wooden element feeds the fire. But this does not help the Shen without a home. On the contrary. Here’s the thing: The liver is also very dependent on Yin and blood. Otherwise it will be too dry. The result: a straw fire without substance. The substance comes from the earth. At all levels. Because the elemental spirit of the liver, the Hun, not only needs Yin and blood, it should above all create visions that spring directly from our midst. Just as a tree must be deeply rooted in the earth to grow tall. But often the tree of visions is not rooted in our midst, but in the midst of others. Because there is not only our individual Hun. There is also a family Hun, a social Hun, a Shiatsu Hun, a historical Hun… Hun is the memory consciousness that feeds Shen with images from which the visions can arise, visions that the heart should pursue with passion. What memory are we tapping into? Where does our wood element root?

The Hun must be closely connected with our center to nourish the Shen with images that really have substance. Otherwise we do not follow our inner images, but the dreams of our parents or the conventions of society. Then the heart does burn. But for things and ideas that are not really our own. That quickly burns us out. In this sense, the earth element also supports the wooden element, which is confirmed in the organ clock by the fact that the energetic peak phase of the earth element is in the morning, in the day phase of the wooden element.

And then there is the question of satisfaction, abundance and stability. All earth qualities. If you see the heart as the emperor of the organs, then it is clear what it strengthens most: contentment, abundance and stability in its territory. Above all, stability is decisive. Qualities of fire, like passion or enthusiasm, can only develop satisfactorily in the long run on the basis of inner stability. If we are dealing with themes of the fire element in Shiatsu, it is therefore worthwhile to take a look at the earth element.

FIRE STRENGTHENS THE WATER

In the Five Elements we assume that the water element controls the fire element. In the Organ Clock, on the other hand, the Fire Element strengthens the Water Element, while the heart and small intestine come before the bladder and kidneys. In practice, this is much more lifelike. We can use the Fire Element perfectly to support and nourish the Water Element. Why? The kidneys are considered to be the seat of life force, the store of our essence. Therefore a lot is invested in the kidneys, in Shiatsu. If we want to strengthen them, we first think of the sources of postnatal Qi, the lungs and the spleen, but also of rest and regeneration. The diet has to fit, the breathing has to fit, lots of sleep and meditation. All good. But nothing provides us with faster and more lasting energy than enthusiasm. Nothing warms the kidneys more than passion. However: As already mentioned in the connection between earth and fire, passion and enthusiasm must come directly from the centre, from our centre, must correspond to what makes us what we are, only this provides a glowing stick of embers that has constancy. Empty straw fires would only evaporate the water. But, in order…

The kidneys control our willpower. Willpower is an aspect of kidney yang. It’s hard to develop real willpower without the heart behind it. Even hours of moxa won’t help. Only when we stand behind ideas or projects with body (earth element) and soul (Shen), true willpower can unfold. This also explains why in the organ clock the small intestine stands between the heart and the water element. It is all about clarity. Clarity with regard to what we want. Lack of clarity immediately attacks the kidneys. Because unclearness always means uncertainty. Awareness and clarity give strength, that is the true essence for the kidneys. The fire strengthens what water.

The kidneys respond to our sexuality. Purely functionally, sexuality can come directly from the kidneys. Energetically, however, they are rather weakened by this, which can be read in many classical TCM textbooks. However, sexuality with passion based on love can nourish the kidneys. And passion and love can stimulate sexuality. In many disharmonies regarding this function of the kidneys, the way through the fire is the much more constructive approach, from listlessness to difficulties in conception, it is mostly about cold. And what melts the cold better than warmth and affection? An honestly meant „I love you“ has a stronger effect on the kidneys than the best herbal formula… 

The kidneys need regeneration, especially sleep. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, every form of sleep disorder is directly or indirectly related to the heart. So how can the water element find the so important rest when the heart is restless? In the organ clock the fire feeds the water. If the fire does not come to rest, restful sleep will be difficult to achieve. Sure, there are sleep pathologies that are based on a depletion of the kidney Yin. But the question is: what has injured the renal Yin? In many cases it is the heat that is transferred to the kidneys via the organ clock. So here, too, it is worth looking at the fire when it comes to the water.

FURTHER CONNECTIONS

If one continues to follow the organ clock, there are many more exciting connections that can deepen the practical approach with Shiatsu. Kidney and bladder feed pericardium and triple warmer. Water strengthens fire. And fire strengthens wood: gall bladder and liver are at the end of the energy cycle, which experiences a new cycle with the transfer of Qi into the lungs. But working with the opposition times is also an interesting field: How are lungs and bladder connected? Why are heart and gall bladder coupled? 

In practice, we often encounter energetic dynamics that are difficult to squeeze into the corset of the Five Elements. Or where a classical treatment approach via the Five Elements does not yield fruitful results. A study of the organ clock can help us to discover and follow new paths. This is what I want to encourage with this article. As well as to further discussions, which I would be very happy about.