Mind, Body, Spirit: How Are They Related In Chinese Medicine Theory?

Each of these elements has corresponding organs, emotions, colors, tastes, tissues, human sounds, and endless other correspondences. Fire corresponds to the Heart, Earth the Spleen, Metal the Lungs, Water the Kidneys, and Wood to the Liver.

In western medicine, there is a clear cut separation of body, mind and spirit. In Chinese medicine there is not a separation. The different organs of the body have structure and function in tradition science and medicine. Although in Chinese medicine there are clear functions, there is an inclusion of function and other aspects of each. And each organ is not portrayed in an organ capacity as much as it is portrayed in a meridian. A meridian is a routed line on the body that corresponds to that organ name. In each there is a time and a place, an emotion and an environmental element. In each there is a spiritual aspect given in pin yin, for example: the Po and the Hun. The Po is connected to the lung meridian and the Hun is for the liver meridian. The lung deals with sadness and the liver with anger. What is interesting about the liver is that it also relates to your creativity and planning. The Gallbladder is the ability to put in action and the courage to see it through to completion. Many times I recommend my patients who have pain or depression to take up painting or drawing or some creative project. Each patient has found that they are more relaxed, have less pain and frustration. Their life flows better, they sleep more restfully, and they have better digestion. The treatment protocol for someone in pain is to move blood and Qi. Qi is moved by the liver and blood moves where the qi moves and vice versa. So whether I move blood or qi, I move both and the patient feels a reduction in pain.

The Stomach is represented in earth and is also connected with home, and self.  As one article put it: Through the process of metabolism we are continually recreating ourselves. The food we ingest, after undergoing a transformative process, becomes part of us. Protein becomes flesh, carbohydrates become energy, the chlorophyl of plants becomes blood. This is a magical, alchemical process occurring every day. It is necessary to sustain life.

Many points along the stomach's primary channel possess names relating to reception and construction. It is through the food we eat that we gather resources to build our bodies. This process is mirrored on the mental-emotional level: we ingest the world so we can reflect upon it, influencing what is ultimately built.

Have you ever noticed when you have a hard time relating to the world outside you that you have problems with indigestion?

There are several avenues of excreting waste from the body, the intestines- feces, lungs- sweat, kidneys- electrolytes and water, bladder- urine. Each of these are also related to each other; lungs to large intestine, kidneys to bladder. The lung, urinary bladder and the small intestine all relate to the outer qi [(wei qi)(our outer immunity and protection against illness)] When you have a cold and you are not able to sweat, but if you will notice you are also not able to urinate. In the generating and controlling cycle diagram you will see all of the meridians are related.

Our emotions strongly influence our health and the proper functioning of our body:

Chapter One of the Su Wen advocates moderation in all aspects of life. Luo Vessels are indicators of areas we are either "hyper" or "hypo" engaged with. Too much emotional expression creates excessive heat that can disturb the alkalizing capacity of stomach yin; it can also consume the qi of the spleen. Excessive comfort-seeking can create a damp environment that inhibits the fire of the spleen; it can also create candida within the digestive tract, hampering assimilation. If we want to increase harmony within ourselves, we can examine our Luo Vessels for clues as to where we may be creating excess fire or damp through our lifestyles and reactions. The more we come to know and appreciate the psychological and physiological functions of our organs and channels, the more we can engage our Shen to harmonize our excesses and deficiencies.

For this reason, in my practice I treat my patients as a whole: mind, body and spirit. By affecting the whole person they can achieve the optimum youthful health.  To read more visit http://www.threelotusdragon.com/blog

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references:http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32591