Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona
Volume 3, No. 4: Aug, 2011
Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624
600 N. 4th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Article From New York Times August 9, 2011
A Campaign to Carry Pregnancies to Term by Jane E. Brody
The article writes, “as many as 36 % of elective deliveries now occur before 39 weeks, and many of these early deliveries are contributing to an unacceptable number of premature births and avoidable costly complications…those delivered at 36 to 38 weeks had two and a half times the number of complications compared to those delivered at 39 to 40 weeks…respiratory distress, jaundice and low blood sugar.”
Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions
Chapter Three
Spleen: Worry, Harmony, and Illumination #4
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I found many Americans, especially women, to be Spleen Deficient. Below is the basic Five Element Theory on the Spleen Element for you to understand the type.
Element: Earth
Season: in between seasons: late summer
Direction: center
Color: yellow
Sense: lips/mouth
Tissues: muscle/flesh
Smell: fragrant
Taste: sweet
Emotion: worry
Voice: singing
Action: sitting
Liquid: saliva (drooling) (spitting is the Kidney
Element)
Weather: damp
Spirit: intention (and intelligence)
A Spleen type person*1 tends to wear yellow clothes*2, likes yellow color foods, smells nice, and sometimes humming. But may have a yellow skin tone, weak stomach and digestive functions. Loves to eat, especially sweets and meats. Tends to be overweight (could be picky about foods) and sits a lot. Can withstand damp weather. Has good intention and is grounded, but worries a lot. Sometimes, a poor decision maker, not so strong willed. Easy to develop neuralgia. Could be sexually excessive, and may need to refrain from sex for longevity. If the Liver is excess, becomes nervous and irritated.*3
*1: in general
*2: in the subconsciousness
*3: IBS, Crohn disease, etc.
Keep in mind, it is a generalization. However, the Five Element is quite useful in treatments of acupuncture. Indeed, if a person is really Spleen Deficient or Excess, his skin tone is yellow, has flabby muscles and digestive problems.
One quality I admire about a Spleen type is the trait that can manage all the other four types. He can get along well with everyone (the Element in the center). Sometimes, he is not even fazed by anger emanated by a person like me, a Wood type. His character is more rounded in personality, not edgy. There is a sense of serenity around him: easy to be friend with, and easy to speak to.
Yet, constant worry gives him digestive problems. When he does not have them, his intention is clear and his intelligence radiates. He becomes a traffic controller in the middle of an intersection, confidently directing what must be done. How does he get out of difficulties and how does he achieve his full potential?
Once again I need to remind readers that worry is an emotion, therefore, it is a thought pattern: a chain of thoughts that leads to endless thoughts. The merry-go-round in the mind must stop by realizing that all emotions are illusions, and they come and go. Observe emotions rise and fall, and you realize that every time worry is subsided is the time you thought about something positive. Ok, even a positive thought is a thought that has an endless cycle too*4, but at least, you know how to counter balance the worrying cycle. First defense against worry is to be positive and to feel great. Purge negative emotions and thoughts. One of my clients said to me once: “god's gifts have many different forms.” If it is a bad day, think of it as a god’s*5 gift in a different form: a word “bad” is a thought, and therefore, is always relative.*6
Another way to avoid worry is to be creative. Set a goal and allow the stream-of-consciousness takes its own course. When you are faced with a canvas, a mold for sculpture, or a musical instrument, every step you take to create is a decision-making. Creativeness is in the “doing” not in the “trying.*7” Trust the stream-of-consciousness*8: there is no worry to be worried about. Let go, and enjoy creative life.
Third way is to trust tomorrow. Future is always uncertain. The best we can do is to trust. Future has nothing to do with worrying about finance or relationship. It just comes. Live in the moment today, and let the future comes to you. If you do something right today, there is something right tomorrow: trust me, this is how future works.
Fourth way is more practical: eat right. If you are eating heavy cheese, greasy, fried, salty, and overly sweet foods, yes, you do get depression and anxiety. Cut down on foods that make you sick by stagnation.*9 A Spleen type has problem with weight, and needs to be careful and aware of what he eats, and he tends to sit a lot, so, do some exercises.
As for practicality of acupuncture treatment, I am amazed that treating the Spleen, the center, indeed, is good for almost everything. It has become my focal point on the back of the body. Master Sawada said that all diseases pass through the diaphragm, go to the Liver, then to the Spleen, and end up at the Kidney.*10 Idea is to treat in the reverse order and everything would get better: placing priorities to the Spleen and the Kidney*11 to cure all diseases, and it works! (There is an order to the treatment, however) More I practice, deeper I bow to former practitioners and ancient Chinese masters.
Namaste.
*4: Giddy to weird
*5: I am not a Christian, but, by “god,” I mean the Universal Love,
or I can also call it It. I am more of a Zen-ist but do not belong to
Zen or to Buddhism.
*6: Wished that we were taught how to cope with emotions in our schools
as basic education.
*7: All Zen art works are just that!
*8: In the context of this newsletter, “trying” is “worrying.”:
you worry, therefore, no “doing.”
*9: As many of you already know, cheese is a phlegm and highly acidic
and stagnant food. It (phlegm) creates “1000 weird diseases” according
to the Chinese classic.
*10: For the fist time reader: all organs are capitalized to distinguish from
the western medicine. Their functions are slightly different.
*11: The Spleen is Intention and the Kidney is Will, together, they generate
Wisdom and Intelligence.
一霊有万霊 一霊顕万霊 万霊帰一霊
一魂有万霊 一魂顕万霊 万霊帰一魂
霊魂是神
Indirect Translation:
Within the One Spirit, there are Ten Thousand. Ten Thousand Spirits return to the One.
(A living cell has tens of thousands of elements and has the power to mobilize them. A living cell reflects all intentions and thoughts of a person and is influenced by them. Within a single living cell, the wholeness of a person resides. By Master Shirota)
© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC
