The Gifts of the Twelve Officials
How to work with each of the acupuncture meridians
By Shelby VanCleve, L.Ac.
Our gift to you for this holiday season is an exploration of the twelve organs, for which each acupuncture meridian is named, and how you can work with their energies. Have you ever heard your acupuncturist say, “Your gallbladder channel is tight” or “Your lung pulse is superficial” or “Your stomach qi is depleted”? Ever wonder what in the heck that means or what you can do about it? Well, this post is written just for you! You can also check out our social media account every day from December 13 to the 24th, as we share these thoughts and tips in video form. We hope you enjoy it!
The Gift of the Lungs
The gift of the lungs is breath and inspiration. Moment by moment, our lungs offer us the gift of life, with breathing, with the rhythm of inhaling and exhaling. Expanding and contracting. Taking in fresh air and oxygen, and getting rid of the stale--carbon dioxide. Each breath is a tiny cycle of life, and breath can be used to reset one’s nervous system--immediately. Anywhere. Take this gift of a nervous system reset from the lungs: put your hands on your lower abdomen, and inhale deeply, feeling your belly rise. Then exhale, feeling your belly fall back in. Inhale, exhale. Count each inhale and each exhale, to ten. There, you’ve just had a breath massage, a breath time-in, a time-out, and a replenishment of your perspective and patience. Thank you, lungs, for this sweet breath.
The Gift of the Large Intestine
The gift of the Large Intestine is in letting go. As in, let that shit go. Literally and figuratively. What have you been carrying around that no longer serves the person you know you are, the person you want to be, the person you respect and admire? Is it material possessions that could be put to use by someone in need? Is it a long-held assumption that could use some re-examination? Is it a story you’ve gotten used to telling yourself? Is it a health problem you’ve just “learned to live with”? Feeling constipated about it all? Take some breaths, honor that there’s been some holding on that isn’t serving you, and consciously, and lovingly, ease up. Let go. There will be flow. With one tiny intention, the release will make its way.
The Gift of the Urinary Bladder
The gift of the Urinary Bladder is in regulating. The bladder holds urine and knows when to release it. The Urinary bladder acupuncture channel is the longest channel of all, and it is used to regulate the immune system and to help regulate the nervous system, points along this channel can balance all of the internal organ systems. Where in your life could you use more regulation? Where do you need to hold back a little, and where could you assert yourself more? If you’re not sure, try this urinary bladder exercise: stand with your legs wide apart, and lean forward so that you’re comfortably stretching your hamstrings and the muscles along your spine. Feel that sense of aaaaahhhhhhh….That’s your urinary bladder channel relaxing a little. By stretching the back of your body, you make a little more space. Space for regulation. Space for knowing when to wait and when to go. It doesn’t take long, and your whole back will thank you for it!
The Gift of the Kidneys
The gift of the kidneys is resourcefulness, will, motivation, and power. The kidneys teach us that power is gathered not by aggression, but by a balance of rest and thoughtful action. That rest and replenishment fuel the resources for will and motivation. Too much doing and action will drain our kidneys and adrenals. Sleep is medicine for the kidneys. Can you give yourself a little more sleep during this dark time of the year? Can you unplug for 15 minutes, and tend to your kidneys, tend to your will and motivation by NOT doing one more thing.? Rest fuels the power of the kidneys. This season, when in doubt, take a nap. Your kidneys will thank you for it--all year long.
The Gift of the Pericardium
The gift of the pericardium is in emotional boundaries. In Chinese Medicine, we call the pericardium the heart-protector. This doesn’t mean we need to cut people out or off from our lives. But it does mean that we can practice compassionate detachment. I like the phrase, “You don’t go to the hardware store for a loaf of bread.” It means, stop asking for things from others that they are not capable of giving. This knowing is the gift of the pericardium: “I can love you, but I don’t have to participate in dynamics that don’t feel good to me.” Compassionate detachment or even healthy attachment.
The Gift of the Liver
The gift of the liver is compassion. Compassion for anyone begins with compassion for oneself. Can you practice “Gentle, gentle, my precious human” with yourself? Can you walk around treating yourself like a six-month-old, a three-year-old, a thirteen-year-old? Can you give yourself the kind of kindness you’ve been craving your entire life? Can you gently hold the precious being that is YOU, with love and understanding? If you can, the gift of your self-compassion will radiate out to all you encounter. Let the softness of loving-kindness begin with you.
The Gift of the Gall Bladder
The gift of the gall bladder is clear decision-making. Physically, the job of the gallbladder is to squirt bile out to break down fats. It breaks down rich things into absorbable nutrients. Decisions do the same. Big decisions start with tiny decisions. When faced with the freeze of indecision, the thing to do is to simply rest, and let go of NEEDING to decide right now. Soften, let go. The decision will arise from that moment of rest. As a matter of fact, your body will likely reveal to you what the best decision is. Listen to your shoulders (part of the gall bladder acupuncture channel!)--when they drop, and you feel at ease--that’s the decision that your body tells you is the right one. The one that sits right in your gut, sits right in your shoulders, sits right in your heart.
The Gift of the Triple Warmer
The gift of the Triple Warmer (an organ system that represents all of the interstitial spaces in the digestive system, in Chinese Medicine), is the gift of interconnectedness. You can use your mood as a test case. Feeling optimistic, joyful, and delighted? Watch that mood spread like a bowlful of holiday cheer! Feeling down, cranky, and like a killjoy? Watch that mood damper spirits faster than a wet blanket. You can design your mood any time you like. Choose a word that is big enough to meet ANY situation that comes your way in a day. I like to use the words “ease” and “flow” a lot. Lots of disruptions, unexpected things happening? No problem, you’ve chosen to live in flow. Your living in “flow” sets an example, or possibility, for others to do the same. See, we are all interconnected beings. How do you want to do that? With intention or by happenstance? You know which one will feel better…
The Gift of the Small Intestine
The gift of the Small Intestine is discernment. In Chinese Medicine, the Small Intestine is in charge of extracting nutrients from your food, or as we call it “sorting the turbid from the clear”. Where in your life could you use some more discernment? What is nourishing to you these days, and what could be better left sent on its way? What does your body need to feel nourished? This can be extended into any area of your life--the food you eat, the company you keep, the work you do, the words you say. What is nourishing and what is not? Receive the gift of the small intestine to sort it all out for you.
The Gift of the Heart
The gift of the heart is love, joy, and connection. An open heart is a gift in and of itself. What keeps your heart open? Is it talking with loved ones? Connecting to nature? Listening to music? If it’s hard to think of something that opens your heart, take a moment and put your hand over your heart. Close your eyes, and imagine your heart filling with beautiful golden light. Smile into your heart, breathing in clear, red light, and exhaling anything that doesn’t belong there, such as bitterness or hatred. Inhale love, exhale bitterness. Inhale clear red light and smile into that amazing pump. Exhale any stale, gray, old energy out and release it into the earth. Do this 9 times. 9 inhales, 9 exhales. There, you’ve just done a round of healing heart qi gong. You can also smile into your heart and forgive anyone who has hurt your heart. Smile love and forgiveness in their direction, not for their sake, but for yours. More heart healing. There, isn’t that feeling better already?
The Gift of the Spleen
The gift of the spleen is nurturing and grounding. What does nurturing look like to you? It’s not a one-size-fits-all thing--it’s whatever you feel tended to by. One way to connect with the gift of the spleen, and to get feeling grounded REAL quick, is to get on the floor. Yup, all the way down there. Do some gentle stretching. Feel the muscles of your body get a little longer, and feel a little more spacious. There, there. Feeling a little more connected to Earth? A little less rushed, a little more head-on straight? Keep going. That’s spleen medicine--stretching, taking a little time, listening to the wisdom of those muscles. You don’t have to know what you’re doing, just listen to what that body of yours says, one little floor-stretchy move at a time. Aaaahhhhhhh. Two minutes, thank you spleen.
The Gift of the Stomach
The gift of the stomach is digestion--and I’m not talking about just food. I’m talking about breaking down and understanding all of life’s experiences. Have you heard of “rest and digest”? That’s the function of the parasympathetic nervous system, and that’s the state in which healing happens (and the state your body gets into during acupuncture). Do you have time to rest and digest? Or is fight and flight your default mode setting? Can you give yourself the gift of the stomach, which is digestion? Here’s the secret--you don’t have to “do” anything for your body to digest, except to give it space and rest to do so. Same thing with experiences. Been through a stressful one lately? Take a little more time for sleep, for laying low, for tending to. That’s digestion. And tending to digestion now, in the moment, prevents so many problems down the line. Rest. Digest. It really can be that easy.
Wrapping it All Up in a Pretty Little Bow
I hope you found this little exercise helpful and inspiring. Some things to remember:
If you are looking to give or receive the gift of health this season, we offer gift certificates for acupuncture, health and fertility coaching, and massage. You can purchase a gift certificate here.
Have an old health thing you’d like to let go of? We can help. Reach out for some help with getting your health back on track, unstuck, and full of relief.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine help bodies remember how to heal and function efficiently by enhancing homeostasis. If you need some help regulating the systems in your body, reach out and let us know that you could use some support. We are here to help.
Know someone who has lost their spark, their drive, their motivation? Please feel free to share this gift with them. This is something we specialize in helping with.
If you need help sorting out some tangles in your relationships--with yourself or with others—we can be a resource, especially when combined with talk therapy.
Loving-kindness towards oneself is healthcare at the deepest level. We help soften and open a path forward, in compassion.
Stress got your gall bladder channel all jammed up and hard to think clearly? We can clear the way! We won’t get rid of your stress, but we can sure help you change your relationship with it. Which is something that will definitely outlast current circumstances!
Need some help finding flow? We’ve got herbs to help ease the bumpiness and grumpiness of winter. Reach out if you need some support finding your inner flow.
Need some help with your gut? We offer food sensitivity testing, gut reconditioning, and nutritional advice if you are ready for deeper nourishment on a physical level.
Healing is one of life’s greatest gifts.
Nurturing is a daily, moment-by-moment act, not another thing on our to-do list. When you work with us, we will help change patterns by giving you pragmatic, doable lifestyle and dietary recommendations. Because ease is where real change happens.