The Large Intestine
You’ve just got to let it go….
For those of you paying attention, we have steadily worked our way through the major yin organs of the Chinese medical system, and we are now moving on to the yang organs. The yang organs are not given as much importance as they are usually just seemingly hollow sacks or tubes such as the stomach or small intestine. Instead their relevance lies in their relationship to their paired yin organ through their elemental connection and possibly more importantly, through the energetic pathway of the meridian.
This may sound a little confusing so it is probably best to explain this all through an example and we will start with the Large Intestine.
The Large Intestine belongs to the Metal element and its energetic movement is to contract. This can be seen in the peristalsis that moves and squeezes the unwanted faecal matter along its length. It is connected to the Lungs through this metal element and they are seen as paired yin and yang organs.
Essentially what the Large Intestine does is let go of ‘crap’ from the body. This is true on a physical, energetic, mental and spiritual level. It governs our ability to let go of things. Just as the large intestine as an organ can become blocked with physical matter, so too can our minds become clogged with troublesome past events. The health of our Large Intestine dictates how well we are able to let go these events that have been harmful or upsetting to us.
The energetic pathway of the Large Intestine gives us a further insight into its workings. It flows from the tip of the index finger, up the arm, across the neck right up to the edge of the nostril. (It is here that it joins its metallic partner the lung meridian).
Along this pathway there is possibly the best known and most used of all the acupuncture points. Its name is Hegu in Chinese, which translates roughly as Connecting Valley. This is in part due to its location where it connects the thumb (lung) and index finger (L.I).
Its therapeutic value lies in the fact that it is able to release stagnation, and therefore pain, from anywhere in the body. If you imagine that you are holding on to something, then it is the muscle at this point that is doing all the work. When contracted it is squeezing the thumb towards the hand and enables us to grasp or hold. By needling this point we are able to relax this muscle and thereby release anything that we maybe holding on to. Once again this can be something physical (this is a great point for consti
pation), something energetic, (the release of pain) or something spiritual (releasing past memories or trauma.)
However its influence doesn’t stop there, as it is also said to ‘release the exterior’. In Chinese medicine, when you get the flu or a cough or a cold, it is said that an exterior pathogen has entered the body. A pathogen may be many things but it is usually an environmental factor, such as cold, wind, heat or damp. These pathogens literally invade the body from the outside and create illness. This point has the ability to expel this pathogen by pushing it back out of the body via the lungs (a further insight into its name Connecting Valley). At this time of year, where most of us seem to have been invaded by some sort of pathogen or other, this point is extremely useful, and I seem to be using it more often than not.
Matt Fellows
glastonburyacupuncture@hotmail.co.uk