Digestive issues

A typical way we approach these issues in the West is to focus on food, and to reduce potentially harmful or aggravating foods - reductionism at its best.

Lets consider some other avenues…

For instance..... Thyroid glands/Lungs: how do these contribute to the environment of internal dampness, heat, phlegm etc - they store the dampness and eventually phlegm that’s created by the Spleen/Gut. Spleen Qi which is the ‘brain’ or ‘organising governor’ of the gut also governs absorption of nutrients and transportation of these nutrients around the body.

Dampness has its origins in the gut channel and the Stomach channel (ST) is used primarily to treat its effects in the body, with the exception of the head where the Large Intestine channel (LI) is used. In the six great embryological planes or divisions of the body the ST and LI channels are one plane called YangMing in TCM.

This level relates to the tensile strength within intestinal and gut wall linings which functions are to move solids and fluids through the digestive tract and crucially to warm them. Our body is an incredibly warm place and this warmth is important to stave off the establishment of dampness.

Digestion is not simply all about what a nutritionist may share with you, it’s not always about intolerances, parasites or other nasties in the digestive tract. It’s often about the condition of the internal environments....and aspects dampness in the internal environment that congests with phlegm , or dryness that inflames.

It’s about the internal terrain and environment as much as what food groups interact with it. The Spleen is a big contributor of energy to the lungs /thyroid, but it goes two ways, weakened lungs and thyroid functions affect the Spleens ability to absorb and regulate. The body is symbiotic.

It’s giving and taking energy to different parts of the structure. So It’s often also about the supporting players in the body that help create the ‘ conditions of the environments’.....they’re very important. In this case we will have a look at some organs that aid the classical organs of digestion.

The Spleen assists selection of nutrients, and the movement of nutrition. Being the brain of the gut, it is making the administrative choices about what to absorb. In TCM it is a part of an embryonic plane or division in the body that ‘opens’ to another one that assists digestion- it’s a division that includes the Stomach and Large Intestine- this plane is about muscle strength and the ability to move substances, warm the environment and eliminate. Without these functions, digestion is inhibited.

The Spleen in Western medicine is an organ of blood and the immune system. It’s mainly concerned with cleaning substances. It’s the pre-eminent organ for platelet health. By regulating the platelets it is regulating the hormone Serotonin. This hormone is best known for its function in the brain where it is linked to depression and OCD. OCD is a form of extreme focussed worry, so does depression and OCD have its origins in the gut? I would put a dollar on it that medicine in 3021 will absolutely be addressing these issues from points of origin. It takes them about 100 years to catch on😉

95% of all Serotonin in the body is found in the gut, where it decides what speed the gut should run at. It can speed up or slow the gut to enable it to have the right time to absorb nutrients. If you eat something bad the gut will create a flood of Serotonin to flush it out for instance ( diarrhoea). Anything that leaks out from the gut is absorbed by the platelets in the blood - and the platelets have 99% of all the Serotonin in the blood.

These platelets are regulated by the Spleen, so the Spleen is regulating the Serotonin in our blood and consequently our brain. The terms describing the Spleen as the brain of the gut makes sense with this perspective.

The lungs and thyroid are beneficiaries of the kind actions of the Spleen. In TCM they say that the Spleen supplies the lungs with nutritional Qi..nutritional essence which finds its way then to the heart. No western doctors will generally talk about the heart in digestive dynamics.

TCM does because it is a complete medical system.

Thyroid glands: These little gems are a part of the embryological plane in the body that includes the Lungs and Spleen. Thyroid glands are little bonsai versions of the lung - same shape, different size -thank god 😉. Thyroids grow from the same place as the lung in embryology ( both emerge from the voice box with their true origin in the gut being the embryonic Yolk Sac, which also creates the internal gut lining, endothelial layers ).

Thyroxine is the hormone of the Thyroid gland, which delivers emotional inspiration to us, this allows us to reach into ethereal realms and beyond, to reach literally for spirit. People who lack thyroxine are generally dull and unmotivated, and have little or no aspiration to be much at all let alone spiritual. An emotional state that weakens this aspect of us is grief ( especially when a fellow spirit leaves us) personal loss, and on a different level- spiritual malaise, ignorance or disconnection.

In grief the lungs are often weakened, affecting the Spleen and influencing digestion. It’s not uncommon to loose a lot of weight whilst in grief. In the throat ( where the lungs emerge from) there is a huge amount of complexity. So much that it is considered by surgeons to be the most challenging area of the body to work on. Lots of very complex, close proximity risks such as arteries etc. When keyhole surgery emerged on the scene and access became a whole lot easier. Interestingly the spot where surgeons now access the throat with key hole surgery is at the same place the Chinese Medicine shows the beginning of the lung channel ( Lung 1) as shown in the diagram below on the front aspect of the shoulder.

To truely understand the lung, we must embrace a new understanding of organs - they are not just a solid collection of cells in a location, but a broader reality. In this case the lung encapsulates the nasal passages, thyroid glands, lung and channel, including internal pathways, and to a greater extent includes the spleen and endothelial layers of the gut. It’s a complete embryonic plane in the body - one of six.

So if you say to me I’ve got lung problems or thyroid issues, I’m looking at the whole plane and it’s functioning and interacting with other aspects of the body. Few people realise that the breathing rhythms of the lungs instruct the Spleen which governs digestion. The Spleen is the brain of the gut, and embryonically it is one plane with the lung .

The Gut ( Stomach) is the origins of fluids, the Spleen its Yin partner makes phlegm and the Lungs store phlegm. Hence clearing the Lungs energetically can assist digestive issues greatly ( working backwards).

In the illustration below we can see the major lung channel in blue, and the internal pathways in red. We haven’t even touched on the stomach, large intestine or liver and gallbladder in the dance of digestion. The Chinese identified something that in my humble opinion plays a large role. It’s called the Triple Heater. This is how the body generates heat and where it uses it. In this illustration below we see three great cavities that have temperature variations. These variations can lead to digestive disorders. In health the chest cavity ( upper burner) is hot, the abdomen ( middle cavity and burner) is warm and the Pelvis (lower cavity and burner) is cooler. Chest - electricity / fire Abdomen- earth Pelvis- Water If you would like to ask me questions about specific digestion issues or health in general, please contact me via my website below or via my Facebook page 🙂 www.energytherapyclinic.com.au 🍀 Mike Ross Holistic energy practitioner.