Healing Our Stomach For Stability Nourishment And Support

In the classics of Chinese medicine,

The stomach is an essential channel that plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of the body's digestive system and our overall health.

This channel is the sun of the earth element.

The movement of energy is one of holding,

Absorbing and embracing.

It is an expression of the centrifugal power of the earth,

Of being the centre and as such the ability to hold things together,

Embrace all,

Giving self and others what we need.

The stomach channel's spirit embodies qualities of stability,

Nourishment and support and reintegrates what has existed,

Purifies and assimilates it to be reused,

Much like the earth herself.

By regulating the flow of qi and maintaining the balance of the body's digestive functions,

The stomach channel helps to promote optimal health and he together with sister spleen represent our earth element.

The ground we stand on,

Our roots imparting stability and balancing our centres,

Our source,

Totally dependent on what earth gives to us,

Stable and seemingly immovable ground that with the kiss of rain turns into a fertile field.

The stomach channel is considered to be the gateway through which we take in nourishment from the earth,

Just as mother earth provides us with the sustenance we need to survive.

The third chakra,

Our solar plexus,

Houses the stomach.

Its colour is yellow and essence and instincts is our expression in the world.

Here is our power centre,

Where energy can be used creatively to manifest our aspirations in the world.

This is our centre,

Where we plant seeds of selfless service,

Fulfilment of our dreams and store and release energy into the world.

If you have a black obsidian which helps to dissolve blocks and negative thoughts from your energetic field,

Or jasper that can clear toxic emotions,

Place this on top of your solar plexus now.

The ox is our stomach channel archetype,

Our ox teaches us the lessons of the value of a steady,

Dependable work ethic.

Patient but tenacious,

He puts you on a firm footing.

He is your gentleness behind a steady frame.

Physical powerhouse,

This masculine bull facilitates our strong survival instincts.

To find a quiet place,

You may sit or lay down,

Uncross your legs and allow your spine to go soft and just begin with four deep cleansing breaths to supplement our stomach chi.

Soften your eyes behind your eyelids or gaze.

Soften your jaw and allow your tongue to go loose in the bottom of the palate.

Lower your chin onto your chest and feel your neck elongate up into the back of your skull,

Feeling the weight of your neck soften.

Allow your shoulders to drop,

Shoulder blades to widen and the top part of your spine become softer and heavier.

Put your attention on the palms of your hands and feel them soften and become heavier.

Put your attention on the soles of your feet,

Feel them soften and become heavier.

Visualize our ox behind our solar plexus.

Notice him gently and gracefully exiting from your third chakra and coming to rest beside you.

He focuses us on personal power and the ability to muster strength to finish tasks or stand on our own convictions.

He offers grounding,

Supporting energies and stamina and in some places a strength to be bullheaded in a positive and productive manner and empower our integration of our life experiences in a way that creates integrity within ourselves.

The stomach channel begins at the eye socket directly below the eye on the cheek.

It then descends to the outer corners of the mouth,

Then follows the angle of the jaw circling the cheek,

Past the ear and follows the hairline right up to the top and center of the forehead.

The channel then emerges either side of our throat,

Down across the clavicles,

Down either side of the center of our bodies,

Through the pelvis,

Down the outer crest of the legs and ends at our second toes,

From cheeks to toes.

Visualize your ox.

He will encourage you to be more aware of your innermost thoughts and feelings and the intuition.

He slowly accompanies you along your stomach channel.

He may pause or rest at each point,

Allowing our earth energy to nourish us in the process of life.

So we begin just below the pupil on the cheek.

Think of the first first eight points on the head as forming the top of a funnel that collects acquired chi and readies it for descent and assimilation into our physical bodies.

Just as food arrives via the mouth and then chewed,

Life experiences arrive to us via the sensory orifices and then processed by our thoughts.

Let's rest our attention on the cheek,

Directly in line with the pupil of our eyes and we will find stomach one receive tears.

This starting place empowers the process of undigested emotional material.

Like too much food in our stomach,

These burdens weigh heavy and mean we have no energy to let go.

Here we integrate unprocessed experience,

Just like our tears,

Subconsciously,

That flow down over our face and this point help us to process and flush our life.

Those tears flow downwards over our cheek,

Through to stomach two,

Four whites,

And stomach three,

Great cheekbone,

And touch the edge of our lips and mouths at stomach four,

Earth granary.

This point harmonizes our relationship with appetite,

Neediness,

And nourishment in all aspects of our being.

We balance our relationships with any oral fixations and feelings of abandonment that derive from any dysfunctional relationships,

Perhaps even with our own mothers as they embody the earth element.

This place is also where we address giving from abundance,

The granary,

That is the basis for our own generosity.

Sweep up either side of the cheek,

Up onto the head,

Through stomach five,

Great welcome,

Stomach six,

Jawbone,

And stomach seven,

Lower hinge,

Right up to stomach eight,

Head tied.

Here the channel begins to form the neck of our funnel of nourishment.

These head and jaw points help ease constraint and pain in the jaw that emanate from resentment and anger born of ingratiating behaviors.

The jaw and chewing is from where the stomach receives and welcomes chi.

Here is the place where we may need to notice if we take care of others' needs without deference to our own innourishment.

When we do this,

We swallow a little bit of resentment,

Feelings of bitterness,

A physical sour taste in the mouth which compromises the quality of our own nourishment.

Our jaw hinge or mandible begins clenching out of frustration and anger that accumulates over time.

So here we unbind the mind and ease our worries.

Our lighter ox steadily proceeds onwards now,

Either side of the voice box and Adam's apple,

Through our two throat points.

These are important for easing obsessional tendencies.

They help move congestion of thought,

Help clear the mind by unbinding all the yang channels to ease worry and break repetitive patterns of thought.

Stomach 9,

People welcome,

Sea of energy and a window to the sky,

And stomach 10,

Water rushing out,

Are on the throat circling the voice box.

They empower us with the sincerity of intention conveyed through speech.

Here can help us welcome other people into our process.

When we have difficulty asking for our own needs to be met,

Here we help ourselves to accept the nourishment of life.

Starting then at the clavicle down to the top of the breast are our five upper torso points.

A strong center is cultivated by a healthy digestive system and points 11 to 15 connect our body,

Our heart,

With our mind,

Our head.

Our upper torso empowers the storage and distribution of acquired chi as nourishment in all aspects of our being,

Mind,

Body and spirit,

And restores our ability to be at home in our own physical bodies.

It is stomach 15,

Room screen just before the breast,

That provides us the room to be inhabited by the heart and lungs,

A place to feel at ease and secure when we feel vulnerable and exposed.

Stomach 16 to 18,

Running through the breast,

Is where the production and dissemination of breast milk preside over nourishment for self and others.

Archetypally,

This is the relationship of mother and infant.

It is here we provide light to help illuminate and resolve any issues around our needs and those of others.

We continue to travel downwards now towards our 11 lower abdomen points,

From the solar plexus down to stomach 30,

Deep in the sides of the pelvis.

This is the cauldron at the end of our funnel,

The reservoir to receive the benefits of earth and grains to be nourished.

We come to rest here to ease and empower the assimilation of nourishment in a way that engenders our virtue of contentment.

Overeating is often a compensatory mechanism for feeling undernourished,

As though we are not enough in life.

Undereating can be an embodiment of we are too much or not enough.

When we are both overeating and undereating,

This place can empower us to receive the richness of the full experience and the nourishment that is potentially available to us in our human life.

It is stomach 30,

Qi rushing,

Our sea of nourishment,

That is the last of the lower abdomen points,

Nestled deep on both sides within our lower pelvis.

By warming and nourishing the womb,

Sexual organs and lower abdomen,

We can then heal.

We must always recognize when we become exhausted.

Adequate rest is necessary to allow our reserves of qi to build up.

We must learn to live in harmony with nature so we don't exhaust ourselves further.

Listening to mother earth,

Not telling her what to do,

Helps us to heal ourselves.

Travel to the top of the femur or thigh bones and our five upper thigh points,

Running down the outer front edge of our legs,

Down to our outer knees,

Our stomach 31 to stomach 35.

If we are pushing ourselves too hard,

In work or exercise,

Excessive worry or catering to the needs of others,

This is exhausting.

Our legs provide our connection to the earth and supercharge our ability to manifest our motivations in our work.

So this place is important to pause.

We move stagnation,

Manifesting as undigested life experiences,

Acquired burden and disgust,

And connect and nourish our ox legs,

Renewing our power and giving us strength to take purposeful steps forward.

Lastly,

We reach the 10 command points from below the knee down to the second toe.

Stomach 36,

Leg three miles,

Is our earth point on the earth meridian and three finger widths down from the outer knee cap.

A sea of nourishment and center of energy.

This point is a powerful reminder of our connection to the earth.

It grounds us and centers us.

Like a well-connected and strong diving board,

This point provides a solid foundation for us to be able to launch into the higher realms on our journey to self-realization.

A third of the way down the center of the leg is stomach 37,

Upper great void,

The sea of blood.

Holding on to things that have lost value to us is a habitual way of avoiding grief or loss.

Here we help empower the quality of emptiness and non-attachment that arises when we are content in life and secure enough to let go of the form of things that we have valued,

Choosing instead to be sustained by their essence.

Halfway down the center of our leg now are stomach 38,

39 and 40.

Stomach 38 branch opening is where we literally sort away any build-up of emotional toxicity and then together with stomach 39,

Lower great void,

We can strengthen our connection to our heart.

So our heart then has a clear connection and communication with the outside world.

Stomach 40,

Abundant splendor is a hugely powerful place then to secure and nourish trust that the universe will provide.

She always provides.

This in turn alleviates our anxiety and any circular worries.

Our mind calms and our balance returns.

We flow downwards towards the center of the ankle crease and find stomach 41,

Released stream.

This fire element point reminds us not always to get bogged down in our tasks and to-dos and looking after others.

Fire is purifying and the light from this place reminds us of the potential joy and excitement in life,

Encouraging us to open up rather than doggedly pursuing the tasks ahead.

The warmed chi from this point then travels to the center of the top of the foot to stomach 42 rushing yang.

This is the source point of the stomach meridian.

Source points draw from the deep reserves of the official bringing just the correct amount of energy needed.

No more and no less,

Whether we are conscious or not.

Belonging to the earth element,

This point brings us the qualities of nourishment,

Care,

Stability,

Balance and comfort that we all might need.

All the qualities a good mother would bring to her child.

We can frequently get stuck going in circles,

Never stopping complete exhaustion but here we stop trying to control everything and everyone and allow ourselves a moment of relaxation.

Inching further towards the toes on the top of the foot is stomach 43 sinking valley.

The integration of purpose and process,

A kickstart if you like from the wood element and its spring energy.

Our wood controls our earth by sinking its roots deep within,

Preventing the earth from being eroded and washed away.

This is the place where we readjust and relearn to confidently stand firm and upright in our lives.

At the base of our second toe is our water point,

Stomach 44 inner courtyard.

The traditional Chinese courtyard was a place of privacy and tranquility.

Visitors were received in the outer courtyard.

The inner courtyard was reserved for the intimate,

Trusted friends and family.

So it is this inner courtyard that provides a place of quiet contemplation,

Rest and replenishment for the body,

Mind and spirit.

Nurturing our own inner resources.

As a water point this place of rest brings the quietude of still waters,

Restores flexibility,

Strength,

Cleansing and refreshment.

Lastly we reach the end of the stomach meridian,

Stomach 45 hard bargain next to the nail at the end of our second toe.

Sympathy,

The emotion of the earth element,

Is the perception of,

Understanding of and appropriate reaction to the needs of others.

Sympathy requires a balance of care for oneself and others.

Exaggeration to either side is our imbalance.

We must care for and nourish ourselves in order to have enough to share.

At times we may feel that it's all too much,

A person or a situation,

Too difficult,

Unfair,

Too much to digest.

It is this end that helps soften this hardness.

We can be restored to inner peace with fresh inspiration,

Insights of value,

Respect for all sides,

Justice and fairness.

Now smile the length of your stomach channel from cheek to toe.

Thank your ox spirit and remember he reminds us to remain steady and on course however long it takes and to continue to nourish our own essences as well as others.

Remain connected to his healing medicine and have a lovely day.