When the shen is disturbed, it manifests itself in symptoms such as poor concentration, memory loss, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, and other signs of mental and emotional disorders. When your shen is healthy, you are able to think clearly and rationally, feel calm and peaceful most of the time, and cultivate healthy relationships with other people. Thus, the health of the shen depends on the health of the heart and blood, and vice versa. Because the shen is so light, it requires the blood to hold it in place. Although the shen itself cannot be seen, its effects on your mind and body are obvious.Īs the Shen Shi Zunsheng Shu mentions, the heart dispatches the shen to the other organs. Shen is housed in the heart, and is thought to regulate your emotions, consciousness and other mental functions. Shen is often translated as “mind” or “spirit,” though it’s a more complex concept than either of those words suggest. Following the yin-yang principle of balance, if any of your organs are diseased or not functioning as they should, at least one other organ will be affected as well. Unlike Western medicine, which views the organs as individual physical units, Chinese medicine views the organs as abstract, interrelated aspects of the vast network within your body. And if you take good care of the organs that take qi from, and offer jing to, the heart, your heart will be nourished and protected. In other words, if you keep your heart healthy, your body will generally stay healthy as well. Only the heart’s qi is always abundant, enabling it to draw the jing of the body into the six fu organs.” Only the heart’s jing is always abundant, enabling it to dispatch subordinate shens to the other four zang organs. This elevated position is due to the omnipresence of shen: shen resides within qi, and qi resides within jing. The Shen Shi Zunsheng Shu further describes the heart as “the root of life, the seat of shen, the master of blood, and the commander of the vessels. In contrast to the zang organs, the fu organs perform external functions.Īs a zang organ, the heart is paired with the small intestine, though the former plays bigger role in your body more generally. Yang organs - which include the gall bladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, and bladder - help you digest food, absorb nutrients and dispose of bodily waste. The zang organs are believed to regulate the internal functions of the body.Įach zang organ is paired with a fu organ, or yang organ. Also known as yin organs, they produce, store and regulate vital substances such as blood, bodily fluids and qi. The heart is one of the five zang organs, alongside the spleen, lung, kidney and liver. The heart thus represents the principle that is referred to as the body’s imperial fire ( jun huo) Its relationship to the other organs is hierarchical not only do the twelve channel networks attune their respective qi to the directives of the heart, but they offer their entire jing as tribute to nourish the heart.” The Heart According to TCM The Shen Shi Zunsheng Shu by Shen Jin’ao further describes the heart as follows: “ position is south, its season is summer, and its nature is fire. Ancient Chinese texts, such as the Daoist classics Huainanzi and Guanzi, explicitly refer to the heart as “the ruler of the five organ networks” and “the emperor of the human body,” respectively. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the heart is central to your body’s overall health.
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