Printable View
Do the Arts prescribe anything for revitalizing a saddened spirit?
I have felt as though a huge band-aid was ripped suddenly off my soul -- I am very raw and unbalanced, but I feel that this may be the best place to start on the road to whatever it is we're all looking for. I don't know what I need to do, but I want to use some wisdom to straighten things out, at least for now. I practice kung fu, but have not experienced much in the internal arts.
Many Thanks,
M
Sadness/grief/loss are the emotions realting to the Metal element of the 5-element theory of Chinese Medicine in the body. Primarily the 2 main organs related to sadness are the Large Intestines and the Lungs. You may have some origin in your sadness due to these or one of these organs being slightly out of step. Of course if any event in your life has occured recently then of course its vice versa, and that event may affect those organs. The L.I. deals on an emotional level with the ability to get rid of wste material (emotionally speaking), so an imbalance maybe that it can't manage it at the moment and thus this imbalance manifests as the emotion of sadness. The Lungs descend Qi in the body and govern channels and blood passeways, which again may manifest as an inability to move things along properly or if stuck causing you to dwell too much on stagnant emotions ( although it is really the Spleen's job to transport and transform things). If you have melancholic/sad feelings it usually will be signifying a Metal imbalance in the body. There is a Taoist healing sound you could use to try and shift it. Place both hands over the Lung area on the front of the body emit a sustained "ssss" sound, hissing without the "H" and the "I". This sound is said to balance Lung / Metal energies in the body.
Take care.
Thank you for the very considerate reply, Repulsive Monkey. I will try the exercise. It is funny that you mentioned specific regions of the body where the imbalances may be -- becasue a sort of pain that has accompanied my emotions is centered there. I suppose this is a reflection of the entire tradition of Chinese medicine.
BTW -- I like your name. Is it meant to reference the Handsome Monkey King?
M
A simple alternative...
Remain still, remain aware of thoughts that cause depression. Remain aware of sensations that accompany the depression. Usually, a sense of attachment, or "pushing away" of certain sensations can be felt. As RM said, it could be in the chest region....
Watch these sensations as a third person. Without reaction and without other thoughts, just watch. Don't feed the thoughts, just watch them as they arise and watch how it affects your thoughts, reaction and bodily sensations...
reference Vipassana
What is occupying that corpse you call 'I' ?