Hello, my friend!
There’s something beautiful, and also humbling, about practicing a medicine that’s 2,500 years old. There’s always something new to learn.
In today’s email:
* This week’s inspiration: The channels that hold what we can’t deal with
* Latest blog post: The Ancient, Fizzy, Slightly Slimy History of Kombucha
* What I’m listening to this week: The History of Literature podcast
This Week’s Inspiration: The Channels That Hold What We Can’t Deal With
This week I’ve been delving into lectures from a famous Taoist priest named Jeffrey Yuen on a topic called the Luo Channels.
This is where we dump all the hard feelings and experiences we just can’t deal with. When we say, "I can’t deal with this right now," and we set it aside, that energy goes somewhere. This is where it goes. In a way, this is to protect the body.
The ancients believed that intense emotions make us sick and can even kill us. If you’re a human walking on this earth, you will understand this implicitly. Extreme rage and stress can actually damage your heart, and of course many people die of grief after their beloved has passed away.
The body’s failsafe to protecting our organs from the damage of intense emotions? These Luo Channels are created only for overflow. They can fill up and be dredged, like the tide, based on what we experience in life and what we can psychologically handle. Invariably, life throws more curveballs than we can assimilate and process. So the excess has to go somewhere. This is where the wastewater of our intense emotions goes to be stored — for when we’re psychologically ready to deal with them, if that day ever arrives.
But as they say, there’s no free lunch.
The problem is two-sided. If these channels are partially filled, our own life force is bankrolling this expedition to our own detriment. We’re blowing our energetic budget keeping a bunch of broken things in storage. And if these channels get too filled up with what we can’t process, we can get sick.
This study has gotten me to think about all of the hard things I’ve tucked away in my body. Wouldn’t it be the ultimate act of spring cleaning to start opening up these places and letting some of these things go?
How does this resonate with you? Do you feel you have the same situation? If so, I’m looking to connect. And I’m also looking to study more, to help us all. 💖
Latest Blog Post
The Ancient, Fizzy, Slightly Slimy History of Kombucha
In the vein of all things ancient and having to do with Chinese medicine, did you know that kombucha is actually from ancient China? Called the "Tea of Immortality" during the Qin Dynasty, it was prized by Taoist monks seeking longevity. The SCOBY — that slimy thing floating in your jar — produces organic acids, B vitamins, and beneficial bacteria that support your gut and your Spleen qi. I almost choked on one in 2003 and never looked back.
What I’m Listening To This Week
The History of Literature
A client of mine is a medium — and it’s not her dress size. She sees ghosts. I’m told, apparently, the ghost of a Civil War soldier marches up and down Deblois Street, which is the small Harry Potter-like alley on which I work. My office is tucked down at the end. Where there was once a chain-link fence and some compost, I’ve created a potted garden — rhododendrons and Japanese maples and the like — and three bird feeders that sway in the wind like an art installation.
And if said ghosts are in fact there, I’m sure they are approving of what I’m listening to this week. The History of Literature. A podcast that does the impossible: entertains enough to keep you engaged but is boring enough that you can walk out of the room, walk back in, and still pick up on what’s happening. It’s companion entertainment. Think like your grandma keeping the TV on all day, but in this case it includes a sweet and charming host. Discussions range from the best Brontë books to the glory of Chekhov’s plays and even forgotten books of the subcontinent of India.
With over 700 episodes, The History of Literature quiets your mind and coincidentally makes you realize all the books that you have left to read.
Here’s to spring cleaning — inside and out.
Dr. Catherine