Nourishing yourselves

I wish your deep inner nourishment at this time of year

In this time of the least light in the year, when we are celebrating with light, but often being very busy and not always being able to nourish ourselves in the best way, we may want to discover how we can be deeply nourished both by the Conception and Penetrating Vessels as well as the Spleen meridian of TCM.

I shared some affirmations for the Conception Vessel on Instagram

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I nourish myself deeply from within

I thrive whatever is going on outside.

I have the strength to travel my path wherever it leads.

I give you the stability to respond to the ever changing world outside you, so you can create and nourish your new branches, leaves and roots.

I also posted a video I filmed in November when I was staying with in Wales with Carola Beresford-Cooke. We talked with Fanny Roque, a French shiatsu practitioner, president of the French Federation of Shiatsu Practitioners and a specialist in cancer and women’s health on how to nourish ourselves with Penetrating Vessel (Chong Mai) and Spleen. Here are some highlights I shared on Instagram.

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If you like this and want to watch the longer video here is the link.

We share our insights on how we can nourish ourselves focusing especially on the relationship between Spleen and the Penetrating Vessel. This kind of nourishment is a little different than the more self-contained quality of nourishment of the Conception Vessel which I have been recently talking about. It is more about our need to give and receive nourishment with others and the outer world.

We share our insights on how we work along with final reflections on how much we enjoy giving shiatsu, because in giving we are also receiving. It is vital, as in all aspects of life, we are able to receive as well as give nourishment and love.

Spleen is one of the 12 meridians and these have a direct relationship with our daily cycle and the outer world. Spleen begins in our feet, on the inside of the big toe (SP1). Spleen is about how we nourish ourselves through the food we eat, and our relationships with others. Penetrating Vessel’s main regulating point is on the Spleen meridian, SP4.

Unlike Conception Vessel, but like Spleen, Penetrating Vessel has a branch into our legs. Penetrating Vessel runs down our whole leg from our pubic bone to end at the sole our of foot. It is much broader than the Spleen and is our first movement to connects us to the earth. Our first earth was our mother, when we implanted into her womb at conception and then later after birth she remains our anchor. Like Spleen, Penetrating Vessel also has a branch in our chest. For women these are our breast channels, the inner wings of our heart. Whether or not we were breastfed, our mother nourished us with her love. Like Spleen, Penetrating Vessel is also intimately linked with the Stomach meridian which flows down from our eyes, nose, mouth through our chest/breasts to our abdomen and down into our legs. It is also linked with our Spleen meridian which flows up from our feet, bringing the nourishment of the earth back to our chest/breasts.

Pathway of Spleen: Spleen travels up through our legs through our abdomen to pass through our chest 2 thumb widths out from the line of our nipples through the points SP 17, 18, 19 and 20. SP18, Heavenly Stream, in the third intercostal space is especially important for the breasts and is often used to support breastfeeding. Spleen ends at SP21 3 thumb widths below our armpit (Heart 1). Carola likes linking SP21 and HT1 together. This is how the meridians and vessels flow through our body. They are like streams and rivers - where one ends another begins. Heart continues on from Spleen which, like Penetrating Vessel has a close connection to our Heart and to nourishing our Blood.

I’d love to hear what your favourite meridians or Vessels are - either as a practitioner or a receiver of shiatsu or both! Please share in the comments.

So, I wish you lots of outer and inner nourishment and lots of “mothering yourselves”

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