Nourishing Kidneys

[Michael Udel]

Alberto,

Each anatomical (physical) sensory organ is connected energetically to one of the five yin organs. I am not certain about distinguishing the function of the mouth and the tongue.
Kidneys - Ears
Liver - Eyes
Lungs - Nose
Heart - Tongue
Spleen - Mouth

One of the beautiful things about a holistic health system like Chinese Medicine is that its knowledge is deep enough to understand the full relationship between different parts of the body, the function and the form, and the energy, or qi, that communicates and powers it all.

In Chinese Medicine, each of the yin organs is understood primarily as an energy system and secondarily as a physical collection of cells and tissues. The function of each yin organ is connected to its opening and they affect each other. Therefore, strengthening the kidneys can improve hearing. Also, problems with the kidneys can manifest as problems with hearing.

I don't know the exact reasons why the kidneys can strongly influence the knees. My study in this field is informal and in the beginning stages. At the very least, the conncetion between the kidneys and the knees has been demonstrated by clinical evidence over a long period of time.

In my limited experience, I believe it is also a generally accepted fact that the health of the kidneys strongly affects a person's sexual ability and the health of their teeth. I discusses this topic here on the forum.

My own personal experience has shown that I can improve a hearing problem, and a longstanding problem with one of my knees, by strengthening my kidneys through this qigong exercise. My weaker knee and ear are both on the same side as the kidney that has been diagnosed as "weaker than the other kidney" by a qigong master.

The exercise Nourishing Kidneys is fairly well-known inside and outside of Shaolin Cosmos Qigong. In Sifu Wong's book, The Art of Chi Kung pgs. 68-70, the exercise is described. I got excellent results from following the instructions provided.

In Sifu Wong's Q & A, he mentions the exercise, and there is also a picture of it here.

Best wishes,
Michael

[Alberto]

Dear Michael :


Thanks a lot for your detailed answer to my question.



With Shaolin salute,

[Michael Udel]

En Español

No hay problema, mi amigo.

Miguel

PS-That's about all the Español I know.

[Toltec]

Thank you for that post.

I have problems with my kidneys, they feel like they are under a lot of pressure, especially while sitting down.

It is because of my silver teeth fillings that my kidneys feel this way. Most fillings that are made out of metal have around 50 percent mercury in them ( besidse gold fillings). I just got 10 mercury containing fillings replaced last month and have been slowly showing improvement though. The mercury from the fillings also caused me a lot of other symptoms but my kidney symptoms are the most irritating.

I have been doing lifting the sky and a lot of self-manifesting chi kung and it definitely makes me do movements that massage my kidneys. I know it will get better, but mercury does take a long time to leave the body and has been shown to buildup in the kidneys and other organs.

I don't show signs of kidney weakness like bad hearing, and have a lot of sexual energy (though I try to conserve it thinking maybe it will help them heal faster), so I'm thinking that my kidneys are holding up to the burden of the toxic metal mercury ok.

[Maxime]

Michael,

Spleen - Mouth

Mouth and lips

I don't know the exact reasons why the kidneys can strongly influence the knees.

The Kidney system (especially due to the Jing) is said to be the master of the bones. If the Kidney system is not strong enough, it can't assume its function of controlling and nurturing the bones. Thus a weak Jing or weak Kidney system could lead to bones and joints problems, like knee problems.

Of course this is a short answer

Take care,

Maxime

[Michael Udel]

more about kidneys

Toltec,

The fact that you don't show some symptoms associated with kidney problems does not necessarily, or perhaps even usually, mean that your kidneys are operating normally. For example, one of my qigong students/patients had advanced kidney failure and needed dialysis three times a week. However, his teeth were okay, his hearing was fine, and he had a reasonable sex drive and function for someone his age. Health is just too complicated to make easy assumptions based on a few facts, which is one area where Chinese Medicine is vastly superior to Western Medicine because the former uses more criteria for diagnosis than the latter.

There is a vegetable that will help your body remove mercury. It has three different English names: cilantro, coriander, and Chinese parsley. You can add it to your food, or eat it by itself. Although the entire plant (stems and leaves) is edible, some people find that eating the stems is tough on their stomach and pull the leaves off for eating. Qigong will also help with the mercury, as with any problem it gives your body the energy it needs to clean itself. Also, with qigong, you can very gently use a general intention or message to remove bad things from your body. As long as it's done very softly and gently, using a specific message, such as "remove mercury" is okay, but overall a person should not focus on their disease when practicing qigong, just relax.

Here's a quote from Sifu Stier that seems relevant:

The Classical Five Element Style of Oriental Medicine associates the health of bones and teeth with the Water Element Phase...which includes Kidneys, Urinary Bladder, Reproductive Functions, and Endocrine Gland Functions...everything related to fluid metabolism and the production, secretion, storage, and transport of bodily fluids. As such...anything which nourishes and tonifies these organs...especially the Kidneys...will accelerate the healing of bone fractures of any kind anywhere in the body.

Examples of such measures would include the ingestion of a bit of sea salt each day...as well as eating beans or peas of any kind...parsley and cilantro...legumes such as peanuts and cashews...and taking a Water Element Herbal Formula Combination such as 'Rehmannia Eight Formula' (Pa-Wei-Wan). Additionally...any shade of Blue Color worn as clothing...and Music in the Key of A Major...is strengthening to the bones and Water Element Associations by virtue of a shared Energetic Resonancy which differs by only .02-.03 Vibrations per Minute. Water Element Exercises such as Hsing-Yi Drilling Fist (Tsuan-Chuan) are also tonifiying to this Organ System.

Toltec, if you actually have a problem with your kidneys, performing Nourishing Kidneys may be uncomfortable or even painful. Again, it's tough to jump to conclusions, but generally speaking, powerful qigong will cause pain if there is a small or large problem. Naturally, most "problems" are just normal wear and tear and nothing that can't be fixed and certainly shouldn't be worried about.

Although it won't be 100% conclusive, we could try an experiment. I could send healing qi to your kidneys for 15-20 minutes. All you have to do is arrange a time with me and sit or lie down comfortably while I send. If you feel pain in your kidneys, it means something is getting fixed. The amount (intensity) and duration (time the pain lasts after I stop sending the qi) of the pain can be a general indicator the state of things.

The Kidney system (especially due to the Jing) is said to be the master of the bones. If the Kidney system is not strong enough, it can't assume its function of controlling and nurturing the bones. Thus a weak Jing or weak Kidney system could lead to bones and joints problems, like knee problems.

Thanks, Maxime! I just remembered the famous quote from the classics about the kidney controlling the bone marrow, and the marrow flowing to the brain, therefore making the brain the sea of marrow. Am I making stuff up here? Either way, I love the figurative language of Chinese Medicine. No jargon!

Best wishes,
Michael

[Toltec]

I have done a lot of research Michael and Cilantro does help mobilize mercury from tissues and organs, but it seems like its still up to your organs to remove it. It isn't the best idea to take it shortly after getting mercury fillings removed. The reason is that right after getting all your fillings removed the body seems to respond by getting rid of mercury at a much higher rate, and adding anything to the diet like cilantro can speed it up too much. I have talked to a lot of people who had very bad reactions to cilantro if they didnt wait long enough after getting the fillings removed.

I have been taking high quality extracts of Reishi, Cordyceps, and Schizandra. I try to be careful about self-medicating myself with herbs but those seemed to be safe from my research.

I know that pain is an indicator of healing many times, and don't stop self-manifesting chi kung even when there is pain...I know my body is just trying to heal whatever may be wrong. I have steadily doing lifting the sky followed by self-manifesting chi kung twice a day (about 15 minutes a session) and I do get a lot of great chi flows and I think I may even do 5 animal play sometimes ( I gracefully back and side step around in an octagon shape over and over and over).

I do use general intention during standing meditation and just relaxing laying down. I just gently think of my kidneys and smile and just send a very general healing feeling to the area.

Thank you very much for the offer of sending Chi but I have strong faith that my chi kung is really doing what needs to be done...if it for some reason gets worse though I will try to contact you .

[Michael Udel]

cilantro

Toltec,

Thanks for the information about cilantro. I did not know that using it too soon after getting the fillings removed was not a good idea. I should pass this along to Cha Muir. His wife just had hers removed.

About a month ago, I ate something that made me sick for a day. The next time I sat down to eat, there was some cilantro in the dish in front of me, and I was drawn to it. I ate all the little bits of cilantro garnish I could find in the pot of ginger duck, and I immediately felt a stinging sensation on my left index finger at acupoint LI-2. It seems the cilantro was having an immediate effect.

Sometimes (not after an illness) the same sort of thing happens to Liv-3 if I eat a certain kind of mushroom. The body sure does know what it needs!

Best wishes for your kidneys

Michael

[Maxime]

Yes Michael, you are making sense

Slightly off-topic: the use of Coriander is also helpful for Strengthening the Spleen (and fighting the weakening of the digestive system and its assiocated digestive disorders). It is also helpful for Sweating to relieve colds.

In all cases, one should exerce caution with Coriander if there is a great general weakness of the patient, especially associated with spontaneous sweating. Also, with skin diseases, and eye disorders.

Coriander must not be associated with Bai Zhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae) and Mu Dan Pi (Cortex Radicis Moutan).

[Alberto]

Dear Michael :

There is a vegetable that will help your body remove mercury. It has three different English names: cilantro, coriander, and Chinese parsley. You can add it to your food, or eat it by itself. Although the entire plant (stems and leaves) is edible, some people find that eating the stems is tough on their stomach and pull the leaves off for eating.

lthough it won't be 100% conclusive, we could try an experiment. I could send healing qi to your kidneys for 15-20 minutes. All you have to do is arrange a time with me and sit or lie down comfortably while I send. If you feel pain in your kidneys, it means something is getting fixed. The amount (intensity) and duration (time the pain lasts after I stop sending the qi) of the pain can be a general indicator the state of things.

On gourmet cuisine is usually having seeds of cilantro as one of the ingredients specially for beef recipes. Does this seeds have the same effects in the body?.

Your offer to send Chi to Toltec is so generous that i want to express my admiration towards you.


With Shaolin Salute,

[Toltec]

No, coriander seeds do not have the same effect on mercury as cilantro. Dried cilantro also doesn't work either, and fresh is the best but lightly cooked fresh cilantro may still work.

Michael's offer is extremely generous, and I really would accept but anytime I lay down on my back and relax my kidneys start to hurt and my chi starts to move around...and it can get pretty intense. I think my problem is that there is a lot of mercury in me and just small amounts passing through my kidneys causes discomfort. I am showing improvement but it has been slow, but I am very dedicated to chi kung and really enjoy a good chi flow...in fact thats the only way I can get to sleep some nights.

Michael, if you would really like to give it a shot and test out your Chi Transmission skills, I certainly would agree to lay down, relax, and be receptive. Just let me know if you want to and maybe I would be able to distinguish some difference besides the chi flow I get just from relaxing and laying down. Your generosity is admirable.

[Michael Udel]

Kidney time is 5-7 PM

Dear Maxime:
I wanted to say earlier that while I understand the function of the ears compared to the function of the eyes, I do not understand the different functions of the heart/tongue compared with the spleen/mouth-lips. Can you clear this up for me?

Dear Toltec:
I would really like to practice my long distance qi sending with you because of your knowledge of qigong, previous Shaolin Cosmos Qigong recipients have shown excellent sensitivity and can provide useful feedback, and also because of your current symptoms. I have sent qi countless times, both face-to-face and long distance, and the method I use is completely safe. The only caveat is that the amount of qi may cause the beginning of, or the sudden acceleration of, the healing process. As I am sure you know (but others reading this may not), the healing process can have effects that are uncomfortable, painful, and unexpected, but all of which lead to a significant improvement. Because of your experience, I am confident that you will know how to handle any such development.

I am ready to begin any time. We just need to work out whether we'll do this publicly on the forum and discuss the results here, or just keep it private and use e-mail. Naturally, if you would like to discuss this on the forum and keep this thread going with results of our experiment, we can always keep any details private that you wish while sharing enough relevant data to make this interesting and useful for the readers. Please post a response or send me an e-mail to let me know what times of the day allow for you to sit/lie down for 20 minutes as you already mentioned.

I'm 13 hours ahead of you. Looking at this web site, our time coincidence is not the best. The healing effect works no matter what you're doing, with only a small variation, but it's best you know it's coming, especially the first time so you can get acclimated.

Best wishes,
Michael Udel
mike udel AT yahoo . com

[Maxime]

Hello Michael,

I do not understand the different functions of the heart/tongue compared with the spleen/mouth-lips. Can you clear this up for me?

I will try my best with my limited English.

Don't confuse yourself because of the close location of both the Heart and Spleen meridian endings. Don't confuse yourself because of the apparent similarity between mouth, lips and tongue.

1. The Heart is associated with the tongue

In the Classics, 'the tongue is the Mirror's Heart'. What does this mean? Despite the fact that the Heart meridian ends at the tip of the tongue (which is not a sufficient explanation, as others meridians also do), we should take into account the following two reasons:

- 'The Heart is the Seat of the Shen' (Spirit).
The Spirit can express itself by different means, one of them being by talk. Thus the tongue plays an important role in helping the Spirit to express itself. Heart, Shen and tongue are therefore interconnected.

- The Heart pumps blood. It spreads it all over the body. As the tongue is the most vascular muscle in the body, it has been associated with the Heart.

For those reasons, the Heart energetic conditions are shown on the tongue (especially the tip, ending of the Heart meridian). The whole tongue reveals a lot of information on the blood status too.

In case of disharmony:
Deficiency >>>>> pale tongue
Stagnation >>>>> purple or mauvish tongue
Perturbation of the Shen >>>>> aphasia, bad diction, stiff tongue


2. The Spleen is associated with the mouth and lips

The Spleen plays a major role in the production of Qi (Gu Qi) and Blood. Its function Yuan Hua does not begin in the abdomen, but right at the mouth. It is interesting to note that in Chinese Medicine the stomach system begins in the mouth and ends at the anus (it is a perspective to describe the energetic paradigm as opposed to the only structural paradigm). The Spleen produces the 'bright saliva' (Xian) to help, right at the beginning of the food assimilation process, the digestive functions. Thus the importance to chew slowly and mindfully, because saliva is already a step in the digestive process...thus the Qi production process...thus the Life maintaining process!

As the Spleen is a major actor in the digestive system, and this whole process starting with the assimilation of food...which begins by simply opening the mouth and lips to accept liquids and solids...hence, the mouth and lips are closely related to the Spleen system (whose meridian also ends in the mouth).

In case of disharmony:
Warped perceptions of flavours
Agueusia
Feeling of 'pasty' mouth

Hope that this short post helps you a little bit (? )

Warm regards,

Maxime

[Michael Udel]

Merci!

Thanks very much, Maxime. That helps a lot!

Best wishes,
Michael

[Toltec]

We can do most of this on the forum, I'm sure others are interested in hearing the results.

I was thinking that 7 pm would work the best for today. So according to that time chart you posted a link to, that would be Wed 3/22/2006 8:00 AM for you.

Is there anything else you need to know to make this successful?