Shen and analysis

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Shen usually is translated as Spirit or Mind. It resides in the Heart.

 

I prefer to use the term " Shen " instead of the translations because this is

one of those TCM terms that has shades of meanings not covered by either of

the English words " Spirit " or " Mind " .

 

Maciocia gives 5 functions which are affected by the state of the Heart and

Shen: " Mental activity (including emotions), Consciousness, Memory,

Thinking, and Sleep. " (Foundations of , p. 72)

 

The Heart and Shen are not the only things which can affect these 5

functions. For example, the Gall Bladder can affect sleep, the Kidneys and

affect memory, and so on. But, disturbances in this complex often will

point to Heart and Shen imbalances. When students are learning to analyze

case studies, there are certain key symptoms that will suggest which Systems

to look at first. For example, sore back (especially sore lower back), weak

and sore knees, problems with the teeth, problems with the bones, problems

with the ears and/or hearing, changes in libido, and abnormal urination will

suggest that there is a Kidney imbalance. If breathing problems are

particularly marked or the person is prone to catching infections or can't

heal very quickly, suspect Lung imbalance. If the person is angry a lot or

has problems with the eyes and/or vision, suspect Liver imbalance.

Fundamental problems with digestion suggest Spleen and/or Stomach

involvement. Etc.

 

This does not mean that a sore back always is caused by Kidney imbalance or

that eye/vision problems always have a Root of Liver involvement or that any

of the other correspondences hold. It means that these are the most likely

correspondences, not that these symptoms can't be caused by other

imbalances. They give healers a starting point to start analyzing. The

healer then either rules in or rules out particular System involvement. For

example, excessive appetite in the vast majority of cases will point to Heat

in the Stomach. However, there are cases where Liver Invading Stomach can

cause this or Cold Stomach can be the Root of the excessive appetite.

 

Suspect and rule in or out Heart, Pericardium, and/or Shen problems in cases

where there are disturbances in thinking, generalized disturbances in

emotions (especially on the manic-depressive (bi-polar) scale),

palpatations, loss of consciousness, inability to bond with others, " cloudy

senses " , " brain fog " , perception problems (including depth-perception

problems), sleep and dream disturbances, and some speech problems.

 

This does not mean that these problems can't be due to an imbalance in

another System. For example many of these symptoms also can come from Liver

involvement. And, many of these symptoms can have a factor of Blood

imbalance. It means that these correspondences are most likely to involve a

Heart and/or Shen imbalance. The more of these symptoms that are present,

the more likely there is Heart and/or Shen imbalance. For example, in the

case of sleep disturbance, if a majority of symptoms point to Heart

imbalance, the sleep disturbance probably has a Root of Heart imbalance.

If, however, the majority of symptoms point to Liver involvment, the sleep

disturbance probably has a Root of Liver imbalance. Or, there may be both

Heart and Liver involvement. Also, there will be differences in the type of

sleep disturbance depending on if it's Heart or Liver involvement. But this

is getting into analysis more advanced than I want to at this point. For

those new to TCM, just remember to automatically suspect Heart and/or Shen

involvement when there are disturbances in mental activity (including

emotions), consciousness, memory, thinking, and sleep. As you become more

familiar with TCM you'll be able to rule Heart/ Shen involvement in or out.

But for the time being, just suspect Heart/Shen involvement when there is a

cluster of these types of symptoms.

 

The Heart houses the Shen. Shen resides in the Heart. The condition of the

Shen will depend very much on the condition of the Heart. Think of the

analogy of your living in your home. When your home is clean and neat and

in good repair, you tend to feel more upbeat than when it's a pigpen or

falling down around you. Something similar happens with the Heart and Shen.

When the Heart is in balance, the Shen tends to be in balance. The

emotions are even, the thinking is clear, and the sleep is deep and

refreshing.

 

The state of the Shen also is very dependent on the state of the Heart Yin

and Heart Blood. When Heart Blood is Deficient, the Shen " is deprived of

its 'residence'. " (Maciocia, p. 205) Think of the analogy of your not

staying in your home if the water isn't running or the power isn't on or the

bathroom doesn't work. It's not a comfortable place to live. You tend to

want to leave your home under those conditions. Maciocia also says that

it's not possible to have Heart Yin Deficiency without having Heart Blood

Deficiency.

 

Maciocia also says that the two main functions of the Heart is housing the

Shen and governing the Blood, and these are " complementary functions " . (p.

201) If the Heart Blood and Yin are in good shape, the Shen is happy in

residence and the person will be happy, cheerful, mentally alert, etc. If

the Heart Blood and Yin are Deficient, the Shen is impacted and the person

will be depressed, muddle-headed, etc. The Heart Blood and Yin Deficiency

can cause a person to be depressed. But, TCM also recognizes that if Shen

is assaulted by emotional upsets, this can trigger Heart Blood and Yin

Deficiency. It's another of those snowballing situations that you see so

often in TCM.

 

Maciocia reports that it is possible to improve the mental functioning of

slow-to-learn children by tonifying the Heart.

 

Heart imbalances often are linked to some of the most severe mental

illnesses. This occurs when Phlegm Masks the Orifices of the Heart. One

rarely sees severe mental illness without seeing severe physical problems.

The Root of the mental symptoms also is the Root of the physical symptoms.

 

Shen, Jing, and Qi are called the Three Vital Treasures in TCM. Shen

resides in the Heart, the Kidneys store Jing, and the Spleen and Lungs are

the systems most responsible for Qi. (The Spleen extracts the Qi from food

and transports it to the Lungs where it mixes with the Qi the Lungs

extracted from the air.)

 

Victoria

 

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