Shen+(Consciousness)

=excerpted from //**Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing**//.=

Shen is the name given to the most yang of the Five Spirits. This spirit personifies the fiery spark of conscious awareness. During our life, the shen is said to reside in the empty center of the heart from where it guides us along our path through life. Although it is invisible, the shen’s presence is reflected in the light that shines from the eyes of a healthy human being. In the presence of healthy shen, there is a luster and brightness to the disposition, a feeling of connection and awareness. Most of all, the presence of healthy shen results in a life that is uniquely suited to the individual and a person whose actions make sense within the context of the surrounding environment.
 * The shen spirit is related to:**
 * **Element**: fire
 * **Organ**: heart
 * **Emotion**: joy
 * **Psychological function**: awareness, inspiration, insight
 * **Psychospiritual issue**: knowing true self
 * **Cosmological associations**: starlight, lightning
 * **Chakra**: seventh - Thousand Petal Lotus: Enlightened Mind
 * **Alchemical virtues**: compassion and love

Signs and Symptoms of Shen Disturbance

 * ===**Common Symptoms**=== ||
 * * insomnia
 * dream disturbed sleep
 * anxiety
 * palpitations
 * inability to concentrate
 * timidity, being easily startled || * being overly talkative
 * forms of schizophrenic mania
 * incoherence
 * hyperactivity
 * restlessness ||

Spirit Level Signs
=Possible Causes= Anything that upsets the heart upsets the shen. Emotional trauma, shock, and abuse can cause a shen disturbance, as can recreational drugs such as cocaine, nicotine, and amphetamines.
 * lack of coherence to life; the person’s personality does not fit the life they are living
 * lack of inspiration and insight; deadness; no heart and soul to life
 * no sense of unique person with a unique path; ambivalence
 * much activity but no center, so activity turns to anxiety, restlessness, and eventually, fatigue
 * no ability to discern what is truly right for me
 * no self-reflection
 * inability to distinguish true from false, real from unreal
 * constitutional or “karmic” issues that are part of person’s work in this lifetime
 * narcissistic injuries: parents who couldn't see the child and consistently inhibited the expression of true nature

**What to Expect as You Heal and Cultivate the Shen**
As you become familiar with your shen, learn to recognize their voices, and understand their messages, you will notice changes in your life, such as:
 * better sleep and a sense of ease as you live in alignment with your true nature and cultivate your own authenticity,
 * more integrity and honesty in your relationships as you know and express who you really are and what you really want,
 * less time doing things that really don’t matter to you or being with people who really aren’t part of your Tao,
 * increased sense of your Tao or path so you are less easily distracted by extraneous events or tempted by dead end streets and convoluted alleyways,
 * a light or glow infusing your life with the magic of the heart,
 * an increase in illumination, intuition, and insight in your everyday life, guiding your decisions,
 * and a greater ease in loving as you can more clearly discern “I” from “thou” and appreciate the differences.

**Checking in with the Shen: A Practice for Healing**
“Checking in with your shen” is simple and yet easily forgotten, especially in the midst of emotional upset or the excitement of a new project. However, it is a good idea, any time you are beginning something important, entering a new relationship, or just starting out the day to take a moment to notice how the shen feel about what you are up to. This is actually not as mysterious as it may seem. Even without learning to meditate or to do inner visualizations, you can make it a practice to note how you feel when you think about a particular person or project. Are you relaxed, infused with steady, gentle warmth? Or are you jumpy and agitated? Is your excitement like the quick flash of a match (that will soon burn itself out), or is it a flame that glows steadily and grows as you continue to move along this path? You know your shen are disturbed if you experience anxiety or palpitations when you think of a particular person, project, or idea. If upsetting dreams disturb your sleep or if you can’t sleep, your shen are probably trying to tell you something. If you feel muddled and confused when you think about this issue. . . oops, you know the birds of clear awareness have flown the coop! Take some time out. Don’t move forward until you have clarity. Walk. Breathe. Get calm and wait until the shen have settled down before making any important decisions. Pay attention to the voices in your head. After a while, you may recognize one that is like a clear bell, not loud but somehow brighter than the others. This is the voice of the //shen//, the voice that organizes the others into a pattern that makes sense. This voice may come as a flash of intuitive knowing (“I don’t know how I knew to stop at the post office at just that moment!”) or of sudden insight (“I get it! That’s what I need to do to pull this party together.”), or as a gradually gathering clarification of an unclear situation. Avoid repeatedly returning to situations or relationships that you know disturb your emotions or your mental clarity. If you have had life experiences or used substances that have damaged or upset the //shen//, seek the help of a licensed, well-trained acupuncturist to help you clear the heart so your spirit birds can return to the nest. If you are taking prescription medication that makes you feel muddled, unclear, or lacking joy or a zest for life, you know that this medicine is affecting your heart spirit. Seek the assistance of a skilled acupuncturist or Chinese herbalist. With help, the shen can return to their original luminosity. If your practitioner suggests it, speak with your medical doctor to see if another medication is available or if it might be possible to lower the dosage of one you are on. Find a contemplative practice such as meditation, prayer, drawing, journal writing, or mindful walking in nature that will clear a space for the shen. In this tranquil quiet, you will be able to hear their voices. Take time to look in your own heart and your true identity will be illuminated by the light of your awareness. This is the practice of cultivating shen.

= = = = = = =excerpted from //**Shen: Psycho-emotional Aspects of Chinese Medicine**//= Activity of the consciousness, the thought and the speech

**CONSCIOUSNESS**
Disorders of consciousness generally result from an emptiness of heart Qi or, sometimes, of Yin

-BL-3, PC-7, GB-34 (if the body is strong, revealed by looks, pulse and brevity of course) -GB-13, HT-7, SP-6 (if the body is weak)
 * Confusion of Consciousness**: ex: patient who confuses dreams and reality, who thinks he knows something but at the same time feels like he doesn’t know it, who believes he is living in a dream. He likes to drink and smoke. Treatment involves giving up or reducing smoking and drinking

-GV-23->GV-24, HT-5, KI-1 (strong stimulation)
 * Stuporous Condition**, with Response only to strong stimuli: ex: woman following an argument with the husband would always sleep when he was at home. She wouldn’t even drink or go to the bathroom, whereas she would have normally when he was not there.

-GV-20, PC-9, KI-1 (in general) -GV-24, GV-25, PC-6, ST-36. Moxa (if patient is weak)
 * Lack of Response to Stimuli with Delirium and Confusion**: The heart Qi is dirty

-BL-5, BL-4, PC-7, BL-67
 * Disorders of the Consciousness and of the Self**: also refers to cases of double or multiple personality.

-GB-13->ST-8, HT-7, KI-4 (ten days w/ 2 our sessions per day, without stimulation)
 * Persecution Delirium:** ex: a young man never went out of home and refused to see friends because he thought that everyone knew his thoughts and intentions. The reason for this was that he had stolen something and no one knew it.

-GV-20, KI-2, PC-7, PC-9 (with bleeding)
 * Possession Delirium:** Emptiness of heart, gallbladder and spleen. This is more common among the elderly.

**THOUGHT**
Disorders of the thought belong to the heart, sometimes involving large intestine, bladder and fire of the stomach

-GB-9, GB-8, Yintang (with bleeding), LI-4, LR-3
 * Manic Thought:** Ideas follow one another and continuously change. The speaking never stops, ‘mouth and mind vie’

-GV-22->GV-23, GV-25 (upward), KI-1, Shi xuan + //Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan//
 * Slow Spirit:** ex: a woman was exhausted after having tended to her dying husband and after his death, she didn’t want to talk or participate in any activity.

-Si Shen Cong (with moxa), HT-7, LI-4, KI-4 (30 sessions) + //Bai Zi Yang Xin Wan// (also suggested for elderly people and children with mental retardation)
 * Poverty of Thought:** The mind feels empty, there are few reactions to external stimuli, it can be a depressive psychosis

-GV-20->GB-18, PC-7, KI-4 + //Yang Xin Tang// + //Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan//
 * Incoherent Thought:** Emptiness of heart Qi. ex: a university stuent keeps talking inconsistently, without any clear logic

-Si Shen Cong, GB-10->GB-11, HT-7, SP-6 (with moxa)
 * Convoluted Thought:** ex: patient talks in a confused manner, interrupting and repeating himself.

-GV-18->GB-19, SI-7, LR-5 (difficult to treat, may be better to leave needles in 3-7 days in conjunction with ‘mental therapies’)
 * Obsessive Thought:** This can also be an obsessive compulsive disorder, with reiterated actions such as continuously washing the hands or repeatedly checking whether the door is locked.

**Emptiness of Heart Qi and Gallbladder**
-GB-18->GB-17, SI-3, KI-3 + Gui Pi Tang
 * Incorrect Thoughts**: ex: a 12-year-old girl, quite bright and good at school, was convinced that her mother wanted to kill her.

-GV-20->GB-18, HT-7, KI-4
 * Delirious Thought:** Ideas that do not correspond to reality: patients believe in things that do not exist.

-+ BL-4
 * Delusion of Persecution**: ex: 25 y/o gir thought her mother wanted to kill her because she would tell her to dress more.

-+GB-9
 * Delusion of Grandeur:** ex: a man used to say that he was rich and graduated, really he was quite poor and little educated.

-+GB-15
 * Delusion of Guilt:** ex: man thinks it is his fault if it rains or if a friend is ill, therefore he believes it would be better if he died.

-+BL-8
 * Delusion of Reference:** ex: patients who think that everyone is talking about them, that the radio reveals their secrets or that fish swim away from them in disgust. These are difficult cases to treat.

-+GB-18
 * Delusion of Jealousy**: ex: 60-year-old man is convinced that his wife has many lovers and follows her everywhere.

-+SP-6
 * Eroto-manic Delusion:** ex: 24-year-old boy is very unattractive, has no education and does not have a job. Yet he is convinced that many women love him. One day he approaches a woman who had smiled to him, she hits him and he thinks it is a sign of her love.

-+SI-7
 * Hypochondriac Delusion:** ex: 50-year-old peasant is convinced that he has brain cancer and fatal lung and stomach diseases. He requests examinations in all the hospitals in Nanjing and spends all his money on medicines.

-+GB-17
 * Delusion of Denial:** ex: 36-year-old woman engineer had the feeling of becoming empty. She felt that her existence had no meaning, tat her husband was not her husband anymore and her children were no longer her children; she had tried to commit suicide more than once.

-+GB-6
 * Delusion of Interpretation:** ex: patient is convinced that men do not have two heads or two mouths because otherwise they would be constantly arguing.

-+GB-11
 * Genealogical Delusion:** ex: a student is convinced that his father is a stranger

**SPEECH**
The heart governs the speech, the vibration of the sound belongs to the lung, the root is the kidney.

-BL-7->GB-18, HT-5, KI-2
 * Mutism - Stagnation of Heart and Liver Qi:** ex: a child has stopped talking because he is continuously ill treated by his quarrelsome and violent parents.

-GV-18->GB-19, LI-11, ST-36 (10 daily sessions, 10 sessions in alternate days and 10 sessions every 2 weeks)
 * Echolalia, Echopraxia:** ex: 21-year-old boy would imitate gestures of every stranger and follow him even to the bathroom.

-GV-20, CV-23, HT-5, KI-3
 * Speech Difficulties, Stuttering:** ex: patient who had undergone a great shock