Stop the Pathogens from Sinking Deeper into the Body - Part I
The Importance of the Lesser Yang
Chinese medicine system defines that we can be alive because there is Yang Qi, or vital forces available in our body. Yang Qi can be understood as reserved energies that we acquired from our parents (pre-natal energies), as well as the sunlight, air, water, food, and our environments (post-natal energies). According to the laws of physics, without disturbances from an outside source, fine and light substances float to the surface, and coarse and dense substances sink to the bottom. With a centrifugal force, light substances move to the center, while denser substances move outward in the radial direction.
Within our body, the fine substance is called Ying Qi, or Nutritive Qi. It is equivalent to the cells and nutrients carried in our blood vessels; the coarse substance is called Wei Qi, or Defensive Qi. It is equivalent to activated white blood cells that can move out of the blood vessels into our tissues to fight against pathogens. So even though the Nutritive and the Defensive are derived from the same origin and are only named differently according to their locations.
Life is only possible when opposite forces are incorporated into one entity to create the balances and dynamics that we call metabolism. In general, there are three pairs of opposite forces that maintain our wellbeing. These forces are not independent energies, or “elements” that can be separated from each other. They are also derived from the same origins, as the two ends of one rope, or the bright and dark side of our planet. Ideally, the more balanced and in harmony these forces are, the healthier we can be, but in nature we rarely observe such balances, if ever. Since our planet is perpetually moving in a force field and is constantly exposed to all kinds of known and unknown celestial forces as well as internal movements in the earth’s core, humans as the tiny creatures living on this infinitesimal planet are inevitably impacted by perpetual changes that unsettle our stability and balances. This might explain why we all become ill at certain stages of our lives, since our body has to adjust itself in order to return to its balanced state but is either unable to catch up or overreact.
The perpetual interplay of the opposite forces keeps life moving forward dynamically. Naturally, a Yang force is paired with a Yin force, and there are several ways of pairing them. Here is the most common way of pairing them: The first pair of forces is Taiyang (the Greater Yang) and Shaoyin (the Lesser Yin), which controls the hot and cold sensations of the body, as well as our circadian rhythms. The second pair is Yangming (Yang Brightness) and Taiyin (the Greater Yin), which controls the hydration and fluid circulation of the body. The last pair is Shaoyang (the Lesser Yang) and Jueyin (Ultimate Yin), which assists the transformation of forces in the body like a switch button.
As I mentioned previously, these pairs only represent one way of connection of these systems, since everything is literally lconnected with everything else within the body. By locating where the disease manifests in the body, a clinician is enabled to figure out which systems are affected and treat them accordingly.