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The Body Clock in Traditional Chinese Medicine
Understanding Our Energy Cycles for Health and Healing
Published by Earthdancer Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
A reference guide to understanding the natural rhythm of our organs and learning to support them in a holistic way
• Explains the Organ Body Clock from Traditional Chinese Medicine and which organs and meridians are dominant during different hours of the day
• Describes exactly what happens inside the body during each organ’s active time and shows what we can do to support the organs with plant medicine, homeopathy, our behavior, and simple daily practices
• Explores the mental and emotional states each organ is related to and their connections to the teeth, the other organs, and the Five Elements of TCM
All of our organs are energetically interconnected. They each have regular rest and active cycles throughout the day, with different organs becoming dominant at different hours. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is known as the Organ Body Clock.
In this accessible guide to the body clock in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the author shows how to support the body’s natural rhythms of activity, recognize the body’s signals of imbalance and find their sources, and achieve healing on the physical and energetic levels. He explains how the body clock can provide deep insight into our physical and energetic health. For example, if we always wake up at a certain time at night, we should look up which organ is associated with that time, which will lead us to discover the part of our body that needs special attention and help. The author explores the 12 major organs of the body, describing their active and rest hours, their function inside the body, the mental and emotional states they are related to, and their connections to the teeth, the other organs, and the Five Elements of TCM. The author describes exactly what happens inside the body during each organ’s active time and shows what we can do to support the organs with plant medicine, homeopathy, our behavior, and simple daily practices.
By working with the body clock and better understanding our bodies’ rhythms, we more easily trace our ailments and conditions to their source for faster relief, sustainable healing, and energetic balance.
• Explains the Organ Body Clock from Traditional Chinese Medicine and which organs and meridians are dominant during different hours of the day
• Describes exactly what happens inside the body during each organ’s active time and shows what we can do to support the organs with plant medicine, homeopathy, our behavior, and simple daily practices
• Explores the mental and emotional states each organ is related to and their connections to the teeth, the other organs, and the Five Elements of TCM
All of our organs are energetically interconnected. They each have regular rest and active cycles throughout the day, with different organs becoming dominant at different hours. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is known as the Organ Body Clock.
In this accessible guide to the body clock in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the author shows how to support the body’s natural rhythms of activity, recognize the body’s signals of imbalance and find their sources, and achieve healing on the physical and energetic levels. He explains how the body clock can provide deep insight into our physical and energetic health. For example, if we always wake up at a certain time at night, we should look up which organ is associated with that time, which will lead us to discover the part of our body that needs special attention and help. The author explores the 12 major organs of the body, describing their active and rest hours, their function inside the body, the mental and emotional states they are related to, and their connections to the teeth, the other organs, and the Five Elements of TCM. The author describes exactly what happens inside the body during each organ’s active time and shows what we can do to support the organs with plant medicine, homeopathy, our behavior, and simple daily practices.
By working with the body clock and better understanding our bodies’ rhythms, we more easily trace our ailments and conditions to their source for faster relief, sustainable healing, and energetic balance.
Excerpt
Spleen and pancreas: Thinking and relationships
Organ time
9am to 11am strongest activity
9pm to 11pm weakest activity
The spleen and pancreas are considered to be a unit. They are powerful representatives of the body’s core and are closely connected with the development of an individual’s personality (which, however, can only begin when a person can draw a line between the self and the outside world). On a physical level, the immune system helps us to distinguish between “me” and “not me.” The spleen protects what is within us and is a powerful barricade against intruding foreign bodies, making it one of the most important organs in the immune system. The spleen’s primary function is to monitor the quality of every red blood cell, and any red blood cells that are over 120 days old or have become unstable are broken down. New blood is formed after this purification process and the hemoglobin freed up is sent to the liver, which uses it to create bilirubin. Previously life-giving red blood is transformed in the liver into a viscous, bitter greenish liquid that is passed to the gall bladder in a unique metamorphosis that illustrates clearly the close link between the spleen and the biliary system.
When people are unable to establish a boundary between themselves and outside influences, they can be overcome by sensations, resulting in a sense of mental defenselessness. By the same token, some people are capable of shutting themselves off from the outside world entirely, becoming willful or developing autistic tendencies. Such people have no emotional contact with others and become wrapped up within themselves and shut off from the outside world. Numerous studies have shown that use of the hormone secretin, which stimulates the pancreas, may help many autistic people.
Quality: thinking
The spleen and pancreas are able to pick up impressions and thoughts in order for them to be recast and incorporated into something that is all our own. For the body, this means creating the tiniest elements of proteins from a piece of meat and constructing the body’s own cells from these. For the mind, it means developing your own opinion or conviction from input received from elsewhere. Given our dietary habits and society’s emphasis on the cerebral, the spleen and pancreas are an extremely overworked organ system. Our diet is generally too cold, too heavy, too fatty, and too carbohydrate-based. Overall, we eat too much, too quickly, too late in the day, and without enough control, placing an excessive burden on the spleen and pancreas in the same way that constant intellectual effort does.
Quality: relationships
As mentioned earlier, the spleen and pancreas are controlled (along with the stomach) via the neural node at the solar plexus. This area is also known as the third chakra and is the seat of our personality.
Every relationship, whether personal or professional, will invariably also possess an emotional quality. We consciously (and indeed, unconsciously) maintain emotional contact with others via the solar plexus, thereby an ability to enter into a relationship can be traced back to the activity of stomach, spleen, and pancreas.
Sensory organs
The condition of your lips is connected with the strength of your spleen and pancreas. Dry lips are always a sign of weakness in these two organs. Spending your whole life moistening your lips is clearly not the best option and it would make more sense to check your spleen and pancreas, activating them if necessary.
Links to other organs
The spleen and pancreas have a physiological connection to the small intestine and colon, the digestive organs that are next in line. As discussed, the spleen is also considered the source of bile and thus maintains very close contact with the liver. The pancreas is part of a chain of glands consisting of the parotid gland, the pancreas, and the gonads (ovaries or testes).
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus presents as Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. In Type 1, the pancreas stops producing insulin, and conventional medicine categorizes this as an autoimmune illness. Type 2 diabetes, also known as “adult onset diabetes” or “metabolic syndrome,” is the result of a lifestyle that is not “right for our species.” Long periods of stress or too much stress, too many quick-release carbohydrates, and too little exercise are the decisive factors that result in this very common disease.
The trigger factors for metabolic syndrome play a key role in its treatment. Diet, exercise, and relaxation are the main pillars of any therapy. Individual dietary therapy with the “healthy & active” program I developed 13 years ago is the most important component in the treatment of diabetes. Decisions about additional treatment with herbal or homeopathic remedies are made based on the results of comprehensive physical and metabolic analysis drawn from at least 64 lab test results.
What else happens in the body between 9am and 11am?
The body is extremely resilient during this period, which is why it is a good time for surgical operations or X-rays. Wound healing also takes place at a faster rate. The short-term memory is at its most receptive and overall mental learning abilities are at their highest.
What is good for the spleen and pancreas?
Activities and situations benefiting the solar plexus include visiting friends, a kind word, a flattering gesture, together with confirmation, praise, and recognition. Anything that helps us identify our path to our inner purpose is good for the spleen and pancreas.
Mother tincture of chicory (Ceres Cichorium intybus) is a remedy often prescribed in my practice; it lifts us out of over-thinking yesterday and tomorrow and positions us clearly in the moment, in the here and now. Chicory helps us to make decisions and find clarity and focus on what is essential. It assists us along our path to our inner purpose, our inner self.
Organ time
9am to 11am strongest activity
9pm to 11pm weakest activity
The spleen and pancreas are considered to be a unit. They are powerful representatives of the body’s core and are closely connected with the development of an individual’s personality (which, however, can only begin when a person can draw a line between the self and the outside world). On a physical level, the immune system helps us to distinguish between “me” and “not me.” The spleen protects what is within us and is a powerful barricade against intruding foreign bodies, making it one of the most important organs in the immune system. The spleen’s primary function is to monitor the quality of every red blood cell, and any red blood cells that are over 120 days old or have become unstable are broken down. New blood is formed after this purification process and the hemoglobin freed up is sent to the liver, which uses it to create bilirubin. Previously life-giving red blood is transformed in the liver into a viscous, bitter greenish liquid that is passed to the gall bladder in a unique metamorphosis that illustrates clearly the close link between the spleen and the biliary system.
When people are unable to establish a boundary between themselves and outside influences, they can be overcome by sensations, resulting in a sense of mental defenselessness. By the same token, some people are capable of shutting themselves off from the outside world entirely, becoming willful or developing autistic tendencies. Such people have no emotional contact with others and become wrapped up within themselves and shut off from the outside world. Numerous studies have shown that use of the hormone secretin, which stimulates the pancreas, may help many autistic people.
Quality: thinking
The spleen and pancreas are able to pick up impressions and thoughts in order for them to be recast and incorporated into something that is all our own. For the body, this means creating the tiniest elements of proteins from a piece of meat and constructing the body’s own cells from these. For the mind, it means developing your own opinion or conviction from input received from elsewhere. Given our dietary habits and society’s emphasis on the cerebral, the spleen and pancreas are an extremely overworked organ system. Our diet is generally too cold, too heavy, too fatty, and too carbohydrate-based. Overall, we eat too much, too quickly, too late in the day, and without enough control, placing an excessive burden on the spleen and pancreas in the same way that constant intellectual effort does.
Quality: relationships
As mentioned earlier, the spleen and pancreas are controlled (along with the stomach) via the neural node at the solar plexus. This area is also known as the third chakra and is the seat of our personality.
Every relationship, whether personal or professional, will invariably also possess an emotional quality. We consciously (and indeed, unconsciously) maintain emotional contact with others via the solar plexus, thereby an ability to enter into a relationship can be traced back to the activity of stomach, spleen, and pancreas.
Sensory organs
The condition of your lips is connected with the strength of your spleen and pancreas. Dry lips are always a sign of weakness in these two organs. Spending your whole life moistening your lips is clearly not the best option and it would make more sense to check your spleen and pancreas, activating them if necessary.
Links to other organs
The spleen and pancreas have a physiological connection to the small intestine and colon, the digestive organs that are next in line. As discussed, the spleen is also considered the source of bile and thus maintains very close contact with the liver. The pancreas is part of a chain of glands consisting of the parotid gland, the pancreas, and the gonads (ovaries or testes).
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus presents as Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. In Type 1, the pancreas stops producing insulin, and conventional medicine categorizes this as an autoimmune illness. Type 2 diabetes, also known as “adult onset diabetes” or “metabolic syndrome,” is the result of a lifestyle that is not “right for our species.” Long periods of stress or too much stress, too many quick-release carbohydrates, and too little exercise are the decisive factors that result in this very common disease.
The trigger factors for metabolic syndrome play a key role in its treatment. Diet, exercise, and relaxation are the main pillars of any therapy. Individual dietary therapy with the “healthy & active” program I developed 13 years ago is the most important component in the treatment of diabetes. Decisions about additional treatment with herbal or homeopathic remedies are made based on the results of comprehensive physical and metabolic analysis drawn from at least 64 lab test results.
What else happens in the body between 9am and 11am?
The body is extremely resilient during this period, which is why it is a good time for surgical operations or X-rays. Wound healing also takes place at a faster rate. The short-term memory is at its most receptive and overall mental learning abilities are at their highest.
What is good for the spleen and pancreas?
Activities and situations benefiting the solar plexus include visiting friends, a kind word, a flattering gesture, together with confirmation, praise, and recognition. Anything that helps us identify our path to our inner purpose is good for the spleen and pancreas.
Mother tincture of chicory (Ceres Cichorium intybus) is a remedy often prescribed in my practice; it lifts us out of over-thinking yesterday and tomorrow and positions us clearly in the moment, in the here and now. Chicory helps us to make decisions and find clarity and focus on what is essential. It assists us along our path to our inner purpose, our inner self.
Product Details
- Publisher: Earthdancer Books (March 3, 2020)
- Length: 128 pages
- ISBN13: 9781644110379
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