Love is Energy

I'm committed to increasing love in my life, not only my capacity to give love but to receive love as well. I got to thinking about love as energy. Everything is energy (Inner Constellation Truth #1--thank you, Einstein); therefore, love is energy. If I want to increase love, it seems like a good start to increase my feeling of being loved. I say this because love isn't only a mental construct, it involves action. I can type all these wonderful ideals in this blog article, but the energy of love will increase most when I drop into my heart and actually get the home fire burning. Generating love inside means we don't have to depend on others to give us love. We can be our own fuel for the fire, so to speak. When love is given, it is a gift (Thank you, wise friend, Penelope). We can't expect love, but we can give it, perhaps even unconditionally--to others and to ourselves.

Our heart rhythms can now be measured 8 feet from our body and when they are in coherence (a loving state) are shown to influence and entrain others' heart and brain rhythms when they come into our range. Kirlian photography produces a photographic image of electricity coming off the human body. When a person concentrates on the feeling of love, the electrical field surrounding the body more than doubles. Our hearts are the most powerful generators of energy. OK, OK, I'm in, I'm in (pun intended). How do we generate feelings of love from the inner constellation outward? Here are some of my favorite generating practices:

• simply breathe evenly into your heart center
• remember a time when you felt love and re-experience it in your mind and body
• Loving-Kindness practice - in a nutshell, this is a Buddhist practice that repeats the following statements toward oneself and then to people you love and those difficult ones:  "May you be happy; may you be healthy and strong, safe and protected, free from inner and outer harm; May you live in your world with ease."
• tell someone you love them
• smile
• recognize loving actions
• acknowledge loving actions
• calm the inner and outer critic by consciously sweetening your words
• make physical contact with someone 
• eat chocolate!
• generate warm and fuzzy feelings by reading the following IC blog articles on love: Do You Know How Loved You Are, "I Feel For You...I Think I Love You", Inner Constellation: A Personal Story, Oooo, La-La Provocative, Haloed Tree, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling...", "Bring Back That Loving Feeling...".
  
  Love is energy, go zap someone with your influence :)

Circulation Sex Constellation

Active Time:  7-9pm

Element: fire

Fundamental Principle: yin

Season: summer

Now that I have your attention :}, let’s dive into this week’s meridian, also called Pericardium Meridian. The Pericardium is the protective envelope of your heart and serves an important job of protecting the most vital muscle in your body. This meridian circulates the blood and works very closely with the heart, sending energy to the sexual organs as well as governing the mind and personal relationships. Disharmony in PC meridian can present as heart, blood and sexual organ dysfunctions. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the heart is believed to also store mental energy and many emotional or mental imbalances can be symptoms of upset to the PC meridian.

Pericardium is a yin meridian, most active between the hours of 7-9pm. Not surprisingly, PC is associated with the fire element. If you wish to trace this meridian, it’s easily done by starting with an open palm on the outside of your opposing nipple (sound racey enough?!) Travel up to your armpit and shoulder, down the inner arm to the inside of your elbow and then straight down the center of your wrist and off the middle finger. Do this on both sides of your body. An easy way to access the end point of the PC meridian is to tap on PC-9 on the inside nail bed of your middle finger (the side closest to your thumb).  I like including PC-9 in tapping algorithms for heart conditions, circulation issues, mental anguish, relationship problems, reproductive complications or sexual concerns. Consider tapping PC-9 to balance blood flow to your heart and sexual organs or whenever you desire a fiery boost!

Kidney Constellation

Kidney Meridian from schredo.com

Active Time: 5-7pm
Element: water
Fundamental Principle: yin
Season: winter

Kidney Meridian is next up in the constellation article series.  This cute diagram shows just how easy it is to trace Kidney Meridian (most active between 5-7pm). KI meridian starts at the ball of the foot, travels the inside of the ankle and straight up the body to KI-27. For those of you who tap, KI-27 is the collar bone point.

The kidneys are our disposal system, filtering waste from the blood and moving it onward to the bladder for excretion as urine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, kidney is considered the body's reservoir of essential energy. The kidney organ system also includes the adrenals which are thumb-sized glands that sit like little hats on top of the kidneys. They secrete essential hormones that regulate metabolism, immunity and sexual potency and can be damaged due to excess stress. Kidney meridian imbalances may present as diarrhea, constipation, back ache or pain in lower extremities, insomnia, extremes in energy such as restlessness or fatigue, excessive cold, shame and fear.

Kidney is associated with the element of water and is considered a yin meridian. I like to include KI-27 in almost all algorithms, especially related to any kind of physical pain. Roger Callahan, who developed meridian algorithms through diagnostic tests, saw KI-27 as an exclamation point to any recipe. It's especially potent in addressing any kind of trauma and is the go-to point upon emotional upset.

When KI meridian is flowing and operating at peak function, attributes such as wisdom, courage, clear perception, gentleness and self-understanding are experienced. So trace your KI meridian lovingly at the close of your day as evening settles, or thump K-27 to give yourself an infusion of energy.

Bladder Constellation

Active Time: 3-5pm
Element: water
Fundamental Principle: yang
Season: winter

A bladder is constellating, what now? Remember, still working on knocking down those 12 major meridians accessed in my Inner Constellation work. This is the fourth installment. If you missed the others, go to the Meridian Pathways tab at the top of the blog and catch up so your system can hum this weekend.

Bladder meridian is in charge of storing and eliminating fluid waste. It's extra special because it's the longest meridian in the body, beginning at the inside edge of each eye (remember, meridians are bilateral) and traveling over the top of the head where it's generous enough to visit the brain before continuing to the back of the neck. Here it splits into two branches; the inner one travels to the base of the neck and moves down, parallel with the spine. The other branch moves across the back of the shoulders and then parallels the inner branch, where they both run through the buttocks and knees, continuing down the back of the calves, circling the outer ankles, and finally (geez!) ending at the tip of the little toes. Unless you're a contortionist this one can present challenges to trace, but certainly give it a crack and send me pictures:) It's a yang meridian (probably due to all the huffing and puffing) and most active between the hours of 3-5pm. Its element is water--lovely, liquid bladder.

A pathway for tracing bladder meridian can be found at You Tube. It's a quick, 27 second video of the pathway. To activate by tracing, begin at the inner eyebrow and trace back. In the areas you're unable to reach, connect with your intention, reach back and keep tracing. BL-2 is the acupuncture point accessed in meridian tapping algorithms. It's located on the inside edge of the eyebrow. I love BL-2 for headaches and/or sinus congestion. Weakness in Bladder Meridian may be indicative of urinary disorders, runny nose, neck tension, lower-body pain and stiffness, including the spine and hips, knees and calves. Remember, I want to see those BL tracing meridian moves!

Poetry: The Soul Making Tool

Happy Saturday, IC peeps. I've made a decision to give the meridian constellation articles their own separate blog page (you'll notice the tab at the top of the blog, coming soon:). That way the content rich information can be enjoyed at a more digestible pace as I keep installing new ones through March. For purely selfish reasons, I can then intersperse the blog with creative inspiration. I'm too much in my head these days and need to drop down, down, down, into my writing space. The decision to do a creative piece today was inspired by the late poet, May Sarton (thank you, dear friend, Penelope, for turning me onto her). Here are a few quotes I read this week that got me itching to write creatively again:

"Once more poetry is for me the soul-making tool." Amen, sister!

"...when I am in a state of grace, when the deep channels are open...when I am both profoundly stirred and balanced, then poetry comes as a gift from a power beyond my will."  Sigh and goosebumps.

"The delights of a poet as I jotted them down turned out to be light, solitude, the natural world, love, time, creation itself." I feel a poem coming on, thank you May Sarton, you are a Master....

Movement of the Masters
©Karla Johnston, Inner Constellation.com

Lift, sink,

ebb, flow,

swirl, scoop

the energy.

Watch, guard,

examine, sever,

deflect, absorb

the weakness.

Close, open,

merge, stretch,

draw in, release

the breath.

Life is a dance;

beautiful, effortless when in the current.

Be not fooled by grace.

Complete attention is necessary.

Small Intestine Constellation

Active Time: 1-3pm
Element: fire
Fundamental Principle: yang
Season: summer

This is the third installment on the meridians used in my Inner Constellation work. The first article was entitled Spleen Constellation and the second, Heart Constellation. Today I'll highlight Small Intestine (SI) meridian. The small intestine separates the pure from the impure in regards to food, liquids, thoughts and beliefs. When the small intestine is healthy it's said to recognize and extract goodness from even the nastiest of environments or situations. I think of the SI meridian as the alchemy stream, where one can gain insight on extracting gold from dross.

Imbalances in SI meridian show up as disorders of the ears, eyes, throat, digestive system, habits of over eating, as well as certain mental illnesses. As much as ninety-five percent of the brain's mood regulating chemical, serotonin, is contained in the small intestine. It makes sense that we tend to feel strong emotions like fear and excitement deep in our gut.

SI meridian outline from etouchforhealth.com

SI meridian is a yang meridian associated with the element of fire and most active during the hours of 1-3pm. For a quick boost during this prime time it can be tapped most easily at SI-3, located along the outside edge of your palm. Give this area a few solid thumps with the fingertips of your opposite hand. SI-3 is also referred to as the Karate Chop point. It's the meaty part of your palm where you might "hi-ya!" a board if you felt so inclined :) You can also trace the SI meridian as part of a daily routine, beginning on the outside of your pinky finger and proceeding staight up the arm to the shoulder, dropping back on the scapula, across your neck and up to the checkbone to end at the opening of the ear.

SI-3 (Karate Chop) is the point used whenever one begins a tapping algorithm and is the point tapped when stating the set-up statement which defines the target for treatment. It's a vital point for literally tapping into the gut, seat of emotions and storehouse for the "feel good" chemical. SI-3 is a wonderful emergency point when someone feels overwhelmed. I've seen this point produce an immediate tranquilizing effect.

You might be noticing a method to my meridian tracing madness: Spleen Constellation (9-11a), traces to armpit, where Heart Constellation (11a-1p) then begins and traces to the pinky finger which is where Small Intestine (1-3p) Constellation begins. Connect your beautiful dots back through the articles if you need a refresher. Also, if you wish to shoot ahead, here's a link to a wonderful example of a YouTube Meridian Trace, beginning with Spleen, proceeding to Heart and Small Intestine and tracing the remaining nine meridians. For now, however, we're half-way through the day; next, the evening hours. TTFN.

Heart Constellation

Active Time:  11am-1pm
Element: fire
Fundamental Principle: yin
Season: summer

This is the second installment on the meridians used in my Inner Constellation work. The first article was on the Spleen Meridian. The week celebrating Valentine's Day seems the perfect opportunity to highlight the Heart (HT) Meridian. Interestingly, HT meridian consists of three branches. One travels to the small intestine, another runs upward past the tongue to just under the eye and the third branch crosses the chest and travels down the arm to end at the inside nail bed of the pinky finger. The heart is called "king" of all the organs and governs blood and pulse in addition to mind and spirit. The heart contains its own intelligence, with an electromagnetic current 45-70 times the amplitude of the brain. Our heart rhythms influence the brain waves of those within 8 feet of our center. Imbalances in HT meridian can often present as heart problems and symptoms such as dry throat, heart pain, palpitations, excessive thirst, pain in chest and forearm, yellow eyes and insomnia.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Heart meridian is a yin meridian associated with the element of fire and most active during the hours of 11am-1pm. This is an optimal time to work on HT meridian as part of a daily maintenance routine. For a quick boost it can be accessed at its end point, HT-9, located at the inside nail bed of the pinky finger. Tap on HT-9 for about seven seconds or consider tracing the Heart meridian in its entirety. The Heart constellation is a very easy path to trace--start at your armpit and follow down the medial or inner arm and off your little finger (palm facing up).

I often include HT meridian in algorithms I design targeting physical pain, speech impediments, circulation, insomnia, anger, grief or when releasing and letting go of something that no longer serves. Consider giving Heart meridian a little extra love this week for an especially happy and healthy Valentine's Day.