Sources of Qi review

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All of the Qi in the body is collectively known as the Normal or Upright Qi

(zheng qi) or True Qi (zhen qi).

 

There are 3 sources of Upright/ Normal/ True Qi in the body: The Prenatal or

Original Qi (yuan qi) which one gets from the parents, the Qi from food

which is called Grain Qi (gu qi), and the Qi from air which is called Air Qi

(kong qi). Together these 3 mingle and form the Upright Qi, the general Qi.

 

This Upright Qi is then differntiated into different types of Qi. There are

Organ Qi, Meridian Qi, Protective Qi (Wei Qi), Nutritive Qi (Ying Qi), and

the Chest or Ancestral Qi (zong qi).

 

In an earlier post we saw how when a person is Deficient in Protective Qi

(which guards the body from infections and Pernicious Evils), it may not be

enough to just give an herb like astragalus which boosts Protective Qi. The

root of the Protective Qi may lie in Lung Qi Deficieny or in Kidney Yang

Deficiency. So you want to check on the Lungs and Kidneys in cases where

Protective Qi is Deficient. Or, the person may be Deficient in Protective Qi

because of long illness, advancing age, or a rotten diet.

 

Since all forms of Qi are formed from the Upright Qi which is formed by a

combination of Original Qi, Grain Qi, and Air Qi, in cases where a person is

Qi Deficient in general or Protective Qi Deficient in particular, you also

want to consider diet and the way the person is breathing.

 

Some people are Qi Deficient because their diets are lousy. In other people

the diet may be fine, but the person has Spleen and/or Stomach imbalances

which are preventing the person from being able to extract the Grain Qi from

the food. The Stomach ripens the food, and the Spleen extracts the Grain Qi

and carries it to the Lungs where it mixes with Air Qi. The Spleen and the

Lungs are the two most important organ systems when it comes to the

production of Qi. For this reason most herbs which are classified as Energy

Tonics or Qi Tonics (boost the amount of Qi in the body) work on the Lungs

and the Spleen.

 

Thus, we see that Deficient Lung Qi can be a snowballing situation. The

person lacks sufficient Qi in the Lungs which in turn causes the Lungs to be

able to extract even less Air Qi which in term leads to even more of a

Deficiency of Lung Qi and so on.

 

Another cause of Qi Deficiency can be poor breathing habits. Many

Westerners breathe from the chest instead of from the belly. See the

archieves for the post on a Hara breathing exercise. This exercise is easy

to do and is something that healers can teach easily to clients and it can

result in big changes for the better in terms of the person's energy levels

and overall health.

 

Whenever you find Qi Deficiency also check to see if Qi Stagnation is

present. If Qi Stagnation also is present, this will modify the treatment.

When both are present, you need to treat both. Otherwise, all that extra

energy from the Qi Tonic herbs will just dam up and cause more problems.

You want adequate Qi, and you want it flowing smoothly. Because of the

possibility of Qi Stagnation, herbalists often will include an herb for

Regulating Qi along with the Qi Tonic herb(s). Some examples of Qi

Regulating herbs are tangerine peel, nutgrass rhizome, chinaberry (slightly

toxic), costus root, betal husk, immature tangerine peel, aloe wood, and

sandalwood. Qi Stagnation may be present by itself (the person has enough

Qi, it just isn't flowing smoothly) or in conjunction with Qi Deficiency.

 

The Triple Warmer also plays a role in adequate Qi, so you want want to

check this meridian system as well in cases of Qi Deficieny.

 

Some examples of Qi Tonic herbs are astragalus, Rz Atractylodis

Macrocephalae, Rx Codonopsis (Dang Shen), Rx Dioscoreae Oppositae (Shan Yao

- wild yam), Ginseng, licorice root, solomonseal rhizome, and jujube.

 

Victoria

 

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