Swallowing phlegm

[Guest guest]

Grim way to start the day, eh? But an acquaintance of mine is seeing an

acupuncturist (Chinese from Vietnam) for, among other things, lung issues

(partly derived from exposure to contaminated air around 9/11). This

acupuncturist told him that one should not bring up and spit out expectorated

phlegm, but should swallow it, as it aids in the stomach digestion. Otherwise,

if one does not, the lungs will produce more liquid and it will take longer to

get better.

 

This triggered a vague memory of something like this that I'd heard in the past,

but I can't exactly recall the context, whether some kind of qi gong practice or

what have you.

Does anyone have any idea where this could come from?

 

Naturally a google may alert you that this discussion has indeed fluttered

around the nets for a while (what hasn't?) But I don't see a resolution.

 

Anybody got some (ahem) clarity?

 

ann

[Guest guest]

I remember that when we studied qi gong in school, we learned exercises for

each of the 5 phases/elements, and the SP exercise involved swallowing

saliva, the fluid of the Spleen. However, saliva is a normal physiological

fluid, while phlegm is pathological, thus it seems a little odd that a

pathological fluid would be seen as serving any healthful purpose in the

body.

 

On Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 9:49 AM, A. Brameier <snakeoil.workswrote:

 

>

>

> Grim way to start the day, eh? But an acquaintance of mine is seeing an

> acupuncturist (Chinese from Vietnam) for, among other things, lung issues

> (partly derived from exposure to contaminated air around 9/11). This

> acupuncturist told him that one should not bring up and spit out

> expectorated phlegm, but should swallow it, as it aids in the stomach

> digestion. Otherwise, if one does not, the lungs will produce more liquid

> and it will take longer to get better.

>

> This triggered a vague memory of something like this that I'd heard in the

> past, but I can't exactly recall the context, whether some kind of qi gong

> practice or what have you.

> Does anyone have any idea where this could come from?

>

> Naturally a google may alert you that this discussion has indeed fluttered

> around the nets for a while (what hasn't?) But I don't see a resolution.

>

> Anybody got some (ahem) clarity?

>

> ann

>

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

hi Sara,

thanks for the comment. That is in line w/ a practice I recall from some qi gong

instruction. I would tend to agree w/ your comment re saliva vs. phlegm.

You'd think on this list there'd be lots of folks who might have been exposed to

this idea... if it had any prevalence at all.

 

Let's see what others might say...

ann

 

On Apr 15, 2010, at 12:28 PM, Sara Anllo wrote:

 

> I remember that when we studied qi gong in school, we learned exercises for

> each of the 5 phases/elements, and the SP exercise involved swallowing

> saliva, the fluid of the Spleen. However, saliva is a normal physiological

> fluid, while phlegm is pathological, thus it seems a little odd that a

> pathological fluid would be seen as serving any healthful purpose in the

> body.

>

> On Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 9:49 AM, A. Brameier

<snakeoil.workswrote:

>

> >

> >

> > Grim way to start the day, eh? But an acquaintance of mine is seeing an

> > acupuncturist (Chinese from Vietnam) for, among other things, lung issues

> > (partly derived from exposure to contaminated air around 9/11). This

> > acupuncturist told him that one should not bring up and spit out

> > expectorated phlegm, but should swallow it, as it aids in the stomach

> > digestion. Otherwise, if one does not, the lungs will produce more liquid

> > and it will take longer to get better.

> >

> > This triggered a vague memory of something like this that I'd heard in the

> > past, but I can't exactly recall the context, whether some kind of qi gong

> > practice or what have you.

> > Does anyone have any idea where this could come from?

> >

> > Naturally a google may alert you that this discussion has indeed fluttered

> > around the nets for a while (what hasn't?) But I don't see a resolution.

> >

> > Anybody got some (ahem) clarity?

> >

> > ann

> >

> >

>

>