What can BodyTalk help - Module 2

9. Lymphatic

a. Linking the zygoma to the lymph glands of the neck, sub-clavicular area, breast, splenic sub diaphram area, abdomen, groin.

In many people the lymph system has become dangerously sluggish and it needs to be "spring cleaned." Very often the lymph ducts become blocked and the lymph just accumulates in the tissues. This means that the waste products are not eliminated from the cells effectively and the cells will start malfunctioning. This will also set up a breeding ground for infection and local decay of the cells.

This is particularly important in women in the pelvis. When the lymphatic system becomes sluggish, the circulation of estrogen is impaired and the reproductive system does not drain properly. Common symptoms are pelvic congestion and endometriosis, ovarian cysts and ovarian malfunction, period pain, irregular and abnormal periods, the formation of adhesions around the uterus that can lead to painful sex and bowel irritations. 

When the lymphatic drainage of the diaphragm is impaired, the lungs and heart will drain poorly leading to chronic lung weaknesses and congestion of the heart.

Once the major lymph ducts have become impaired, the whole lymphatic system is compromised and circulation throughout the body is reduced and sluggish. Fluid accumulates and the health deteriorates.

The BodyTalk system provides a simple system to induce the body to clear the lymphatic system.

Case history: Jan had history of breast swelling and tenderness in the period between ovulation and her menstrual flow, which was also painful and heavy. Eventually, she was noticing the formation of enlarged lymph nodes. Her medical checks determined that they were not malignant but the doctor suggested removing them as a precaution. He explained that this would simply remove the lumps but not solve her problem with swelling and tenderness.

10. Non specific organs and body parts

a. Linking the sense organs [eyes, ears, nose, mouth], hair, teeth, throat, breasts, diaphragm, skin, internal connective tissue, uterus, prostate, genitals, buttocks, and nails.

In this section links are found to all the other systems and body parts beyond the organs and endocrines. These connections give the innate wisdom a much greater variety of links available to it for balancing the body. This is a fascinating section of BodyTalk because we see links that are not always explainable from current traditional knowledge. 

In my own research, I try to understand the nature of the link in relation to the symptoms of the patient. Many times I can explain them with conventional physiology, on other occasions I need Chinese medical philosophy to find an explanation. In other cases, bioenergetic psychology provides the answer. In many other cases, I am still looking for explanations. 

One of the more fascinating linking system involves cases where a body part such as the knee is linked to an organ or endocrine. For example, the patient may have a link between the kidneys and the knee. Further analysis shows that the patient has a history of reoccurring kidney problems linked to emotional stresses particularly relating to fear of life and the patient"s ability to cope with their current life situation.

By combining a knowledge of Chinese philosophy and bioenergetic psychology, the explanation of this and other links to different organs become obvious. As an example, I will give you an explanation of the workings and relationships of four of the main joints of the body from this perspective.

I am the Elbow

You may think that I am only here to enable you to bend your arm. I do much more than that. My state of health is a reflection of the state of health physically and mentally of many areas of the body. I can, therefore, tell you a great deal about yourself. 

Six meridians (acupuncture energy channels) flow through me. The meridians of the lung, pericardium, and heart flow along my inner aspect. The outer aspect is controlled by the meridians of the colon, triple heater, and small intestine. When certain attributes of these meridians are dysfunctional because of things you do, it will reflect in my well-being.

The inside meridians are Yin meridians and the dysfunctional aspects which relate to me are negative reactive tendencies, poor adaptability (lung), inability to protect and nurture the heart emotionally (pericardium), restricted awareness of life, sadness or depression (heart). When any of these aspects are unbalanced, I will often give you a sign (symptom) along the inside of my arm. 

The outside meridians are Yang meridians and relate to the psychological concepts of being intellectually over-challenged, inability to differentiate good/bad, right/wrong (small intestine), letting go and forgiveness (colon). 

The small intestine separates the good, nutritious elements of our food and absorbs them into the blood stream. The waste products then move on to the colon. Psychologically, the small intestine relates to our intellect and, in particular, to our ability to differentiate good and bad, right and wrong in life. (The intellectual process could be defined as a processing of information with discernment between what is useful and what isn"t.) A malfunctioning small intestine can impair our intellectual ability to judge life in a positive way. We tend to develop negative belief systems and attitudes and our clarity of thought is muddied. Conversely, long-term poor judgment and negative thinking will impair the function of the small intestine and its ability to extract the good nutrients and pass on the waste. When this occurs, even a good diet will be poorly metabolized. Symptomatically, this will reflect in pain and tenderness on the outside aspect of the elbow.

The waste food products from the small intestine pass down to the colon for elimination. The colon is one of the main organs responsible for eliminating waste from our body. Psychologically, our ability or inability to eliminate waste from our body reflects our ability to eliminate the waste parts of our life. Our inability to forgive others and ourselves for things that have happened in our lives, gives rise to functional disturbances of the colon. People who refuse to forgive themselves, or others, because of some negative (wasted) event, will end up with chronic bowel problems. Similarly, our ability to "let go to the process of life" is also reflected in the health of our bowel. We see people who are unable to "go with the flow" ending up with chronic constipation or problems relating to irritable bowel syndrome. Conversely, people going through a life crisis who feel they are losing control of their lives, often find the "bottom falls out of their life" and they develop diarrhea. 

Not "flowing with life" and struggling against that flow is one of the most common causes of chronic elbow problems. The so-called "tennis elbow" which does not quickly responded to treatment, is often related to a chronic bowel problem. Very often, effective treatment involves physically treating the colon or counseling the patient on the concepts of letting go and forgiveness. Local symptomatic treatment of the elbow will prove ineffective in the long term unless the underlying causes are treated. 

When the "tennis elbow" is also associated with chronic constipation, dramatic relief can often be forthcoming with colonic irrigation. Observation often shows the etiology of a "tennis elbow" being that of repetitive movement. This also fits into the picture. Constant repetitive movement will eventually be interpreted by the mind as a chronic tendency to be inflexible in life or "in a rut." Hence, the body will eventually send us a symptom to say that we are loosing our spontaneity in the form of elbow inflexibility. 

Chiropractors have often had good results treating "tennis elbow" by mobilizing the spine and muscles in the neck. Biomechanically this will free the nerve supply to the elbow. Energically it will encourage energy flow down the arm. Psychologically the neck, if tense, reflects rigidity in attitude. By mobilizing this rigidity, the patient is more able to let go generally. This, in turn, will promote the eventual correction of the elbow symptom.

The key word for the elbow is flexibility. Our elbows reflect our flexibility to life. An ability to adapt and be spontaneous without getting bogged down and constipated by life. The more flexible we are, the more we are able to flow with life, forgive, differentiate right and wrong, intellectually process life, and adapt to our surroundings. If our elbows are losing their flexibility through pain, swelling, arthritis or injury, then we are being told to look at those aspects of our life relating to flexibility. 

I am the knee

I allow you the flexibility to bend down and move around. I am controlled primarily by your kidney energies. The kidney energies relate to fear and willpower.

I have always been a strong metaphor for you in your life. I represent your willpower. When, as a child, you wanted to summon your willpower in defiance, you would lock your knees. You learned the metaphor of bending you knees in submission to your God, your leader or your victor. When you have issues around your willpower, they will reflect in disturbances in my function.

You use willpower to help overcome fear—the other energy of the kidneys. These two opposing forces within the kidneys represent the two opposing forces of the fire and water balance in the dualistic yang/yin functions of the kidneys.

When you experience extreme fear, your knees will go weak. Fortunately, that doesn"t happen too often in modern society. Something else happens though, that can be more destructive because of its insidious nature. In modern society, the biggest fear is the fear of coping. Fear of coping with money, work, your relationships, your health, etc. When you live with this kind of fear, I will be weakened and prone to injury. If it is prolonged over a long time and is coupled with weakened willpower to overcome the fear, then my brain will strengthen me by making me inflexible and rigid. You will call this arthritis.

The inner side of me is controlled by the spleen/pancreas. So if you hurt my medial ligaments, then you are worrying about something you are not coping with. (The spleen/pancreas controls worry.)

My outer side is controlled by the gall bladder so if you injure that part, you are fearful of making a decision about something.

The cruciate ligament deep inside my center relates to the deepest aspect of willpower — the will to survive. When I am injured, you are usually deeply questioning aspects of your very life and existence. This does not mean you are suicidal, just that you are deeply questioning your life, its direction, and your will to follow through and do what needs to be done in your life.

The bladder controls the back of me. The bladder meridian profoundly influences the central nervous system and activity. When that part of me is injured, it usually relates to your allowing your willpower to become over controlled by your nervous system. You become rigid, inflexible and fearful underneath. You "stand up" for yourself in too reactive a way. 

If your hamstrings are also involved, the colon (letting go) controls them. That means that your are fearful of letting go of the "stance" you are taking—to your detriment. Usually, I start aching in the back when you are going through a period of your life when your beliefs are being challenged and you are afraid to let go of them.

Once again, the BodyTalk treatment for correcting these important functions is simple.

I am the wrist

I am a complex character because I have such close ties to the hand which is the most complex and expressive part of the body. I have to be very flexible and mobile so I have eight small bones to give me that incredible flexibility and precision of movement.

I actually need a lot of intelligence to do that, so it is little wonder that the stomach primarily controls me. The stomach represents the conscious mind. (You think with your stomach.) When you start thinking too much and especially when your thinking becomes rigid and narrow-minded, then I become rigid. When your mind is unwilling to reach out to the world with open flexibility, then I will tighten up and restrict the movement in your hands. Your hands will start to withdraw and contract. You will call this "carpal tunnel."

If you can"t "stomach" your life and what is happening around you, then you will start having indigestion and I will ache and degenerate. If you have powerful ideas that aren"t being expressed, then I will store them in ganglions. When you overwork your brain and strain your eyes (an aspect of which is also controlled by the stomach) such as you do on a computer, I will get sore. You will call it "repetitive strain injury." This is funny because there are many other activities that will strain your wrist, only the injury doesn"t happen because you aren"t working your conscious mind, which is what really agitates me.

The colon and lungs control that part of me near the base of the thumb. The lungs relate to stored or over-reactive grief. The colon is the organ of letting go (see - the elbow). So when I hurt there, it usually means there is some kind of grief in your life that you are not letting go of.

The outside of me, near the little finger, is controlled by the small intestine. The small intestine is smarter than the stomach (conscious mind). It relates directly to our intellect at the highest level. Recent discoveries in neurophysiology show that there are large amounts of brain peptides in the linings of the small intestine. (But then I don"t need science to tell me that.)

The small intestine processes food by extracting the good and letting the bad pass on to the colon. The intellect processes thoughts into good (useful) and bad (useless). It discerns and discards. Interestingly, the main brain peptides found in the small intestine are related to the limbic system of the brain where emotions are processed. Very few intellectual decisions about right and wrong are made without emotional interference. 

The small intestine also absorbs strong emotions that the body is trying to eliminate. This can be felt and heard as the gurgling in your tummy when you are upset.

When you are not processing the right and wrong in your life correctly and not allowing your emotions to be absorbed and eliminated through the small intestine, then I will start giving you pain and will be easily injured. Your hands will often go numb, ache and have poor circulation, because I will not let the nerve, energy, and blood to flow through me properly.

I am the ankle

Throughout your life I have supported your weight and given flexibility to your steps. If I am strong, you take strong, flexible steps in life, and are able to twist and turn at a moment"s notice. My joint is filled with fluid and provides a cushion to absorb some of the impact of walking and running. 

I am, however, far more important than that. The front and outside of me is controlled primarily by the liver and gall bladder meridians, which are the primary energy systems involved with planning and decision making. The liver (being yin in nature) plans my biochemical makeup and helps to plan my life. Its partner, the gall bladder (being yang in nature), then makes the final decision and acts.

The stomach and spleen/pancreas control the inside of me. They energetically represent the conscious and subconscious mind, respectively. The process of thinking through and worrying about a subject occurs here.

Now, picture a situation where you have to take a "step" in life — get married; change job; buy a house; accept a new sporting contract; decide on what school you will attend or career you will follow. Each of these events has to be processed by the bodymind. You think and worry, then finally plan and decide. This process goes on in many aspects of your body but the energic processing of it occurs in me as you move around on me. This local movement helps to activate the whole process. The stronger, healthier, and more flexible I am, the easier the whole thinking/deciding process occurs.

If you take too long to make your decision and go through an endless cycle of worrying, deciding, and changing your mind, then you will need me to be extra strong. If I am not very strong and resilient, then I become weaker and prone to injury. You "sprain your ankle" and when I swell, the energy and fluids increase in me and I lose my flexibility. This will often force you to make your decision.

If you maintain this worrying/indecisive habit pattern over a long period of time, then I will become progressively weak. Eventually, to counteract this my master, the brain, will "strengthen" me by making me more rigid. You will give this rigidity the label of "arthritis."

The study of all this is fascinating. If you really understand the energic psychological makeup of the body, you will then start to appreciate how disease really develops and is maintained. 

Fortunately, you do not have to understand all this to be able to effectively treat the related conditions with BodyTalk. With BodyTalk, we show the brain and heart what is wrong and link them clearly to the problem. The brain brings about the changes that are necessary and they are then synthesized in the heart.]

The bodymind knows best how to treat itself. Any interference by other people is only a compromise for the real power of healing that lies innate within our systems.
 
 
 

To Chapter 10 Part 3

Reproduced with permission from John Veltheim, www.parama.com