by Liliana Atz

For Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), every living being is in continuous transformation and is subject to alternating phases of stopping and moving. According to this view, Man is influenced by a 24-hour energy cycle, which repeats itself every day and each organ/organ responds to this rhythm with periods of activity and rest (the so-called noon/ midnight law).

For this energetic view, when a disturbance occurs recurrently at a certain time of day or night, it can be traced back to one organ (and/or meridian) rather than another, facilitating the diagnosis and unravelling of one’s psycho-physical-spiritual dynamics.

A very frequent time of awakening is between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., which corresponds to the peak of the Lung’s vitality.

The Lung is part of the Metal energy lodge, which, quoting EnneaMediCina. The Five Ways of the Soul “symbolises a change of state, a mode of relating to the outside world, the ability to accept what is outside oneself and to communicate with the other, while remaining oneself.”

The Lung in EnneaMediCina is paired with E.4 (Yin -rest), the most intense enneatype/enneasymbol of the emotional triad. This individual as a child felt unloved and unrecognised by reference figures and this leads him to experience fluctuating love-hate attitudes in relationships, where sadness alternates with competition and anger.

Together with its associated viscera, the Large Intestine, it represents the creation of boundaries with the rest of the world.

In those same hours (3 – 5 a.m.) on the other front, the organ (and/or meridian) of Bladder, E.7 (Yang-activity), is experiencing its phase of minimum activity. This psychological type tends to shy away from things that are too complicated and limiting, in the unconscious fear that stopping will bring it into contact with its own self.

In EnneaMediCina, E.7 is connected to the Bladder organ/meridian, which in TCM is reflected on the autonomic nervous system via the pituitary gland and the endocrine system. One of its important tasks is the regulation of both physical, mental and emotional aspects related to the organs/viscera of the body (Zang/Fu).

One can summarise here by saying that beyond the physical symptoms, which are nothing more than the materialisation of more subtle psycho-emotional aspects, what enters us with the breath of the Lung is reflected on the Bladder, in its neuro/endocrine aspect.

Every emotional state such as love, fear, pleasure, pain, anxiety, anger, etc. with the complex nuances called feelings is conveyed in the body by specific hormones.

We can therefore state that emotions and feelings not only participate in the memorisation of experiences, but are the mediators of most of the neurophysiological processes that regulate or block the functioning of the entire body-mind system.

The activation of a stressful event makes the sympathetic autonomic nervous system operative, with changes in the endocrine system and the activation of a behaviour aimed at cancelling the triggering event, with overstraining of the body-mind.

In other words, our nocturnal awakenings try to communicate to us how our most authentic part (essence) is not in tune with the mask we put on in childhood in order to survive. (continued…..)

More on: Enneamedicine: The Five Ways of the Soul

Note:

1. The Gestalt to which Claudio Naranjo’s enneagram refers originated with Fritz Perls around 1950 and embraces many aspects of different psychological models. It can be defined as a totality of a whole that makes up an individual, which is more than the sum of its individual parts.

The influence of Eastern culture, particularly Taoism, in Gestalt is reflected in the vision of a human being composed of polarities that need to be integrated in order to develop physical, psychological and spiritual health.

In Character and Neurosis Claudio Naranjo In his observations for a differential diagnosis between certain personality types he writes: ‘Four/seven. The contrast here is between depression and euphoria and also between guilt and the feeling of being OK. Moreover, the characteristics of Four are more closely related to the super-ego than those of Seven. In most cases Four expresses more anger than Seven, which manifests a kindness lacking spontaneity’.