According to Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM) and Organ Meridian theory, the organs maintain a dynamic relationship in which their energies and functions interact, their powers going far beyond the physical, the obvious, and into the more subtle energetic layers, actually affecting our emotions, thoughts and behaviors. These Meridians make up a highway of bodily pathways, like rivers of energy flowing throughout the body and they all ultimately link to one another. Their energy is referred to as Qi (Chi) or Prana, in Hatha Yoga. The Chinese pair each organ with a counterpart, one Yang, which is active, bright and male, and one Yin, which is passive, dark and female. They believe that the most important pairing is the Kidney and the Urinary Bladder Meridians, the so-called parent pairing. The Chinese regard this Yin/Yang pairing the most vital to overall health, as they are key in sustaining life, and when they are off balance, all other organs and organ systems suffer.
The Yin organ in this pairing is the kidney. It is solid and passive, its main function is to filter toxins in the body and purify the blood. The Yang organ is the bladder, hollow and fluctuating, much more active as it flushes the fluids out of the body. Both interact with one another and with other organs, such as the brain, heart and liver, to optimally function within the body. The Bladder Meridian is the longest of all 12 meridians, starting in the inside of the eyes, spanning up the forehead, the crown and then the back of the head, crossing the brain, continuing down the neck and the spine, meeting up with the kidneys in the low back and then one branch continues onto the bladder, another branch continues from the kidneys down into the back of the legs all the way down to the little pinky toe. If you have ever had any bladder-related ailments, you have likely experienced extreme fatigue, as such a large, long span of the body’s energy is depleted.
The Kidney Meridian, the Yin half, begins at the inside of each pinky toe, travels across the sole and arch to the inside ankle and up the inside of the leg, entering the torso near the tailbone, hence it is closely related to the root chakra and the feeling of safety and security. It moves up to the spine and connects with the kidneys in the low back and then higher up into the bladder. It moves across the torso, flowing through the liver, diaphragm and lungs, eventually making its way up to the throat and tongue.
Each Yin/Yang pairing is associated with an element and an emotion. An obvious element for this pairing is water, perhaps less obvious is the emotional pairing with fear.
Almost a decade ago I first became very aware of this relationship between the physical and the emotional. I was in a very bad car accident and sustained multiple bone fractures and organ damage. Though I have no memory of the accident, I do recall finally waking up days later to an intense feeling of fear, deep down in the very bones and cells of my body. Soon I learned that not only did I sustain multiple injuries, my body decided to let go of a stone that had been quietly residing in my right kidney. The doctors noticed it immediately, picking up on it in the numerous xrays and body scans. I recalled my urologist years earlier telling me that I had a rather large stone in my right kidney and that at the first sign of stress, I would likely begin to pass, or not pass, as was my history with kidney stones, that particularly large one. I also developed a bad infection in my urinary tract, also prevalent in my health history.
Would you know that the intense pain and discomfort from the combined complications of 18 broken bones and multiple organ damage didn’t come close to the pain and discomfort of passing, or, not passing, that stone and the ensuing infection? Had someone told me that fear and kidney stones were related, like my urologist once did, I would have glossed over my awareness of their supposed kin. But actually living though it for months on end, as I ended up doing, made me intensely aware of their relationship. I also broke my back and neck and was in a back brace so my doctors were reluctant to put me under before intubating me for stone surgery, so they asked that I be patient and try to pass the stone on my own, without surgery. I begged and begged to get rid of it, but they did not want to intubate me with that broken neck.
I was in a situation in which I had little control except that stone, so even though I wanted it gone, deep down, it was the only thing over which I had control in that hospital bed, so I held onto it. It was a love/hate relationship. Looking back with a more clear perspective, I know it was the fear. Clearly I suffered from PTSD and the trauma associated with the accident and its aftermath. I couldn’t let go of the intense fear I was subjected to day in and day out throughout my recovery and I couldn’t let go of fear’s physical manifestation, that stone, either.
At long last, after several months my doctors relented and I had the surgery to remove the stone. Because of the neck injury and my back brace, I had to get intubated while I was awake. It was a fearful event, but working though it was necessary to get me through surgery and get rid of that damned stone. Once gone, I felt an intense sense of release, an intense feeling of relief from pain and fear and finally, my recovery truly began. My healing’s pace quickened, my energy was restored. I still couldn’t do much physical yoga, but I imagined myself doing yoga, breathing through my fantasy practice, making it very real in its effects, and before I knew it, I was back on the mat.
In the years since I have not only intensified my yoga practice, I have also intensified my teacher training. A closer look at TCM made me see the relationship between my kidney and bladder ailments and my sense of fear. I’ve suffered from kidney stones and bladder infections my whole life and looking back, I see that it wasn’t just about the physical, it wasn’t just about diet and hygiene, it was about the emotions associated with handling life. I’ve been a single mom most of my life, I’ve been largely alone with just me and my daughter, me in charge, and that’s a scary thing, and it resulted in lots of imbalance in my emotions and in my bladder and kidney tracts, stoking more fear, stoking more ill health, a vicious cycle. As I began to understand the connection between the physical and the emotional, I realized the connection between how yoga helps me control my kidney and bladder issues, for strengthening my body, health and emotions prepare me solidly for handling life’s challenges off the mat. Strength and courage replace fear, good health replaces bad. I haven’t had a kidney stone or bladder infection for many years. And I’m taking life by the horns!