THE LIVING ESSENCE OF THE BODY’S ORGANS

From structures to living beings

We all know that our bodies are alive. Enspirited, animated, heartened and invigorated. Living and breathing as an entire organism. Somehow, someway all of the systems in the body work together. The lungs, heart, kidneys and liver, along with their respective parts, all weave and communicate inside of the body. Well we are very familiar with the mechanics of each organ and the parts that make up their systems, rarely we think about the essence of the organs. Each organ has unique qualities or what I would call signatures. A signature is a flavor that expresses uniqueness. As an analogy you can think of this in terms of flowers. Even though all flowers belong to the category of “flower”, a rose is distinct from a daisy or from a lilac. They each feel and smell differently than the other and have unique characteristics even though they all fit underneath the same overarching category. Same is true for our organs. While this is obvious at some level often we don’t think about the qualities that each organ uniquely expresses.

In certain healing traditions the organs are recorded to have essences. You can also think of the essence as the consciousness of the organ. For example in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine each organ has an essence that is named. They call the essence of the heart “shen”, the liver “hun”, the spleen “yi”, the lungs “po” and the kidneys “zhi”. Ayurvedic, Persian and Shamanic medicine systems also have their own version of how they relate vital essence to the tissues and organ systems of the body. I would imagine that there are probably other systems that do this as well. These systems have obviously found relevance in acknowledging the essence of each organ or tissue, yet in western models we don’t consider this aspect. Instead the focus is purely on the physical structure and biological function. The tendency is to disregard or view the vital aspects as “less than” or not important because they can’t be measured quantitatively. Even many practitioners of these ancient healing traditions disregard these qualities, fitting themselves into a western model of thinking and thus many of these ancient arts have become mechanistic.

Why is this important?

Knowing the consciousness that each organ expresses helps you have a more holistic and inclusive perspective as to what is going on in your body at any given moment. It also gives you more ways to work with it. You understand relationships and patterns more clearly. I have written many times that health is relationship. With that it is helpful to know the “who’s” that are living inside of your body. While it might make logical sense to you that the lungs and heart have a relationship in terms of oxygenating the tissues of the body, but what are the heart, the lungs, the oxygen and the blood besides structures and elements? Knowing the consciousness of them helps us better grok the dynamics of how everything interrelates inside of us.

ORGAN CONSCIOUSNESS

All of what I am about to write is my understanding of the consciousness of the organs from what I have seen in practice. I want to state clearly that none of this is scientific or dogmatic fact, but rather it is experiential wisdom. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t.

Let’s start with The HEART. The consciousness of the heart is unconditionality. It’s essence is love without conditions. The rhythm of its beats send blood to the body, blood being the nutritive expression of unconditional love. In its state of healthy expression every tissue in the body receives the information that it is loved through contact with the blood.

The LUNGS. The consciousness of the lungs is reciprocity. It’s essence is the perfect exchange. It takes in just what it needs and gives back what it doesn’t need. In its state of healthy expression vitality is experienced without scarcity of not enough or the burden of too much.

The BRAIN. The consciousness of the brain is unity. It’s essence is the coordination of all parts into a unified whole. It receives and shares information for the orchestration of the symphony of systems. In its healthy state information is clearly perceived and action is immediately taken. There are no delays.

The SPLEEN. The consciousness of the spleen along with the rest of its immune system parts (lymph nodes/vessels, white blood cells) is individuality. Its essence is self discernment and personal empowerment. It knows who and what it is and isn’t. In its healthy expression it preserves what serves the whole of itself and intelligently eliminates what doesn’t.

The LIVER. The consciousness of the liver along with the gallbladder is purity. It’s essence is innocence. It has the capacity to distill out the most refined essence and remove internal and external toxic waste. In its state of healthy expression its transmutes and transforms substances so that only the pure innocence is shared throughout the system. It is the alchemist.

The KIDNEYS. The consciousness of the kidneys along with the bladder is synchronicity. It’s essence is the perfect timing of the moment to moment unfolding. It knows when to hold on and when to release. In its healthy state all fluids are balanced including the hold and release of tears and the influx and outflow of hydration for the cells and tissues in just the right timing.

The STOMACH. The consciousness of the stomach is receptivity. It’s essence is a welcome invitation. It can simply take in nutrients, love and worth all well not needing to do anything at all. It receives without effort. In its healthy expression it is settled in allowing in that which is nourishing and its doors are open.

The INTESTINES. The consciousness of the intestines is usability. It’s essence is to absorb what is received for actualization and action. It takes in energy and information and makes good use out of it. In its healthy expression it processes what it’s given for maximum benefit to the whole organism allowing for continual flow of energy and information in and out.

The ENDOCRINE. The consciousness of the endocrine glands as a whole is community. Its essence is communication throughout the system. Its nature is relational and supports all the systems working together by talking to everyone. In its state of healthy expression there is dynamic, interactive and responsive communication happening throughout the entire system. There is also the felt sense of support through a community of parts.

The MUSCLES. The consciousness of the muscles as system is intentionality. Their essence is the directed volition of movement. They know when to tense and when to relax, demonstrating proper tonality. They allow for both strength and weakness. In their state of healthy expression the allow smooth and effortless action in the direction of intention.

The BONES. The consciousness of the bones is stability. Their essence is support and endurance. They hold and express the essential constitution and contain the blueprint for the entire organism inside the marrow of their structure. In their state of health they express a solid foundation that doesn’t shake, provide structure, the ability to regenerate, and to root into the self.

The SKIN. The consciousness of the skin is integrity. Its essence is intactness. It holds, protects and keeps things together. It also diffuses and expresses excess energy. In its healthy expression it demonstrates cohesion, knows it boundaries and holds things together through its integrity.

While this is not every organ or system it does provide on general overview of the consciousness within the body. Through knowing the living essence of each organ you can start to make connections between systems and come into a greater understanding of the who’s, what’s and why’s that live within this organism called your body.