In Chinese medicine classics,
We learn that the pericardium is the heart's protector from physical,
Mental and emotional injury.
She provides all connections to spirit,
To free flow to and from our hearts,
And to protect us from insult and injury.
Our elation and joy stem from it.
Our pericardium is the membrane that surrounds our heart and roots the major blood vessels that extend from the heart.
Not just a physical structure,
It is a symbolic manifestation of me,
You and our hearts.
She is a bridge that allows metamorphosis into the spiritual experience.
She holds on to experience,
Often traumatic or disappointing,
Influencing our minds,
Thoughts and even our personalities.
In health,
She is protective and connective,
Yet when imbalanced,
It can become oppressive and restrictive.
The pericardium causes us to love and accept the world in a conditional way.
Due to our experiences of disappointment,
We can become less open and receptive.
This is an attempt towards self-preservation and safety,
Yet it can become suffocating and self-limiting,
Trying to protect ourselves all the time.
The pericardium,
Like the intestinal channels,
Maintains the blood states that keep us moving on in life.
Unsurprisingly,
The nine points on the pericardium channel correspond in parallel to the nine points on our heart channel.
So as we hug or embrace another person,
The channel following the inner arm receives openly another into our arms and also into our hearts.
The fourth or heart chakra houses the pericardium.
Its colour is green and essence and instinct is pure love.
If you have rose quartz,
Known for its vibrational qualities to encourage self-love and self-acceptance,
To balance yin and yang energy,
While tuning each chakra to its proper vibrational frequency,
Place this on your heart now.
The monkey is your heart's protector,
The cheeky little soul that symbolises good fortune and is known as a happy,
Playful creature with curiosity,
Adaptability,
Intelligence and amazing problem-solving skills.
So find a quiet place,
Sit or lay down,
Uncross your legs and allow your spine to go soft.
We'll begin with some cleansing breaths.
Just taking four deep cleansing breaths to supplement our heart chi.
So soften your eyes behind your eyelids or gaze.
Open your jaw,
Allow your tongue to go loose in the bottom of the palate and imagine stepping into an energy shower.
From the crown of your head,
Allow the energy to wash down your face and pull into your heart space.
Notice the texture of the energy,
The colour,
Perhaps its smell or the sound as it pulls into your heart.
As it comes into your heart space,
A ball of energy and light gathers and begins to rotate like a sphere or a figure of eight.
This gets stronger and stronger,
As it rotates you feel your heart space soften.
Visualise your monkey swinging above or just sitting beside you or within you.
It's time to let laughter back into your soul.
See with her eyes,
Feel your clever,
Playful,
Social,
Compassionate,
Humorous and fun side.
The monkey lives in your heart space.
Your monkey knows that playfulness and entertainment are useful for the soul.
She reminds you that these things should be included in your day regularly.
As monkeys have a strong capacity for compassion,
Understanding and bonding,
She serves to remind us that our journey on this planet is not a solitary one.
Allow the ball of energy now to grow in your heart space,
Cleansing rotations.
The channel begins deep in the centre of the chest and travels outwards across the ribs and then travels down the inner arm through the middle of the wrist and hand to end at the edge of the nail on the ring finger.
Bring your monkey into your mind's eye,
Your symbol of unrestrained freedom and your wild nature,
As she slowly accompanies you along your pericardium channel.
She may settle or sit at each point or she may swing or leap high above each space seeing the bigger picture.
Beginning on both sides at a deep level in the lower thorax and emerging out across the chest through the heart,
Just on the outer edge of the nipple on the breast is pericardium one,
Heavenly pond.
A window to heaven and like a pond,
A quiet place of safety.
An opportunity to rest for rejuvenation,
Animating our spirit and look around with fresh eyes.
A pool or pond to revitalise and refresh you,
Enhance our capacity to receive and give love,
Empower openness from a position of strength,
Hence protecting our hearts.
Here we can restore the heart's memory of our heart's being,
A place of ultimate safety before any burdens.
A potent point,
Empowering our heart's protector.
Just a couple of centimetres below the armpit and nestled between the inner arm bellies of the biceps is pericardium two,
Heavenly spring.
Like a spring,
This place suggests the initiation of movement and action.
The spring connects to the heart and increases our vitality.
Having rested at pericardium one by the pond,
Like a spring we must flow and bubble up into the world now and use what we have learned in an active way.
To flow directly from the heart with strength and compassion,
Born of healing and rest.
Warming the blood so the heart's radiance flourishes to flow into the world as joy.
Travelling to the centre crease of the elbow is pericardium three,
Crooked marsh.
As a water point this marsh cools,
Lubricates and calms,
Releases any of our limitations and allows us to regain flexibility and reach out to others and life.
This is the place to balance our fire with just the right amount of water,
To limit our fears or to soothe our heartache or to tame our rage.
The eternal yin and yang of life,
Fire and water in symbiosis.
Halfway down the inner forearm is pericardium four,
Gate of qi reserve.
This point steadies and regulates our heart.
This is a major strengthening and nourishing point to foster a new outlook.
Openings and closings are regulated here,
Where we move stagnant old pains and bitterness trapped in our hearts.
Where tender feelings may have become locked in,
This gate,
Like the pericardium itself as the heart's gate,
Strengthens and allows the spontaneous opening and closing in regulating the human boundary and intimacy.
We continue on our journey to about three finger widths up from the wrist crease,
Pericardium five,
The intermediary,
Metal qualities to our fire.
Here brings inspiration and the ability to receive and let go with our hearts as effortlessly as we breathe.
Pericardium must also symbolically breathe too,
Effortlessly opening and closing of our heart,
Opening and losing boundaries,
Empowering us to let go of past hurts and fulfill our heart's desire for connection.
We flow on to two finger widths up from the wrist crease now,
Pericardium six,
Inner frontier gate.
Visualize a drawbridge here,
A bridge that gives access to our own inner frontiers,
A wonderfully harmonizing and calming point.
Our pericardium opens inside out into the world.
Clear,
Calm communications engenders trust and smooth relations.
Here we are empowered and invited to proceed onwards.
We move on to the center of the inner wrist,
Pericardium seven,
Great mound.
Original and ancestral chi mix here at a source earth point,
Directing us to an ever higher purpose,
Profoundly steadying for the heart,
Helping to nourish and revive a heart perhaps buried under life's sorrows.
This earth mound serves as a solid,
Stable foundation to build our fire on and feed our hearts.
Allow our monkey to rest perched in the palms of our hands now.
Pericardium eight,
Palace of weariness.
Strength and renewed vitality in the palm of our hand,
Joy,
Love and zest for life.
Sparkling life,
Spark of intimacy and our sexual connection.
This palace is where we rekindle our fires,
Stoke the flames to experience joy and safety and then renew the courage needed to love or renew love.
Finally down to the tip of the second finger,
Pericardium nine,
Rushing into the middle.
We finish by deeply connecting to our own hearts and hearts of others,
As if entwining fingers with one another.
Here we invigorate and regenerate spirit,
Having full access to a vision of what harmony and joy means for us.
The close links to our heart and tongue mean we can speak our truth with kindness,
Compassion and conviction.
Now smile through your heart,
Thank your monkey spirit and remember she reminds us to use our intelligence and adaptability to navigate our challenges.
She encourages you to infuse playfulness into your life and maintain your strong social bonds.
Now smile through the length of the entire channel and have a lovely day.
You
