Healing Our Spleen To Reduce Rumination And Worry

In this guided insight meditation, we connect to our spleen channel.

In Chinese medicine, the spleen is part of the Earth element within us. The spleen is associated with the bee archetype, representing harmony and balance. Bees are diligent workers who maintain the stability of ecosystems. They work together in a highly organised manner ultimately playing a vital role in the pollination process that sustains life. Similarly, the spleen meridian is responsible for maintaining the body's energy and balancing its overall functions. 

The bee works diligently to support its hive and ensure its survival. Both the bee and the spleen channels are seen as essential for the well-being and functioning of the larger system they are a part of.

Transcript

In the Chinese medicine classic,

The spleen works in harmony with the stomach and takes in and processes substances into usable energy physically,

Spiritually and intellectually.

The characteristics of the spleen channel are to provide essential support,

To be of service,

To break down matter,

Kill any unwanted stuff,

Pass on to others and central tasks.

The spleen together with the stomach nourishes the joints of the body,

Which are our most authentic way to open to the world.

Our spleen channel represents the earth element within us,

Mother earth,

The mother within us all,

That feminine side of us that nurtures and supports our inner world,

Our true essence.

Late summer is the season of the earth,

That means harvest time,

Reaping what we have diligently worked to produce.

Earth in nature is our central resource.

Our first step is to observe what our own earth needs,

Physically,

Mentally and spiritually,

Who we are and what do we need for our own growth.

Centering and grounding ourselves with spleen chi gives us the ability to concentrate and then power to react.

When we are off centre,

We can often not think clearly,

So centering and grounding sinks our energy,

Anchoring us to something stable.

Supporting our spleen and its spirit mind will help us to cultivate clear intention,

Insight,

Creativity,

Motivation and appropriate faithfulness to our goals and to other people in our lives.

When we are well centred and grounded in ourselves,

We are open and participating,

Receptive and willing to digest the world around us.

The spleen is associated with the bee archetype,

Representing harmony and balance.

Bees are diligent workers that maintain the stability of ecosystems.

They work together in a highly organised manner,

Ultimately playing a vital role in the pollination process that sustains life.

Similarly,

The spleen meridian is responsible for maintaining the body's energy and balancing its overall functions.

Our spleen too symbolises industriousness,

Teamwork and community.

The bee living in your spleen,

Tucked up under the ribcage on the left hand side of your body,

Works diligently to support its hive and ensure its survival.

Both the bee and the spleen channel are seen as essential for the wellbeing and functioning of the larger system they are part of.

The third chakra,

Solar plexus,

Houses the spleen.

Its colour is yellow.

Our power centre that knows how to manifest our aspirations in the world and how to use energy resourcefully and creatively.

If you have a piece of amber,

The child of the sun and earth and often carries traces of the ancient world into our present day,

Or citrine,

A powerful vibration that can help to detoxify and stimulate circulation,

Place these on your third chakra now.

So start by finding a space to just sit quietly and relax.

Maybe this is a natural setting,

At home or even while out walking.

The goal is just to create a space to just be.

Just for a short while.

We will start by just taking a few long cleansing breaths.

Take a long deep inhale through your nose,

Put your attention on your spleen and feel the organ vibrate as you exhale in one long steady breath,

Making the spleen sound of whoo.

Inhale through your nose and exhale with the sound whoo.

Inhale again through your nose and exhale whoo.

Soften your eyes behind your eyelids.

Soften your jaw and allow your tongue to go loose in the bottom of the palate and put your attention on the soles of your feet.

Imagine you are breathing through your feet and gently imagine roots growing down into the earth,

Downwards and sideways,

Feeling increasingly planted in mother earth.

Drawing up through those roots warm energies from the earth,

Feel energy that feels like sweet smooth nourishing runny honey.

Allow the honey like energy to be drawn up through your body,

Through your ankles,

Lower leg,

Knees,

Thighs and into the pelvis where it pools in our lower belly and third chakra.

With your attention on your third chakra visualise your bee,

A bumble,

Worker or queen bee nested in your lower belly,

Your bee energy.

Gently wake her up to look at the expanse of rolling hills in front of us,

Our spleen channel like a well trodden footpath roaming the landscape out front.

We will start on the medial side of the big toe,

Run up the inner leg and end at a point on the side of our chest.

As we fly or flow upwards along our spleen channel,

Our bee will travel and fly with us,

Pausing at each point,

Connecting to the nectar and trees and natures gifts to bring unique spleen and earth insights to us,

Strengthening our bee energy and spleen chi.

Each point along the footpath will connect us to our inner mother,

Strengthen our connection to earth,

Tap into our own rich and plentiful centre to be able to share its riches with others.

Our bee begins its journey of transforming and transporting,

Renewing the body and mind at the big toe,

Spleen 1 retired white.

We start by allowing thoughts to return to our centre,

We consider our situation from all sides,

Helping to alleviate any worries,

Helping to calm the mind and promote mental stability.

Retirement is a time in one's life when we have put in the work and effort to manifest our harvest and have reached a point of being able to enjoy it,

Derive pleasure,

Security,

Abundance and freedom from worry.

So here we pause and consider,

Are we operating from that place of freedom?

What harvest or resource have we already got available to us?

What might we want to sow?

Travel onwards to spleen 2 and 3,

Either side of the big toe joint,

Who together infuse our earth with the resonances of fire.

Spleen 2,

Great capital,

As the fire point this place brings warmth to the earth so things planted can come to fruition and harvest.

Having an abundant harvest naturally brings a desire to share.

Bringing in a big harvest requires the efforts and teamwork of many.

Its abundance is more than one person can eat.

Loving celebrations often follow the completion of the hard work,

So here we can enable the sharing of our abundance with warm and heartfelt generosity.

This great capital is a busy place full of exchanges,

Just as the spleen is our own great capital,

Constantly busy at our centre.

Roll over the knuckle of the big toe onto spleen 3,

Supreme white,

A powerful earth point to feed and regulate our spleen energy.

The spirit of this point strengthens our sense of self,

Promoting confidence and fostering a clear mindset.

We find our way home here,

To our true centre and stability.

Here we feel strong and steady,

We are granted a sense of strength in our limbs that enables us to make smooth transitions and accommodate changes in our lives.

That steadiness feels just like that pause between seasons.

Spleen 4,

Grandfather,

Grandson,

Nestles halfway along the inner edge of the foot,

One of the most beautiful points in the body.

Everything in the future stems from this point,

The supreme grandchild,

The continuity of nourishment through generations from past to present,

The continuity of life we pass forwards.

Access that sense of abundance and flourishing right at this very moment in our lives.

This place is a powerful reminder of our connection to earth's abundance.

It restores our trust in nature and the universe.

It helps us to see our abundance and hence calms the spirit.

This is a brief pause and reflection to regain our emotional stability.

Where the foot and leg meet at the ankle crease is spleen 5 merchant mound just beside the inner ankle.

As we land on this metaphorical mound of earth,

Stable and secure,

We can see a great distance and from a higher perspective.

Our inner merchant who buys,

Sells and trades goods,

Who knows what is valuable and what is not.

We are reminded of the ability to take in the good and eliminate the waste in our lives,

Letting things go,

Creating space to make space for inspiration.

Travel up from the inner ankle to spleen 6,

Three yin crossing,

Three finger widths up the inner leg.

Three yin meridians cross here,

Our kidney,

Liver and spleen,

Uniting them in strength and energy at this point.

The qualities of yin refer to cool and tranquil,

Emphasising the feminine principle of the universe,

Feeding,

Sustaining and associated with earth.

This place brings the qualities of all three elements,

The vision and new growth of wood,

The rejuvenating,

Lubricating and cleansing power of water,

As well as the nurturing place of earth.

Spleen 7,

Leaky valley,

Third of the way up our inner leg,

Is where we allow our bee to fly through the valley,

Observing the beautiful river running through its depths.

This valley contains the life-giving waters essential to our earth's fertility.

This river nourishes the plants,

Animals and humans living alongside its banks.

This nourishing water must be contained so it is available in proper amounts and does not leak away.

Our nourishment must be contained,

Or it is of no use,

Leaking out through our cracks,

Leaving us empty,

Unable to properly hold and derive benefit from our harvest.

This place patches the leaks at all levels of our mind,

Soul and our physicality.

Spleen 8,

Earth motivator,

Two thirds up the inside of our inner leg now.

If we have been overextended,

Always giving out and never receiving either mentally or physically,

This place bulldozes those same old grooves and patterns in our lives.

Similar to the bulldozing the earth before planting,

Breaking it up into small pieces that can then receive warmth and water.

Our seeds can then penetrate,

Spout and extend roots.

We cultivate spleen chi here,

To loosen things up,

Get things going digestively or emotionally and re-establish our connection to a higher purpose.

Spleen 9,

Yin mound spring,

Just below our inner knee joint still on the lower leg.

A deep and pure source of yin,

Water,

Energy resides at this point.

Water from this spring brings the power of original chi to the spleen,

Presenting the opportunity to literally root in yin,

Quelling anxiety or neediness.

This place lifts the spirits,

Eases depression and promotes a positive outlook on life.

Following the channel upwards is spleen 10,

Sea of blood just above the inner knee.

With well nourished warming blood in our system,

We are able to remain centred and consider things from everybody else's perspective,

Not just our own.

This nourishes our suppleness in our body,

But also our mind and spirit.

When we are supple,

Alert and stable at all levels,

Our thoughts and imagination can carry out our intent,

Which in turn produces our harvest.

The next two points we travel to are gates.

Chi must flow freely here,

Unimpeded,

Easy circulation of blood and chi for exchange and movement.

Spleen 11,

Basket gate,

Halfway up the inner leg.

And then on to spleen 12,

Rushing gate,

Nestled on the hip joint in the lower abdomen.

At spleen 12,

Rushing gate,

We want to see a lot of movement happening through this gate.

If our gate feels stuck when we are looking outside,

We can push open on the hinges now and allow ourselves to join in and instigate change in our lives.

Spleen 13 through to 16,

Continue up the abdomen and run each side of our belly button.

Being at the centre,

Their pivotal position means our body,

Mind and spirit turns here for its resources.

It's where transformations take place,

Where ideas take shape.

These are places that help transform old stagnant material that has taken up residence in the intestines,

Abdomen and digestive system.

The digestive system and its functionality have a strong impact on the way we think and feel.

We've travelled through spleen 13,

Official residence,

Spleen 14,

Abdomen knot,

Spleen 15,

Great horizontal and spleen 16,

Abdomen sorrow.

We continue to ascend each side of the ribcage now to the sides of the upper chest,

Right up to where our arm joins our torso at spleen 20.

These upper chest points are found in the area we receive breath and where we are near the breast,

The symbol of the mother.

We are reminded of the endless support of Mother Earth to humanity,

Just like the earth element within us,

Likened to the sustenance and consideration offered by a mother to her child.

Spleen 17,

Food drain,

18,

Heavenly stream,

19,

Chest region and up to spleen 20,

All round flourishing.

Finally,

We descend back down to the final resting point on the spleen meridian,

Spleen 21,

The great embrace.

And as its name implies,

We rest as we are embraced.

Just like a baby in its mother's womb,

We are enveloped and nurtured,

Sustaining life in our great protective envelope of Mother Earth.

Rest here for a moment and tune into your bee senses.

Notice one smell that you can smell.

Notice one sensation or thing touching your physical body.

Notice one sound you can hear.

And one taste you might be able to taste.

And lastly,

With your mind's eye,

Perhaps one thing you can see.

So keeping your head still,

Open your eyes,

Wiggle your fingers and toes and smile through your spleen along the full channel from toe to rib cage.

Rest,

Knowing you are protected and held by the nourishing and life-giving womb of Mother Earth.

And have a lovely day.

Reviews

Thank ypu so much for this. My Spleen needs a lot of help and this guidance through each point on the meridian is very much appreciated 🙏

The most amazing thank you! 🙏 huge grounding and heart 💚 opening love