The Conscious Body Exercise

Now, having noticed areas of physical imbalance consider the consciousness/psychology of each body part and see if any of these could be an area for focus in your life:

Head: The head represents the intellect and our representation of ourselves in the world. Over-identification with our thoughts and intellect can cause pressure or pain in the head or other head-related issues. Also, being out of touch with our heart and gut brains with overemphasis on the head brain often creates symptoms related to the head.

Throat/thyroid: the throat and thyroid gland is related to the expression of self and needs, communication in general, and possibly feeling suffocated or stifled in life. When there is imbalance in the throat any of these could be requiring focus in your life.

Neck and spine: the neck and spine is related to feeling supported by life or others, being centred in life, flexibility & rigidity (e.g. arthritis), stability, and protection. Back and neck pain and misalignment in the spine can be created by imbalance in any of those areas of your life.

Shoulders: Many people with chronic fatigue have shoulders that seem to be up around their ears all the time (hunched up and over the heart space and protecting the lungs below). Shoulders represent protection (of the heart in particular), shouldering burdens and responsibilities, armouring to life, and are linked to the perception of one’s capacity to cope/have strength.

Lungs: The lungs are physiologically and energetically related to energy distribution and the production of vitality; acceptance & surrender (outbreath); control, holding on and unable to let go and grow (holding the inbreath or shallow breathing); reactiveness (easily startled); protection (the lungs generate Qi to provide a layer of electromagnetic protection around the body); and they generate grief to help us release attachments. The primary job of the lungs is to allow us to breathe in and accept life and surrender our attachments to people and life situations so that we can grow and move on through our transformations.

Heart: The heart is very related to protection. Heart energy is very powerful and when fully expanded protects us, but we often have closed hearts as we defend ourselves against perceived hurt. Heart imbalance can be due to lack of awareness of the world and our truth (a disconnect). This connection to self/world is linked to acceptance, self-love, love of others, respect, depression and joy, peace and harmony and a sense of balance. Difficulties in any of these areas can be associated with heart imbalance. 

Thymus gland: The thymus is linked to the immune system and plays a part in defending against pathogens and preventing auto-immune disorder. When we are overly defensive and reactive there can be a, parallel, overly defensive pattern within the physiological functioning of the thymus. This can result in autoimmune disorder (attacking the self). Thymus is very linked to the heart because of the positioning above the heart. So when we are not accepting of ourselves and attack ourselves this is often linked to thymus dysfunction and autoimmune disorders. This self-attack is the inner critic that is so present in many of us. 

Digestive system: The digestive system is generally related to our ability to digest life, process life and take out the nourishment while releasing what is not needed or toxic. This can include issues with nurturing and nourishment (fear of receiving nurturing/love is often linked to difficulty assimilating the goodness from food and resultant malnutrition).

We can actually divide the digestive system into the stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus. Some of the common emotional and psychological traits and concerns that are related to imbalance in the digestive system include:

• Rejection/intolerance and acceptance (of life, goodness, love, nurturing, self)  – often related to corresponding food intolerances; and discernment of what is good and bad (helps in decision making).
• Excess worrying and thinking lead to imbalance in the stomach and digestive system in general (stress is very linked to the gut through the vagus nerve and this will play out as, for example, low stomach acid and therefore to poor absorption of nutrition).
• Control issues will play out in the gut as constipation (control is usually about holding onto expectations).
• Overwhelm and feeling like the bottom of the world is falling out can lead to diarrhea. (IBS is very connected to stress, worry and overthinking, inability to trust life and digest it and becoming overwhelmed and fearful).
• Letting go and release is associated with the large intestine. Grief can be held in the large intestine.
• Compulsive personalities often relate to issues with the large intestines – think of the repetitive peristaltic movement of the bowel linked to the repetitive nature of compulsion. Not being able to let go. Being ‘anal’ or ‘anal-retentive’ refers to people who tend to hold onto control and cannot just go with the flow. 

Liver: Physiologically the liver synthesises nutrients from nutriment in our large intestines. It also manages blood sugar and stores reserves for future needs. So, this is related to the psychological aspects of processing our life and synthesising wisdom from experiences, organising our lives and planning out days.

Many people with chronic fatigue are big planners and organisers but to an extreme that does not allow for flexibility and flow and this can be linked to liver, as well as, kidney and adrenal imbalance.

The liver governs Qi/prana (created by lungs) which surrounds us and protects us as Wei Qi.  Liver imbalance can be related to the Wei Qi being overly ‘thick’ when we are very fearful, resulting in being extremely guarded or even shut down; or the Wei Qi could be too depleted so that our boundaries are often violated and we can become easily depleted ourselves. The liver generates anger to alert us to take action to protect ourselves when our boundaries have been invaded. Too many of us with chronic fatigue suppress this anger and often allow our boundaries to be violated as we are people pleasers or we disconnected from our personal needs long ago.

The liver stores all the wisdom that is synthesised from life experiences to guide us to meet our soul’s purpose. When we are afraid to digest life and synthesise the wisdom we cannot grow and evolve, and we stay stuck. Our stored and stuck anger and other emotions can also prevent this movement. Any feeling of being stuck in life is often related to liver imbalance. Whenever the liver is out of balance we cannot detox well, which is a big problem for most people with chronic fatigue. Waking up between 1am and 3am in the morning is also often a sign of liver imbalance. Blood sugar issues is another symptom of liver imbalance. 

Kidneys and adrenals go hand in hand. Kidneys are Yin (feminine energy) and adrenals are Yang (masculine energy). This balance is important, but we all tend to over-emphasise the masculine qualities (drive, control, logic, motivation, separation) resulting in adrenal imbalance with associated kidney deficiency.

Kidneys filter the blood to eliminate waste products and retain essential nutrients that need to go back to the body– they are therefore linked to ability to separate pure and impure in our lives and strengthens the lifeforce by generating the will to live. This is very useful but excess willpower is not good for us.

Kidneys are linked to fear. Have you noticed that we tend to urinate more when we are afraid especially when we get a big fright? We need to generate fear to keep us out of danger but too much fear links to the need to control and exercise extreme willpower as a result of fear. So when we overemphasise self-reliance, independence, capability and responsibly the kidneys will often be out of balance.

The kidneys are also linked to sensuality

Adrenals produce hormones to deal with stress – to prepare us for action/give us strength or to regulate blood sugar so we can have more energy or to reduce inflammation and other processes. So the adrenals are linked to the psychology of drive, motivation, survival, coping, strength and willpower. Because the adrenals are very linked to survival (associated with the base chakra) when we do feel supported our tendency towards being driven is moderated. However, when we do not feel supported in life we go into overwhelm and fear and then our drive, motivation and willpower plays out as coping mechanisms to provide an illusionary sense of being in control and coping with the perceived threat. This leads to burnout when it is not balanced.

The kidneys generate the life force and healthy fear to keep us alert to danger but when we are overly focussed on survival and coping due to overwhelm the adrenals and the masculine qualities of the adrenals go into overdrive. The feminine qualities of the Kidneys (intuition, creativity, connection, emotions); the healthy fear; and the generation of life force is out of balance too. Paranoia and obsession are also linked to  adrenal imbalance (panic attacks can occur). 

Pancreas: Blood sugar is a big issue for most people with adrenal fatigue. The pancreas produces hormones that regulate blood sugar and other hormones and also produces digestive juices and enzymes. As soon as we smell our food and then start to chew it the pancreas adapts so that the right digestive cocktail is produced and blood sugar levels are regulated. Our ability to adapt to life circumstances is linked to the pancreas’s ability to adapt to the what we digest.

When we have issues around our ability to receive abundance, goodness and sweetness in life (don’t trust it or feel undeserving etc) then there will be imbalance in the pancreas (difficulty receiving nourishment and nutrition).

Finally, when the pancreas is weak our thinking becomes excessive and unproductive (worry).

Lower back/pelvis is linked to the root chakra, foundations and sense of being supported by life. Most people with adrenal fatigue do not feel supported and there is often imbalance, tightness and pain in the pelvis, hips and lower back. This is also linked to the ability to be flexible which is often compromised by people who are afraid as they tend to hold very tightly onto control. There is also often an associated tension in the shoulders as the hips and shoulders are connected and need to be in balance.