Podcast Version of Episode: Link
Part 4 - Five Shen Points Part 1
Part 5 - Five Shen Points Part 2
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:00:00]:
Alright, everyone. Welcome back to Study Acupuncture with Me. Now these episodes have been a little bit late. I usually try to release 1 every single Sunday. And the reason they've been late is because there's been a lot going on in my life just with preparing for this baby to come. Now where I live right now, we have 2 bedrooms. And so to make an extra nursery that's as quiet and as peaceful and as restful as possible, we've had to convert our walk in closet into a nursery. So what did we do? We took out the carpet.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:00:29]:
We put in hardwood floors, and we even bought this little closet from IKEA so that we put our clothes in there just so that this area is as clean and as restful as possible. And we're also in the middle of upgrading our daughter from a convertible toddler crib bed to a twin big girl bed because we need to convert her current toddler crib bed back into a regular crib, and then we need to bring that into the new nursery. So safe to say that things have been a little bit hectic, but I still wanna be here and show up for you because like I always say, showing up is just half the battle. And study acupuncture with me has a promise to be here for you and your acupuncture board prep needs because I know, I've been there, life is really busy, especially when you're in acupuncture school, you're working full time. Acupuncture, trying to learn it can be really hard to understand. So If I can make even 1 thing that's less confusing to you, then that's what makes all of this worth it. So this episode is on part 2 of the 5 shen points. And in this episode, we're gonna go over the remaining shen points.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:01:34]:
So those remaining shen points are u b 47, u b 49, and u b 52. Now in part 1 of this series, we went over u b 42 and u b 44, and I'll link that episode in the description below so you can check that out if you missed it. So what have we been talking about? We've been talking about the 5 spiritual aspects. The 5 spiritual aspects are the mind, The hen, the po, the yi, and the zed qi. Now these 5 spiritual aspects or these 5 shen, They're housed in 5 of our yin internal organs, and what that led us to is the fact that there are five Urinary bladder points that influence these 5 spiritual aspects. So let's start with u b 47. Now u b 47 is called the hunmen or the door of the hun or door of the ethereal soul. Now this point is located on our back.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:02:30]:
It's located on the outer bladder line, which the outer bladder line we know is 3 cun lateral to the midline of our back where our spine is. Now this 3 cun line is right along where our medial border for our scapula is, and u b forty seven is level with the lower border of the spinous process of t nine. And that makes this point also level with u b eighteen. U b eighteen is known as our ganshu. Now ganshu is the back shoe point of our liver. Now as the back shoe point of our liver, it means that u b eighteen has a direct connection with the liver organ, and that means that it has a strong function in tonifying the liver organ, and it can also tonify or strengthen the functions of the liver. The functions of the liver are things like ensuring the smooth flow of chi, storing blood, governing the sinews, governing the eyes. So u b 18 can tonify, and it can regulate all of those functions.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:03:28]:
At this point, u b eighteen is on the same level as the door of the or the door of the ethereal soul, which is UB 47. And we also know that the ethereal soul is housed in the liver. And the ethereal soul, we know, has an influence on our ability to plan, on our ability to have goals and have dreams in life. So what that means is that a strong and healthy would mean that we have a strong and healthy sense of direction in our life. And u b forty seven has an influence on the ethereal soul because u b 47 has a function that says that it can root the ethereal soul. Because we know that the ethereal soul is housed in our liver or, more specifically, in our liver blood. That means it's rooted in our liver blood. So u b 47 has a function that it can root the ethereal soul.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:04:17]:
Now another name for the ethereal soul is the coming and going of the mind. So with this name, there's a relationship with the mind in that the hun gives the mind goals and dreams. So, basically, the hun comes to the mind and says, I have this plan. I have this goal. I have this dream. I wanna take initiative on this. Now under normal circumstances, the mind and the they keep each other in check, So there would be this normal amount of coming and going. Now because the hun is responsible for our goals, our ideas, our dreams, and the hun is bringing the mind all of these things, the mind makes a decision.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:04:54]:
It can restrain the hun from having too many goals, Or it could say, yes. I can focus on this. I could choose these things or a couple of different things at a time, and we can move forward with them. From a clinical sense, that means our patients can present on a spectrum. They could present on one end where there could be too much coming and going of the mind or on the other end when there's too little coming and going of the mind. Now on the screen, I'll show a graphic that shows you if there's too much coming and going of the mind, then that person could present as someone who's really erratic in all their thoughts, just someone who has too much on their plate, almost like they're manic. It got too many irons in the fire, and it seems like they're having a really hard time controlling it all at the same time. The spectrum could also veer the other way where there's too little coming and going of the mind.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:05:42]:
Now what does that present with? That presents as a person who doesn't have any aims in life or doesn't have any goals in life. It presents as a person who's depressed or it seems like they don't know where they're going or what they're doing in their life. Now that's where u b forty seven comes into play because u b forty seven can regulate liver qi. It can also root the athereal soul. It can root the hund. So that means it can treat both Sides of the spectrum where on one end, there's too little coming and going of the mind, and then on the other end, there's too much coming and going of the mind. Now your patient could also be someone who's just a little bit off center. So maybe that's a person who just has some depression, some insomnia.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:06:24]:
They lack some direction. They're not taking initiative. So u b 47 can regulate the liver chi, and it can root the ethereal soul so that there's a normal amount of coming and going of the mine. Okay. Next up, we have u b 49. Now u b 49 is known as the se, which is translated to the abode of the intellect or the abode of thought. Now we know that the yi where the intellect is housed in our spleen. And this intellect, we know it's responsible for our intellect.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:06:53]:
It's responsible for our working memory, Our concentration, our ability to focus. It's basically responsible for our ability or our capacity to think. So that means when you're studying, when you're memorizing things, When you're taking a test, the e is on full blast, and u b 49 has a function to strengthen the intellect. It also has a function to clear the mind, and it can girdle or it can support your ability to memorize things and concentrate. Now you can also use u b 49 to treat pensiveness. Now we know that the spleen corresponds with pensiveness, and it can be influenced or it can be affected by pensiveness. The question though is what is pensiveness? Now pensiveness is related to intellect because pensiveness is basically used to describe someone who thinks very carefully. They're very careful before they make a decision.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:07:46]:
They're deep in thought because they think things through before they act. So the power of intellect lends itself to pensiveness. Now with pensiveness, there's also a negative side to it. Pensiveness is synonymous with brooding or constantly thinking. Now it's different from worrying about someone, but it's more like someone whose Mind is always on something, like their mind is always on the stock market, their mind is always on work, or it's someone who's always thinking about a person or someone who's always thinking about something that's happened in the past or something that's going to happen. So for this Person, their intellect, their focus, their capacity for thinking is all taken up by that thing or that person, and they don't really have the to focus on anything else with a clear mind. Now u b 49, because it strengthens the intellect, because it clears the mind, It can therefore not only improve your focus, improve your ability to study, improve your ability to concentrate, but it can clear those things out. It can clear the mind so so that you're not so pensive, so that you have the capacity for other things.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:08:57]:
So it can help to treat the negative side of pensiveness, which are those obsessive thoughts, those constantly thinking about x, y, z that's blocking up our capacity to think about and concentrate on other things. So where is u b 49 located? U b 49 is located on the outer bladder line. We know that that is 3 cn lateral to The midline, and this point is level with the lower border of the spinous process of t eleven, which, coincidentally, is also on the same level as the back shoe point of the spleen. The back shoe point of the spleen is u b 20. So u b 20 is on the inner bladder line, which is only 1.5 soon from the midline. And u b 49, which is called the abode of the intellect, it's located on the outer bladder line, which that's, again, 3 soon from midline. Alright. Next, let's talk about our last shen point for this episode, which is u b 52.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:09:52]:
Now u b 52, as acupuncturists, we do use this Point of lot. This point is known as the which means the residence of the willpower. Now which organ houses the willpower? We know that the kidneys house the willpower. Now u b 52, we know is located on the Same level as the back shoe point of our kidney, which is u b 23. So u b 52, which is called the residence of the willpower, is located on the Outer bladder line, which is 3 soon from the midline, it's at the level of the lower border of the spinous process of l two. So it's literally level with u b 23, which, again, coincidentally, is the back shoe point of the kidney. Now u b 52, this is a really commonly used point. It's taught commonly in acupuncture stools because it can tonify the kidneys.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:10:40]:
It can tonify essence. So you're gonna see this point in point prescriptions alongside u b 23 for things like Infertility or kidney deficiency or for even lower back pain. But for this episode, I'm gonna stick mostly with the mental characteristics or the spiritual aspects of willpower and how it relates to the kidney. So u b 52, we know it has a function to strengthen the willpower. The willpower, we know it's known as our. Our, it influences our willpower. It influences our drive, our grit, Our determination, our ability to take initiative. So UE 52 can really benefit someone who's lacking motivation, who's lacking initiative or even just the willpower to try.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:11:25]:
So if someone who's very defeated by something, they need to get that extra oomph to get back into place so that they can run the race again, u b 52 can help that. If it's someone who needs to take initiative to stand up and Sue, whatever gold that they're after, u b 52 can help with that. And so there you have it. Those are the 5 shen points and how they can improve those mental spiritual aspects, like we just went over our willpower, which is u b 52. It can influence the willpower. We have our intellect and our focus with u b 49. We have our goals and our dreams with u b 47. We have our mind's clarity with u b 40 4, the hall of the spirit, and then we have our emotions, our sensations, our ability to just be comfortable with ourselves with u b 42.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:12:12]:
And that brings us to the end of this episode. Now I hope you got as much out of it as I did researching these points and using them in my own personal Life. And if you did, please share this episode with a friend so that they get benefit as well. Now I'll remind you here of my email list. Please make sure you go to www.studyacu with me.com to sign up for my email list. Now when you sign up for my email list, You get study guides, and you get acupuncture related news from me. So, again, please go to www.studyacu with me.com to sign up for that email list. Alright, everyone.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:12:45]:
Until next time. God bless, and happy
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