Sacred Flow -Massage Therapy and Acupressure

The Spleen is stomach's partner in the Earth element.

The Spleen meridian pathway:

• Start: Begins at the medial (inner) side of the tip of the big toe at SP-1 (Yinbai).
• Foot and Ankle: Runs along the border where the skin changes color, moving forward across the top of the foot and passing directly in front of the medial malleolus (inner ankle bone) at SP-5 (Shangqiu).
• Lower Leg: Ascends up the inner leg along the posterior (back) border of the tibia (shin bone).
• Crossing: Travels 8 cun (traditional body-proportional measurement units) above the inner ankle, crossing in front of the Liver meridian.
• Knee and Thigh: Continues straight up the medial aspect of the knee and antero-medial thigh into the groin area.

Internal Pathway & Abdomen
• Lower Abdomen: Enters the lower abdomen, intersecting midline conception vessel points (Ren-3, Ren-4, and Ren-10).
• Organs: Connects internally to its corresponding organ, the Spleen, and links with the Stomach.
• Torso Asccent: Re-emerges from the stomach area, moving up the chest and torso lateral to the midline.
• End of Main Line: The external branch terminates at the side of the chest at SP-21 (Dabao), located in the mid-axillary line (under the armpit).

Internal Branches
Tongue Branch: A secondary internal branch splits from the stomach, passes through the diaphragm, travels along the esophagus, and spreads over the lower surface of the tongue.
Heart Branch: Another minor internal branch separates from the stomach, passes through the diaphragm, and flows directly into the Heart to link with the Heart meridian.

"In the three months of late summer, Heaven and Earth are in harmony, and the ten thousand things are beginning to mature."

The Meaning?
This passage outlines Late Summer as a time of literal and energetic harvest.
The explosive, outward energy of summer begins to settle, transforming into the stabilizing, nourishing energy of autumn.
Nature pauses to ripen, instructing humans, and all life to slow down, ground themselves, and integrate their experiences.

The Stomach Meridian in Traditional Chinese Medicine starts near the side of the nose, runs up to the eye, descends down the face, neck, chest, abdomen, and leg, and ends at the lateral tip of the second toe.

Consider some of these movements and poses to help your body feel more connected.

Qigong movement
"Separating Heaven and Earth"
Reach one hand up toward the sky and press the other palm down toward the ground. This stretches and opens the torso while connecting your upper and lower body, creating inner balance and a firm physical foundation.

Yoga poses
"Cobra Pose": Compresses the lower back while deeply stretching the front of the abdomen and chest where the meridian descends.
"Camel Pose": Offers a highly effective, deep stretch across the entire front body line from the throat and chest down to the thighs.

I recommend looking up videos on how to do these poses, or joining a class If they are not familiar to you.

What is your favorite wellness exercise to help you feel grounded and balanced?

Photo credit: our tour guide in Nepal. I'm leaning against the healing post. This post was said to heal you if you would rub the sore body part on it.

The essence of Late Summer is that of a caregiver, nurturer, or maternal figure.

Reliable, but when out of balance can become overly sensitive, anxious, or prone to neglecting their own needs.

It's focus is the Balance of boundaries between self and others, a sense of community.

Earth elements's energy provides the grounding, nurturing, and stability needed to harvest the fruits of our labor.
It is characterized by caretaking,
digesting life experiences,
and balancing material and emotional wealth.

The emotional attributes of the season and element are linked to reflection, centering, and empathy, while imbalance can manifest as overthinking or worry.

To support your well-being during this season and every season of change, consider these options.

💛Maintain regular mealtimes: Eat at consistent times each day and practice mindful eating, seated if possible, in a calm environment.
💛Engage in grounding movement: Practice gentle exercises like Qigong, tai chi, or yoga to center the body and strengthen core energy.
💛Calm overthinking: Cultivate mental stillness, reflection, and gratitude to soothe the tendency toward rumination and excessive worry.
💛Balance giving and receiving: Allow yourself to accept care and support from others rather than constantly depleting your own energy.

The Earth element of Late Summer is
connected to the mouth, the sweet taste, and the physical/energetic process of nourishment and digestion.

Consider taking a special time to sit down, to savor balanced, wholesome, naturally sweet foods (like root vegetables) with gratitude during this season.

Sweet is the flavor of the season, Like, Dates, Apples, and Peaches (my favorite).
These help support this element.

Eating naturally sweet, yellow, or orange foods that are warm and cooked, such as rice, sweet potatoes, squash, and warm porridges can be very supportive.
(not refined sugar)
Or less sweet but still supportive foods like: Oats, barley, quinoa, parsnips, and regular potatoes, yellow squash, pumpkin, and Warm meals in general, help support the functions of the Earth element and it's organs, the Stomach and Spleen during this season.

What are your favorite meals of this season?

Are you taking time to sit, and enjoy them?

"Pericardium is the walled Palace of the Heart" -the Nei Ching

The pericardium begins on the rib cage and flows out through the midline of the inner arm and palm to the tip of the middle finger. (As seen in the red line on my silly joyful picture.)

The primary function of the pericardium is protecting the heart. It acts as an energetic and physical buffer that absorbs external emotional, and physical shocks before they can injure the core mind and spirit.

The classics of TCM say that "The diseases of the heart are borne by the pericardium" and "The pericardium is the minister of the heart, and is the door of joy and happiness." Because it also is the door, or outlet, for carrying out the orders of the heart.

The pericardium influences intimate heartfelt relationships. Including sexual intimacy, especially emotionally. Though it does not affect the sexual organs themselves.

When imbalanced 💔 you may notice:
-A hunkered forward postures.
-Feelings of oppression.
-An Inability to feel confidence and joy, in intimate heartfelt relationships.
-Nervous laughter.
-Shock ...this is the extreme imbalanced emotion.

💔❤️‍🩹❤️ Healing from shock involves softening an "armored" boundary, clearing trapped stress, and restoring smooth circulation.

Trembling or shaking is a natural, biological way for the body to discharge trapped survival energy and reset the nervous system after shock or stress. (Mammals do this instinctively after a fright to burn off excess adrenaline and relax tense muscles.)

❤️‍🩹Some ways to help support your pericardium fire:

Build conscious, healthy boundaries by deciding who earns access to your deepest thoughts and feelings.

Spend time with family or trusted friends, as the Pericardium governs healthy, balanced interpersonal movement and relationships.

Dedicate quiet time after highly social or chaotic events to allow your system to filter through external stimuli without absorbing the stress.

Practice gentle shoulder and arm stretches that target the inner arm and chest to release physical tension held along the meridian pathway.

❤️"The pericardium is like the official at the (heart) center who guides the subjects (other organs, and functions of the body) in their joys and pleasures" -The Nei Ching.

Triple warmer

The non-organ. Organ meridian.

The Triple Warmer (TW) is noticeable but not containable. Like our brain registers our consciousness. But it is not our consciousness.

It's name in Chinese medicine is the "San Jiao". It's the refining fire. That thing that shows us what is pure, and removes the impure, from ourselves.

the San Jiao (Triple Warmer) and Body Fluids (Jin Ye) work together as the body's primary system for water metabolism, acting as the pathway and the material essence of internal hydration.

It is a unique organ that has no exact anatomical counterpart in Western medicine. Rather than limiting it to one system, modern TCM research often correlates the formless San Jiao to a combination of the interstitial fluid network, fascia, and the neuroendocrine-immune axis.
Instead, it defines three functional zones that channel fluid and energy (Qi):

Upper Jiao (Mist): Located above the diaphragm; houses the heart and lungs to disperse protective energy and body fluids like a morning fog.

Middle Jiao (Cauldron): Located from the diaphragm to the navel; houses the spleen and stomach to rot, ripen, and digest food.

Lower Jiao (Drainage Ditch): Located below the navel; houses the kidney, bladder, and intestines to separate pure fluids from waste and excrete them.

The TW meridian governs fluid metabolism and the body's-stress response system. Emotionally, it manages how we process protection, panic, and vulnerability.

When balanced, it fosters joy and connection; when blocked, it triggers survival fears, overwhelm, and deep isolation.

This Qigong movement can help support balance.

“Upholding heaven with two hands”

This movement creates "mental space," helping to dissolve the "narrowness" of anxiety and panic. Just as the physical stretch creates space in the torso.

Both hands uphold the sky to heal the three fires.

The chest opens wide, and worries dissolve into light.

This move increases circulation and awakens the energy of Summer.

👐“Upholding heaven with two hands”

With your feet shoulders width apart, knees slightly bent.

Inhale raising hands upward, palms up.

When they reach your forehead interlock your fingers and turn the palms upward, towards heaven.

Exhale, releasing your arms slowly down to your side, and repeatup to 7 times.

Notice how your body feels now?

The Small Intestines in TCM.

I'm Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the Small Intestine (SI) organ and meridian act as the official of "Separation of the Pure from the Impure", governing physical digestion as well as mental clarity, discernment, and healthy boundary-setting.

the Small intestine sorts nutrients from waste; and mentally sifting clear, useful thoughts from confused or turbid mental clutter. As well as this being the literal function. It receives transformed material and routes essential pure essences to the Spleen and blood.

It's the more external of this Fire element pairing (it's partner is the heart.) Small intestine energy translates the Heart's clear wisdom into practical, discerning daily choices.

When balanced, it we are Receptive, and embody mildness, deep sensitivity, intuition, and an innate capacity for warmth, joy, and open-hearted connection.

This creates space to let good things in, while keeping harmful influences or toxic thoughts out.

When imbalanced, we have tendencies toward emotional neediness, clinging, feeling easily rejected, or becoming scattered, overly analytical, and indiscriminate under stress.

Consider actions to help support these areas of your body. Such as:

Afternoon Reset: Since the meridian peaks between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM, take a quiet break during this window to practice deep breathing and mental sorting.

If you prefer movement try this action from my acupressure world or Jin Shin Do, try this one movement from Pal Dan Gum. (It's also known as the Eight Silken Movements, or Ba Duan Jin, these are ancient Qigong exercises.

“Swinging trunk and head”

These moves help cultivate inner calm. It releases excess fire energy from Summer, and relaxes Winter’s area of the body.

By performing a side-to-side swaying motion in a wide horse stance, you help descend excess heat from the heart downward to the kidneys, restoring balance.

To begin “Swinging trunk and head”:

Widen your stance slightly.

Hand at thigh or waist

Inhale deep into your tummy,

Exhale into a stretch to the side of the body, then forward down and around to the other side,

Inhale as you come back to center.

Exhale to the other side.

Inhaling on the return to center.

Repeat 3-7 times.

Let me know if you try it and how you felt before and after.

This image is from the view of someone's back. Not from the front. The heart meridian in on the front.