The Courage To Act — A Virtue Of The Gallbladder
"My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand." --Thich Nhat Hahn
A few weeks ago I wrote the blog “Looking For Li - A Glance At the Intention Behind Action.”
While well received, it sparked questions about how to decide, and to act.
Making plans and acting on those plans may be difficult even when times aren’t tumultuous. Right now, folks are searching for something to do, a meaningful way to engage, in what seems like an overwhelming quagmire.
Ah…let’s call on the virtues of your Gallbladder —the Courageous Judge that decides what is ‘exact and just’ and gives you the gall to act on your plans.
But first, how do we even create plans?
The Heart as Sovereign ruler sits in the innermost palace and wants to bring to the world your light, gifts and desires. Its virtues are volition and propriety. The Heart houses your Shen. One of the five souls, the Shen is associated with the force of the personality, and the ability to think, discriminate, and choose appropriately. It relies on its closest minister, the Small Intestines, to help it ‘separate the pure from the impure’. The Shen’s awareness shines out of our eyes when we are truly awake (souls meet souls when eyes meet eyes - extra points if you get the reference to graphic novels that use this phrase). The Heart, as sovereign, hopefully grounded and housing its Shen well, wants to bring its virtuous desires forth in the world. But it doesn’t do the work itself, that is the role of the Hun.
The Hun is the soul that corresponds to the Wood element (Liver & Gallbladder). The Hun gives us clear insight, planning, direction, vision and the ability to act on our life plans. It helps us discern what is just and helps us plan our futures in meaningful ways. The Liver’s role is to help us create a vision and plan out our future. Once the Liver has made a plan it hands it over to the Gallbladder who decides what is ‘exact and just’ in the plan before we move forward. When out of balance, we will experience indecision, timidity, frustration, and lack of planning or initiative, or flawed action such as repeating harmful behaviors or choices.
The Liver creates the plan, but it is the Gallbladder that gives the mind the courage to decide and the gall to act. These two faculty are linked and mutually supportive, so most actions, be that food, acupoints, and treatments will influence both.
The Wood element also has to ‘bend like bamboo’ and amend or change plans and actions in light of circumstances or situations that throw up road blocks to our original plans. Banging your head against the wall in your path is a sign of stagnation. Choosing to work the problem, finding a way around, to the side, over or through is willfully engaging the virtues of Liver and Gallbladder.
That’s the gist of it. While each part has nuance and each of us may have areas that need addressed, that’s really it.
3 steps
Know your Li and Shen.
Create a plan.
Discern how best to enact the plan and take action.
Even without knowing all the nuances, we can give the Wood element a kick to get unstuck and start moving.
Don’t have a gallbladder anymore? The channel system is still there and functional in regards to Chinese medicines actions, it’s just more compromised.
Tips to move stagnation and gain ‘pluck and courage’.
Move stagnation —Liver and Gallbladder are prone to stagnation, this blog is filled with more details and tools to use to bust up when you are feeling stuck.
Mint— I am drinking so much mint tea this time of year…keeps me from raging inappropriately.
Gallbladder specific foods — Gallbladder gets bogged down and damp as we get older if we have a diet of rich, fatty and refined foods, lighten up with spring greens, sour, and bitter flavors. Add in some corn silk tea, green tea, self-heal, and cranberry.
Formulas — Asian/Chinese medicine provides us with a lot of great formulas for stagnation like Ban Xia Ho Pu Tang, Aspiration or Xiao Yao Wan (Relaxed Wanderer). Gallbladder patterns include Long Tan Xie Gan Wan and Xiao Chai Hu Tang Wan. If Small Intestines need help with ‘separating the pure from the impure,’ we reach for Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang (One Mind from Kan). Check with your Amma therapist or Asian/Chinese medicine practitioner to get a match for your pattern.
Move the diaphragm — Check out the Wall In Us All for a little more insight.
Get in for Amma — Treatment can help move stagnation, reduces excess, nourish deficiencies, and address other organs and elements patterns that may be present. Gua sha and cupping are also beneficial.
Here’s to your decision making skills and action.
April
