The Extraordinary Vessels & Self-Nourishment

Unlock the secrets of traditional Chinese medicine's extraordinary vessels and transform your well-being journey. From the ancient energy channels that influence our emotional and physical balance to the connection between fertility and aging, this episode promises to offer insights that will resonate with both healthcare practitioners and curious listeners alike. By exploring the intricate dance of yin and yang energies, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how to maintain essential bodily functions and harness the Chong Mai's role in life's stages. In resonance with this theme, I share a heartfelt story about the pulse changes that occur at the end of life, revealing the profound link between our energy and existence.

Celebrate the importance of self-care with a list of Kidney energy nourishing foods and my special recipe reveal that will invigorate your daily routine. Combining the rich flavors of black tea, raw cacao, honey, lion's mane mushroom and maca powder, this recipe is designed to uplift and rejuvenate. Join me in contemplating how we can embrace nourishing practices and empower our well-being with self-care.

Thank you for tuning in and creating this space with me.

To learn more about me or to work with me 1:1 online, please visit http://MelanieAdrianna.com or contact me at [e-mail].

Melanie Adrianna


Music credit: 

Thank you to Den from Pixabay for the first background song and to music_from_video from Pixabay for the second background song in this episode.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
I'm creating an energy field for storytelling.
I'm creating an energy fieldfor storytelling Aligning my
central channel, taking a breathin Closing any open doors,

(00:26):
leaks, back doors, hidden andsecret doors.
I'm inviting in the audiencewho is here to resonate in this
field.
I'm asking that, through mysource connection, the words,

(00:56):
the ideas, the stories and theinsights come through to support
the listeners in their greatestremembrance of self.
There are a lot of healthcarepractitioners in the audience

(01:33):
today Energy medicinefacilitators, shamans, medicine
women and men, herbalists,hobbyists, experimenters Welcome
.
Today I'm going to talk aboutthe extraordinary vessels.
This is a topic that reallyinterested me in the beginning

(01:54):
of my studies of orientalmedicine and five element theory
.
The extraordinary vessels arethe deepest primordial vessels
within the body.
It is taught within the systemof traditional Chinese medicine
that the extraordinary vesselsare the first energetic
meridians or streams of energyto form in the womb space.

(02:18):
They include the essentialessence and resources that we
use throughout our lives when weare in need of deeper
nourishment, when we are in needof deeper nourishment
particularly on an emotionallevel, and also in circumstances
of chronic stress, fatigue,pregnancy and sudden shock and

(02:41):
trauma.
There are eight mainextraordinary vessels that are
commonly talked about in Chinesemedicine, and then there are
also additional vessels that arespoken about in other specialty
systems and modalities thatfocus exclusively on these
extraordinary vessels.
This is also a common topic inQigong, which includes hundreds,

(03:06):
if not thousands, of traditionsof movement with breath in
order to self-regulate thefunctions of the body and access
the resources and flow of theenergy within the meridian
system and the entirety of thebiofield.
In Chinese, the names of thesevessels are the Yin Wei, the

(03:29):
Yang Wei, the Yin Chao, the YangChao, the Ren Mai, the Du Mai,
the Dai Mai and the Chong Mai.
The Ren and the Du Maicorrespond to the Yin and the
Yang of the body.
There's an idea of theuniversal circuit or central
circuit that runs through thefront and back of the center

(03:52):
lines of the body, on the frontand the back sides of the spine.
The yin is in the front side ofthe body and the yang is in the
back side of the body, the yincorresponding to nourishment,
introversion, emotions,stillness, darkness, receptivity

(04:12):
, mothering and the nighttime.
The yang, central channel onthe backside of the body
corresponds to active outwardenergy, the daylight,
extroversion, expression,movement, sunlight, taking those

(04:33):
resources from the yin andutilizing them to metabolize the
bodily functions and expresscreatively out into the world.
A balance of yin and yang isessential as they feed each
other in a constant loop,literally and figuratively,

(04:53):
within the energetic rhythms ofour bodies, as well as
throughout the seasons and thecycles that we move through, the
seasons that mirror themetabolic functions and
psychological and emotionalprocesses within the human body
and psyche.
The yin and the yang alsoestablish an essential polarity

(05:17):
in the body.
The yin comes up through thefeet, from our connection to the
earth as negative electrons,and moves up the front of the
body to the top of the crown andconnects above, while the yang
comes from above the celestialenergies or the codes from the
Sun that stream through thecrown and move through the back

(05:39):
side of the body back down intothe earth.
In a state of balance, ourbodies discharge any excess or
imbalance of positive andnegative frequencies.
This polarity is essential tothe functioning of all of our
body systems, as the organs ineach of the energy centers,

(06:01):
which are known as chakras tomany, have their own polarity of
positive or negativefrequencies.
The extraordinary vessel calledthe Chong Mai or the conception
vessel is connected deeply tothe blood, to the menstrual
cycle, fertility, menopause andhormonal balance in both men and

(06:24):
women.
It is deeply connected to theenergy of the kidney, holds the
essence or the Jing in Chinesemedicine, which is said to have
a finite resource.
When you're born you have acertain amount of essence that
is stored in the kidneys and itsmeridian system, and as we age

(06:45):
that resource is slowly depletedand in later years of life,
when there's a little bit lesskidney essence, you see things
like the graying of hair,hearing loss, dry skin, nails
and hair, decreased libido and apotential depletion of the
marrow of the bones, causingissues like osteoporosis or

(07:08):
osteopenia or memory loss.
That's why it's so important tonourish the kidney energy, not
just later in life, butthroughout our lives.
Foods that nourish the kidneyinclude fish, especially white
fish, and salmon, shrimp, dates,leeks, nuts particularly

(07:29):
walnuts, macadamia nuts, brazilnuts, lentils, beans, fresh
berries and tropical fruits likepineapple, mango, kiwi and
pomegranate, althoughpomegranate, I'll add, is more
for the heart.
But the kidney and the heartwork together fire and water in

(07:50):
their own dance.
This is a little-known fact inChinese medicine that I think
you'll find interesting.
There are 12 pulse positions onthe wrists that represent the 12
energy meridians, or energylines present the 12 energy
meridians, or energy lines thatare connected to the meridians

(08:12):
that rise to the surface of thebody to access the acupuncture
points that you all know of.
And in a healthy state thepulse has an even quality.
You can feel the definition ofthe pulse it's not weak, it's
not too strong, it has like aneven keel flow to it.
And when someone's body andspirit is getting ready to

(08:36):
transition to the non-physical,the last available resources
from the kidney, energetic, allof the pulse positions become
empty within the hours orminutes before somebody
transitions, except for thekidney pulse position.
That pulse actually gets largeand flooding because the body is

(08:58):
using its last availableresources to keep itself alive.
This is actually something Iwitnessed when my grandmother
transitioned.
Me and several of my familymembers were sitting in her
hospice room talking to her,sharing stories and holding her
hand.
I flew out to Arizona fromDenver at the time and I was

(09:22):
scared and worried.
I hadn't expected her suddendecline in health.
One of my teachers in Denverconnected me with his Navajo
friend, a beautiful spiritualwoman who learned from her
parents the old ways, and shewas praying for my grandmother
and in the hour leading up toher transition.

(09:43):
In the hospice room in Arizona,I could hear the Navajo woman
praying in my right ear as ifshe were sitting in the room
with us.
I knew that she was assistingher soul to get ready to move on
and it was beautiful.
The extraordinary vessels holdprecious resources that allow us

(10:05):
to navigate life at a very deep, intuitive level.
They help us to establish andreform our relationship to
ourselves and to the outsideworld, the boundary between what
feels safe and what doesn't.
How do we nourish ourselveswithin and without?

(10:27):
Whether it's through aninternal introspective or
meditative practice, or eatingnourishing foods or cultivating
nourishing relationships withothers?
We each have our own ways ofcoming back into balance and of
accessing our deepest resources.
How do you do that for yourself?

(10:50):
What do you do to nourishyourself or to create that
balance between your inner worldand your outer world, between
your relationship with yourselfand your relationship to the
outside world, to the outsideworld?
In that process of unfoldingthese deep ways of relating,

(11:18):
it's very common for traumas tocome up, or early memories or
feelings within the body thataren't necessarily connected to
memories but create a sense oflimitation or blockage.
Sense of limitation or blockage.
I invite you to slow down whenthat friction arises in your
life.
Slow down and tune in to whatyour body and what your energy

(11:38):
is really trying to tell you.
What are your needs and how canyou be there for you to
acknowledge them and, whenyou're ready, take steps to get
them met?

(11:58):
I just noticed that there aresome mothers in the field with
young children and it made mesmile.
I'm not a mother, but I can'timagine what it's like to
nourish your own resources whenyou have to constantly give to a
little one or multiple littleones.
I think it's really asuperhuman power that mothers

(12:19):
have, but somehow they find theway.
Before I close the field, I'mgoing to give you my secret
recipe for my nourishing teadrink.
I like to use a Somme tea orany form of black tea that's
tasty, and I add a tablespoon ofraw cacao powder, a teaspoon of

(12:40):
honey or more to taste, andabout half to one teaspoon of
both lion's mane mushroom powderand maca powder, and it makes
me feel so good and so nourished.
So, in the light of tuning into self-nourishment and the
extraordinary vessels, I thankyou for joining me today in this

(13:02):
field of resonance and hope tosee you next time.

(13:49):
Thank you.