屍狗 Shī Gǒu ‘Corpse Dog’ – Depression/Contempt/Lonliness

Being under this influence is associated with the state of fright (esp. PTSD). Here one is ‘useless’, as in ‘useful as the corpse of a dog’. Also, it is to be/go unnoticed, for it is the illness you do not see aka. Trauma and connected disorders. Trauma may leave no mark, yet, in this case: one is as useless/invisible as a dead dog, becasue one is living within the memories and context of the trauma, not the present reality. 驚 Jīng aka. To start/to be frightened/to be scared/alarm. This is the traditional radical (of which I mostly focus) and pictures the inability to maintain the unified motion of YinYang aspects

(pg. 152-153: The Seven Emotions, Psychology and Health in Ancient China by Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochet de la Vallée) **Picture 1 misses the sentence: ‘The quality of the horse is not quiet at all. A horse is very sensitive to noise and light, especially if it is a…..’**

Shī Gǒu is a Break from Post Heaven and a disconnect to your fundamental physicality (eg. Flashbacks), a lapse from time, Not from anything you could necesarily point to (as in the case of grief). Post heaven represents how you move and transform as ‘you’ after birth: as in the consumption of food that becomes vitality, ideas, state, or in psychological terms it would be how your genes ‘express’.

In psychology there is phenotype (Pre-Heaven) or, the genetic map you are made from and born with. Then there is gene expression (Post-heaven) or how these phenotypes express as you move through the world with the choices you make.

If one is enveloped with re-living trauma and sifting through broken pieces: one consumes the vitality of the body, aka: 阴Yīn. This consumption gets in the way of the body’s ability to restore, maintain and overtime will lose longevity/material substrate. Often a person experiancing trauma and/or flashbacks is not taking care of themselves. They may waste away.  阴Yīn is literally ‘material substrate of interaction’ and is such as (not limited to): bodily fluids, moisturizing and nourishing aspects of physiology. When it is low, this can lead to: dry throat, nightsweats, anxiety, headaches, tinnitus, sensations of heat, cold extremities, for example. Note that list is not exhaustive nor do those symptoms imply a Yīn deficiency as they could appear for very different reasons.

State shift is important in this scenario. Since the body is already on high alert, one need not shock. Learning gentleness and re-connecting to the Grandmother within (and of course those if you have them!) will be essential here. I would not recommend electro-Acupuncture in this case, as it may trigger a stronger shock state. Gentle excercise like Qi Gong has been shown to be supportive. Acupuncture and herbal remedies will be important here too. Beginning and starting your day with gentle movement, singing, music, being in nature and breathwork are all wonderful ways to reconnect to your essential nature.

Area of most interference is posterior to the navel (inside the body). Interesting to note a recent article I posted about PTSD and the link with Autoimmune disorders: is at times felt in the intestines. The old wives saying ‘listen to your gut’ comes to mind, and Western Science is slowely peeling back the layers of connection between digestion, state of mind and health. Allowing onself to learn resilience in both reactive and restful states. To be able to shift and become aware of oneself is a practice of self-compassion which ripples outwards.

To re-unite Yinyang, to restore the Post-Heaven and begin to care for self again are places to begin in this case. Even the practice of breathing deeply, into the four corners of the ribs is an act of reconnection. Somatic therapy is an up-and-coming service and it is the basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM originated to balance the subjective, felt sense experiance of psycho-somatic upheavels: To untangle the maladaptive and weave a resilient being. Resilience is a process, non-linear and its’ basis may be choosing compassion. When we connect empathetically to internal processes, we can begin to care for ourselves and community. Acupuncture is very effective here, as it downregulates the system into a parasympathetic state which will last 4 days; unless one reacts to a trigger, then the cycle begins again. In this case the trigger can be a focus for treatment, slowely bringing awareness to reactions and learning regulation in these times.

Art by Autumn Skye