-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
endocrine system
thyroid cancer
psychospiritual approaches

metaphors and correlations

• Gland has meaning of a door, or shield, or forest. Thyroid disturbance is usually
associated with some issue regarding going through a door of life; making the decision of moving from one phase of life to another. (Shealy, p. 123)
• Hatred for being inflicted upon; victim; feeling thwarted in life; unfulfilled. (Hay, 1984, p. 166)
• Thyroid is associated with humiliation; I never get to do what I want to; when is it going to be my turn? Tumor associated with nursing old hurts and shocks; building remorse. (Hay, 1984, p. 186-7)

Chinese psychophysiology:
Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; governs Water to regulate body fluids; provides the "Fire of Life" through its Yang functions; provides the nourishing and stabilizing qualities of Yin and Water that balance the Yang and the Fiery qualities; relates particularly to chronic conditions because it carries the constitutional endowment from the parents; and displays the effects of overwork, aging, chronic degenerative processes, and extreme stress.
»
Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance.
» Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch. As always, chronic Yin Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to Empty Heat.
» Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Often chronic anxiety may induce Xu (Deficiency) and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).

Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; stores and cleanses the Xue (Blood); maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry eyes, skin, and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down. Liver Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) predisposes to Xue Yu (Blood Stasis).
» Tumors and other masses are considered a form of Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) and thus ultimately are derived from Qi Stagnation. Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216) Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) often begins with Qi Stagnation.


therapies

imagery:
• Mut and crone journey (Scully)
• sun's entry (Chavez)
• fire and ice (Chavez)
• vitality of life (Serinus, p. 203)
• beaver dammed (Chavez)
see also: imagery for immune enhancement

affirmation:
• I move beyond old limitations and now allow myself to express freely and creatively. (Hay, 1984, p. 186)
• I lovingly release the past and turn my attention to this new day. All is well. (Hay, 1984, p. 187)

process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
• What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (related materia medica listings: endocrine system interview)

related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
converting a symptom to a signal
imagery: precautions
imagery: techniques
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
process paradigm


footnotes

Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.