One of the main jobs of your stomach is to breakdown the proteins of your food – along with the bacteria and other living organisms. That said, one of the first lines of defense against foreign invaders is that they get digested by the stomach’s hydrochloric acid.
So your immune system is giving you troubles. It might be over-active, or under-active. Let’s approach these problems using an elemental frame of reference. This elemental frame of reference was at the core of an ancient wisdom that has been lost to most of us today. Link to LearnMore1.0 – could be used in each category to bring user to a more generalized deeper dive into the 4Es if this is all new to them.
Ancient Elemental Notion
You might wonder about the connection between your stomach and your immune system – both are, according to Chinese medicine, Earth element organs. There is a deeper connection as well. Both your stomach and immune system build upon the power of protein. Four element thinking tells us protein embodies Earth in a big way.
Earth creates physical structure, and in that way, it is seen biologically present as the proteins that give shape to cellular structures.
You might remember this from a science class you took: each creature/individual has its own assortment of proteins, which build the various types of cells composing its organs. The immune system is immensely good at finding (and destroying) those cells that are composed of non-self proteins – until it’s not.
One important subset of immune system cells are called “the B cells’. They are generated and begin their maturing process in our bone marrow. When we discuss motions we’ll discuss that further in regard to heel strike value.
Another important subset of immune system cells are made in the thymus, “T-cells”. That said, the thymus is considered the mother of one’s immune system. It is especially involved in the self: non-self aspect of our immune system.
Like other parts of the immune system, the spleen uses both the T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes to find and destroy those invaders – again all based on that Earth element protein to assess whether a cell living in the body is the body’s own or a foreign invader. Interestingly, hemoglobin, the major protein of blood cells, fatigues and loses its shape like all protein molecules often do. This shape change is detected by the spleen; that old red blood cell is then removed from circulation by the spleen.
There are also the intercellular channels between tissues, which coalesce as lymph fluid in our body’s many lymphatic vessels. They, in a sense, are at the very bottom of the immune system. The structural integrity of these lymph channels express their own level of Earth element physicality. Much harm can occur when Earth has become so weakened in a person that these lymph channels cannot clear its dead bacteria, cellular debris and other assorted materials.
Here’s the ultimate holistic notion: Our immune system depends upon a lot of “Earth” to help it function. This play out in both “motions” and in the food-built potions you can draw upon.
Body Motions:
Thoracic 4E Yoga maneuvers