Collaterals and Divergences

The Cost/Benefit of Suppression and Repression

Our lives seem to unfold in particular directions. From a Daoist perspective we can see the ripening of past karmic seeds flowering and fruiting, with the general impact of further solidifying (and narrowing) our thoughts, ideas, concepts, etc. We create a story about how the world works, and our role in it. We know the common idiom that an angry person lives in an angry world, and I am sure we can all point to examples that confirm this. From the Daoist perspective we are not helpless to this immense karmic tide which calcifies our habits/thoughts/beliefs ad infinitum. In fact, much of Daoist praxis is geared towards unwinding it.

But, from a phsyiological (and psychological) perspective we are seemingly programmed to maintain the status quo with multiple built-in fail safes that keep us functioning within particular parameters. And while from a spiritual perspective it can prevent us from breaking free of this spinning samsaric wheel, this is not all bad; in fact this is good news from a purely health perspective.

This may seem counterintuitive, but a physiological medical health-oriented perspective is not necessarily concerned with spiritual goals of attaining realization or enlightenment. That is within the purview of Daoism and other spiritual traditions. And while one can argue that Chinese medicine has Daoist roots (a controversial topic in some arenas), its goals are more mundane and this does not diminish its import in understanding and creating health (physical and mental-emotional).

Within the Chinese medicine paradigm, we have a series of energetic channel systems, each with particular functions and goals. The Primary channels are our main pathways; it sets basic relationships between organ systems, movement of qi, blood, fluids, helps maintain circadian rhythms, feeds our sensory organs for healthy perceptions of our environment (and mediates the internal and external), allows for all we need for survival (eg the Lungs, Large Intestine, Stomach and Spleen-Pancreas regulating breathing, eating and digesting, proper elimination, etc.), relationships (eg, the Heart, Small Intestine, Bladder and Kidneys which manage the mediation of our deepest selves and sharing that with the outside world), and differentiations (eg the Pericardium, Triple Burner mechanism, Gall Bladder and Liver which help direct our lives towards our acculturated likes/dislikes, habits, adaptive responses to challenges, etc.).

But, we know life isn’t that simple. Shit happens, and we deviate from our norm in myriad ways. Circumstances intervene and we can lose our compass, we can become diverted from our main pathway, and become shunted into a collateral or divergent path. In Chinese medicine, these types of events call upon a different set of channel systems to intervene, the collateral vessels and the divergent channels. (There are other channels, too, that we will discuss in future posts, eg, the sinew channels and 8 extraordinary.) One of the main purposes of these systems is to divert resources, and take these problems into various states of latency, so that we can go on living our normal habituated lives. This is their virtue. The flipside of this benefit is that we ignore our problems; we pretend they do not exist. This happens until we can no longer ignore them, and hopefully, by then it is not too late to rectify.

Collaterals

The collateral vessels create latency in the blood. The blood is where our awareness and emotions reside in Chinese medicine; you know the saying “hot blooded” or “cold hearted” and what that means. But to maintain latency in the blood means that we must suppress something. And to suppress something, it means we must be on some level aware of that thing we are suppressing. We feel a strong emotion, we are not able to deal with it (at least in the moment or at a particular time of our life) and we stuff it in and down. We stagnate it; keep ignoring it. This takes effort. Effort is qi (energy), and energy requires metabolic heat. The more we stuff, the longer we suppress, the more stagnation results, and the more heat is created. Eventually, this becomes inflammatory. And when that inflammation consumes the resources utilized to contain it, it breaches the defenses and runs rampant. We lose latency. We lose control of our emotions. We lose control of a pathogen that has been gaining strength (ie, consuming us via building heat/inflammation) until it begins to damage our physiology (eg, inflammatory bowel disease, blood clots, infectious processes, etc.) and our psychology (eg, constant irritability, anger, mania and possible even psychosis when severe enough).

So, the virtue of the collaterals is that they allow for suppression. We cannot always deal with our painful emotions or suffering immediately in the moment. Life sometimes requires we hold something until later. And if one’s awareness and integrity allows for it to be dealt with sooner than later, we can release these collaterals safely. We can move them, move the stored emotion in a productive (or at least a non-harmful) way. But, if we choose to ignore it, or our lives are such that we keep needing to suppress, we run the risks detailed above. Awareness is the key.

But what if we aren’t even aware of the stresses taxing our systems (mind/body), or those stresses are just too great for us to manage and deal with? What if they overwhelm and override this collateral system? Luckily, we have a system of divergences. Now, this system can be called into action when the collaterals are not able, or they can be utilized more instinctually when the threat is more of an overwhelming external event or pathogen, eg, toxins, radiation (see my post from the other day below) or a traumatic event (the subject of my text, Heart Shock).

EMF Exposure and Fragility

Divergences

The divergences are called into action when something enters the system and threatens to damage the primary pathway system (and organs). The threat is great, and the primary pathway, while not strong enough to eradicate it, uses and mobilizes its resources to divert it to a less threatening locale. It creates latency in the joints, bony cavities, etc. and basically throws a wet blanket over them to quell it and slow down its progression. This is great, and we are able to go about our lives without interruption. At least for as long as our resources are able to repress the pathogen. The difference between the collaterals and suppression, and the divergences and repression, is that with the latter we are unaware of this process generally. This is a really interesting (and problematic) issue, as without awareness, we lack choice. We lose a willful ability to decide how we would like to deal and manage these particular threats. And they go unchecked potentially wreaking havoc once (and if, depending on unique resources available) they come out of latency. Some early signs of this loss of latency are arthritis conditions, and other inflammatory pain syndromes, and the more severe ones show up as autoimmune diseases, cancers, and other life threatening illnesses. It is not uncommon for these disease processes to move rapidly as well, as once latency is lost, it means our resources and containment mechanisms have failed. This is where you see the first time diagnoses of cancers showing up with stage IV metastases, or the patient who a year ago had a negative mammogram and this year has breast cancer.

Chinese Medicine To The Rescue

The wonderful thing about Chinese medicine is that it can see these processes taking place well before any illness results. Chinese pulse diagnosis when performed by a skilled practitioner can “see” the suppressions and repressions right on the pulse! It can tell whether or not there are adequate resources to maintain latency. It can reveal if there is enough integrity to release the pathogen from latency and move it out of the system. And what a skilled practitioner can do is provide awareness. The practitioner can mirror back the pulse findings and detail the intricacies of the patient’s health to allow for remediation, not just of a particular disease process, but also of how the patient’s lifestyle and adaptive responses have created pathology in general and an environment ripe for future pathologies as well. There is so much more to say on these topics and I have only presented a cursory view, but for now I will just leave you with an interesting correlation…

An Interesting Correlation

A quick mention on two interesting associations based on the above understanding of collaterals/suppression and choice, and divergences/repression and toxicity…. In Chinese medicine, decision-making is a virtue of the Gall Bladder. In this regard, as it is situated from a 5 Element/Phase perspective as a wood system directly between water and fire, its job is to make decisions based on what one knows is right and true and aligned for oneself. This is the fire-water balance, or the Heart and Kidneys communicating. It is mediated by the Gall Bladder. Should the Gall Bladder make decisions not aligned with the Heart based on what it knows (intuitively or otherwise) as consistent with the self, a disconnect is created and imbalance ensues. Over time, this burdens the Gall Bladder. From a perspective on toxicity, one of the main ways the body manages it is via the Liver and its role in eliminating it via the intestines. When burdened, toxins accumulate in the colon, but also significantly in the appendix, a majorly overlooked immune organ. Now, if we look at two of the most common modern day surgeries, we see appendectomies and Gall Bladder resections. This is not a coincidence!

What’s To Come

To learn more about that aforementioned Daoist lens and how to alter this seemingly fated karmic ripening, stay tuned. Future posts will address this topic…