Our kidney health is extremely important to our overall health and wellness, but many people don’t even notice their presence until they fall ill or there is an imbalance energetically. Although small and rather hidden in our bodies, kidney health is vital to our survival not only because they are constantly filtering and purifying our blood, but also because they provide physical water to hydrate all of our organs, as well as the cooling energy to our brains for a healthy and balanced
Water Up/Fire Down system.
In both eastern and western medicine, the kidneys are considered the regulators of overall health and balance within the body. Because their physical health is just as important as their energetic health, we are going to explore the role of fear in connection to our kidneys and ways we can re-calibrate their energy to improve our mental, physical, energetic and spiritual health.
We had the honor of talking to Master Chungsuk—an energy expert, 30-year qigong trainer, and instructor of one of our most popular courses,
"Basic Meridian Healing"—about kidney health.
Why is kidney health so important?
The kidneys and their energy are closely related to your instincts around sexual and physical health, which is called "Jung" energy in Korean. Not only does it govern the health of your teeth, hair, bones and bone marrow (the foundation of our tissues and physical strength), but when your Jung is transformed as it travels up your chakras, it becomes a vital energy that manifests as motherly nurturing energy, fatherly protective energy, and the willingness to benefit others. The essential energy of Jung in our kidneys wants to preserve life, to continue life. This is a distinction to the closely related bladder meridian, which governs the instincts (your "fight or flight" mechanism) to survive from danger and life-threatening circumstances.
So when you have strong kidneys, your energy is very soothing, understanding and loving—not only to yourself and direct family, but to all humanity.
Where are my kidneys?
Your kidneys are a pair of organs that sit on either side of your spine between the T12 vertebrae down to L3; the top half of each kidney is protected by the bottom of the ribcage, and the bottom half lies just below. They are behind your liver and stomach and sit right in front of, and next to, your spine.
They are a deep red in color and are each about the size of your fists. Your left kidney is positioned slightly higher than your right. You can take your hands and massage or gently tap your mid-back to help release built up tension and heal your kidneys.
What do kidneys and fear have to do with each other?
When your Jung energy is abundant, maintaining health will be natural. You will not be holding fear around your health. If there is a dangerous situation, your bladder meridian will be affected. However if that fear lasts for a long period of time, or fearful situations happen frequently, or if you continuously fear within your own mind, as the bladder meridian (yang) becomes blocked, it will also weaken its Yin/Yang partner meridian, the Kidney meridian (yin).
Stress at work, fear of providing for family, fear of health deteriorating, and many other situations are things many of us think about frequently, and perhaps incessantly, which affect our kidneys' health and their ability to filter out toxins in the blood and unhealthy thoughts. Mental fear is best addressed by opening to the possibility of and resources to solutions to our fears. Practicing kidney-replenishing habits (like Dahnjon breathing etc), you will create the energy to attract the universe's database of information to protect your life and respond to events so that you are not in constant fear. With healthy kidneys, you are prepared and determined to survive, and moreover, you will seek to focus that energy on a goal that benefits all of mankind.
What do you recommend most for keeping kidneys healthy?
The two most important exercises I can recommend to improve kidney health and keep them healthy are
Intestine Exercises and Dahnjon Breathing. Kidneys are difficult to feel and move. For this reason, it is important to move the body around them so that they get the stimulation they need to heal. Even jumping up and down won’t move your kidneys. Intestine Exercises and Dahnjon Breathing, however, are some of the few exercises that actually move and massage the kidneys. It is so effective in strengthening and healing your kidneys because you are using your own abdomen muscles to move and massage your kidneys.
It is at the kidneys that cool energy from water can rise up the spine to cool the brain. However, just like water doesn't rise until it gets hot enough to boil and steam, the water energy in the kidneys can't rise until enough energy is in the kidneys and the fire in the belly is burning bright. Of course it's not the same as boiling water, but it just means if there isn't enough energy in our lower Dahnjon, there isn't enough power in the kidneys to cause the water energy to rise.
Other great exercises for your Kidney meridian and Kidney Health are:
When practiced regularly, these exercises can bring great relief to your kidneys and improve your overall health.
Understanding the importance of kidney health and the role kidneys play in our health is important in order to begin healing. With these exercises recommended by Master Chungsuk, we hope you can develop a strong mind/body connection and also better detect and isolate energetic imbalances within your body. Developing this “sixth sense” and awareness of your energy will greatly improve your natural healing power.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.