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The Healing Sound for Fear and the Kidneys

Kidney and bladder are the organs associated with the water element. Winter is the season of  water  and the manifest aspect of nature is fluidity, receptivity and reflectivity. The energetic tendency is resting and the water element is the most Yin of the five elements. Water never moves of its own volition yet it must move or it will stagnate,  so the idea of resting is that we are allowing ourselves to be moved by the outside world around us.  In Classical Chinese medicine, there is also an aspect of personality that corresponds to each of the five elements and the vital organs. The aspect of personality for the water element is called the Chih. The Chih is the realm of our emotional responses which are a co-creation of what arises in the world around us and our beliefs, experiences, judgements,  both known and unknown. We encounter a person, object or situation and it passes through our consciousness, when it hits bottom an energetic response, or feeling automatically arises. Our brain then labels the feeling as an emotion such as joy, sadness, fear, anger…  Our feelings or emotions do not arise by themselves; something has to trigger the energetic response. The Chih is where we co-creatively allow the outer world to become part of our inner reality. This can be a playful and rich experience of our existence in this world. How the aspect of reflectivity comes in to play is that it is easy for us to project the reason for our feelings to the outside object rather than our relationship to it. Emotional responses that cause us difficulty are trailheads to parts of ourselves that carry burdensome beliefs.  When parts of us carry trauma and are triggered by events the emotional responses can feel overwhelming and out of our control and this can cause us to feel anxiety and fear, and over a long period of time will damage the function of the kidneys. We live in a culture that operates by creating fear carried by the messages of our media, marketing and some religions and many of us live in a constant state of some level of fear.  The feeling of fear is a dissension of energy in the body for fight or flight. One of the jobs of the kidneys is to ascend energy especially for respiration so respiratory illness can arise. Bladder issues, low back and hip pain as well as leg and knee issues can be associated with fear and anxiety. Exploring the depths of our inner world can be an amazing and enlightening adventure. Breathe; be present with feelings as they arise. It is not so important to label our feels as it is to just experience them. Ask, where am I feeling this in my body, what does it feel like. Explore the feelings in a sensual way, is it hot or cold, hard, soft and so on. If a feeling begins to feel overwhelming, breathe space so there is room for it to be there but not overcrowding. If you cannot make space,  use the healing sound as a tool. Breath space until there is a grounded center, a place that witnesses our feelings from a curious, open hearted space. Be present, breathe and get to know your inner world.

Associations of the water element are:

·         Color – blue or black

·         Sound – groaning

·         Odor – putrid

·         Tendency – resting

·         Taste – salty

·         Sense – hearing

·         Sense organ – ears

·         Climate – cold and comfortable

·         Fortifies – bones

·         Vital organ – kidneys

·         Hollow organ – bladder

·         Season – winter

·         Time of day – midnight