GB41 Zu Lín Qi 足臨泣 Foot Near to Tears
Wood Point on the Wood Channel
To fully understand what this spring equinox point is used for, we need to look at the whole context of this point. First and foremost, it's on the gallbladder channel. The gallbladder as an organ is often overlooked and underestimated in Western medicine. As an anatomical organ, it can be taken out and this is considered not such a big deal. However, in Chinese medicine, the gallbladder encompasses an entire organ system, that includes not only the organ but the ligaments and tendons, the time of day, the time of year, a certain perspective and relationship to life.
The gallbladder organ system corresponds to the winter solstice and to midnight. This is the time when the dark is at its greatest, when, especially in ancient times perhaps, you might wonder if the light would ever be coming back. But it is at this darkest hour that the yang light begins to return. Even though there is still a whole dark winter ahead, or another 5 hours of darkness of nighttime, the shift has already begun and the clock, the solar year, moves steadily more and more to the light.
As such, this is an incredibly powerful force. It is the force of strong will and the impulse to live. It is the spark in the dark that knows what to do. It's the steam engine of all other action in the body. The gallbladder is a power meridian. As an archetype - this is the crusader. It's the ability to work for and to be willing to die for a cause - something that is uniquely human. To put your whole life blood into something and to practically disregard your own life in service of that vision or cause.
The name of this point and it's significance is held in the two words, Lín and Qi.
Lín 臨 means to inspect, to approach, to supervise, to control, to advance. It is represented by Hexagram 19 in the I Ching - 2 uninterrupted yang lines below with 4 broken yin lines above. This hexagram goes with the liver, the corollary wood organ. Lín also means to walk about. The liver is the general of the organ networks, he inspects the army, he holds the reign of power.
Lín also means to cry, to wail. Qi, the second word, can mean the silent tears that pour down your face. So here we have two different kinds of tears paired together, one with sound, one without. So Lin is the liquid of the liver (tears) and also of the blood.
This is a good point for when you seem to cry without reason, or everything makes you cry without control (which can be a symptom of blood deficiency). This is also a point for menstrual issues, as it is the master point of the Belt Channel, the Dai Mai. GB41 can help with discharging emotion, to help someone cry and then get through it and then move on.
Lin Qi revitalizes the channel. It can be used for any issues that have an irregular nature. Using this point with TW5 is highly effective to treat menstrual pain. This point treats emotional issues related to hormones. It's also for people who can’t cry, who need to be able to go forward and move on through this process of catharsis and crying.
The teaching of GB41, Lin Qi:
You've got to be able to let go. You cut the cord, you let it go. Let bygones be bygones. You are not a child anymore. You are connected as an invisible chain that is connected to your ancestors, or you grow up in a certain family environment but you do not need to be a slave to that. You say enough is enough, I’m not going to do it that way. This is ENOUGH. I am divorcing myself from that. I am walking my own path. This is the Gallbladder.
A spiritual eye that looks up at the sky. Tears that are also cast during ritual settings or funerals. Ritual tears, holy tears. Lin can also mean, keep going as in get the tears flowing when they’re not flowing, it can also mean the opposite, when something is not advancing – when there's stagnation, when there are tears without a sound which can manifest in a choppy or blocked pulse. Tears that do not flow freely because you don’t make a sound can be an outer manifestation of inner stagnating blood. Make the blood flow in blood stasis. Dai Mai relationship. Keep in Motion. Allow yourself a major release.
Other gathered treatment notes for GB41
GB 41: Foot Near to Tears
Dissipates Wind, removes liver Qi stagnation, clears wetness (damp spleen) by draining into Dai Mai (girdle vessel) thereby increasing Spleen Qi and Xue (blood) production, improving digestion and warming the extremities. Dispels damp-heat.
Emotional tears.....cyclical depression and anxiety. PMS, breast distension, general sensations of physical and emotional stuckness, mood swings. Digestive discomfort, nausea, poor appetite, gas and bloating. Unclear head, clogged sensory orifices. Allergies that cause tearing, affecting the ears, eyes and nose. Pain between the ribs. Swelling of the lymph nodes.
Shaoyang syndrome - associated with the three months of Spring. The wood element, and also ministerial fire (TB). Wood and fire. Fire comes from wood. Shaoyang pivots, it's on either side of the body. left shaoyang is responsible for the opening of taiyang and the right shaoyang is responsible for yangming opening.