The Mental & Emotional Aspects of the Spleen Meridian in Acupuncture

24 Aug 2021

On the psychological level, the ‘energy’ traversing the Spleen meridian in acupuncture is somewhat related to that of the Small Intestine channel (discussed in one of the previous blogs- click here to read).

Excess Spleen

The Spleen energy pertains to the intellect, clear thought, memorization, studying & concentration. Deeper on the emotional level, the Spleen meridian points can be used to aid in cases of excessive ‘brooding’ on past incidents and simply living too much ‘in one’s head’ – i.e.,  this occurs when the intellect tries to ‘take over & dominate.’ This is often especially true of  individuals that have to rationalize and filter everything through their heads…even things that aren’t meant to be “filtered” as such.

Sometimes, we ―and our psyche― can benefit much more if instead we settle down to really feel our emotions instead of running from or  rationalizing away as we usually do. Again, the intellect has its purpose, but when it tries to  take over our lives and won’t allow the emotions to evolve, to experience life in ways beyond  the intellect’s territory….then this just means that we’re out of balance and our Spleen ‘energy’  has something to do with it : ) 

Deficient Spleen

The above mentioned scenario applies to situation when the Spleen energy is said to be ‘in excess’. The opposite can also be true, that is, it can be deficient; or to be more precise, its  mental / emotional component can be weak relative to other “competing” energies. One very  interesting example of this latter situation pertains ―of all things― to the spine! And this is  actually when the Spleen energy weaves with that of the Small Intestine channel. Here, specific combinations of points from the two meridians can be used to ‘straighten & strengthen’ the  spine, and to gain mental strength & clarity in order to face life’s difficulties.

A Spineless Human Being

Many of us have heard of the expression ‘a spineless human being’. This expression usually refers to people that simply ‘cannot stand up for themselves’ and ‘cannot stand their ground’ in face of oncoming  challenges. In such situations acupuncture can be used to nudge the psyche to try to make this additional leap and envision life ―and our place in it― from a new angle. It is not a simple coincidence that we use the ‘spineless human being’ expression to describe some people and  neither is the fact that the muscular components of the Spleen and Small Intestine meridians closely follow the paraspinal muscles in our bodies.

By: Andre Inglot, Registered Acupuncturist

If any of this sounds like you , or you are curious to learn more about acupuncture, book an appointment with Andre at Natural Choice Medical Clinic in Guelph.