Using Chi Nei Tsang to heal Menstrual Symptoms

Healing from the inside out

by Titsa Costalas

Tapping into the feeling body’s intelligence to address menstrual symptoms is another way to successfully heal the body from the inside out. Symptoms of Qi problems, like backache, weak immunity, constipation, bloating, muscle pain, infertility, and skin problems can all be alleviated using this Taoist Abdominal massage technique called Chi Nei Tsang.  Taoist monks observed that Chi blockages created knots in the abdomen. They discovered that all the meridians come together at the navel. This therapy uses Qigong (breathing exercises and controlled movements) to help create a balance of body, mind, and spirit using the 5 elements of Chinese medicine. 

Chi Nei Tsang, an ancient Taoist healing modality, that manually induces full-body healing from the abdomen. Our abdomen is our core. Not only in the physical sense but also from an energetic perspective. A return to listening to the nature of the body is needed to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the internal organs hold emotionally charged frequencies. These are embedded in the tissues and manifest as “undigested” charges that can trigger us. For example, an emotional memory can manifest as an involuntary contraction of the jaw with the teeth grinding at night, or difficulty “swallowing” emotions as constriction in the throat. Trouble digesting one’s own emotions appears at different chronic zones of tension, inflammation, and spastic areas along the intestines and along the digestive tract. These patterns of contraction can prevent digestion of both food and emotions with the accompanying feeling of being mentally “stuck,” says Gilles Merin, Director of the Chi Nei Tsang Institute of Berkeley California. 

According to studies conducted by Dr. Michael Guershon, of the University of Colombia, performed since the 1980s, found that the nervous system of the intestines establishes what he called a “second brain” in our body completely independent of the central nervous system. Chi Nei Tsang practitioners use special techniques to massage the abdomen for emotional healing and proper circulation of Qi. They specifically work on the intestines which often drive clients into a deep, active slumber full of dreams, or, on the contrary, triggers sometimes spectacular cathartic emotional reactions.

Life is directed by the five bits of intelligence or the five elemental forces that compose existence, according to Classical Chinese Medicine principles. These intelligent forces explain the reasons behind the nature and the behavior of each element. These 5 elements constitute what we call in the West, consciousness: Mental intelligence or rational thinking (Hun), bodily intelligence or cleverness (Yi), emotional intelligence or maturity (Po), ancestral memory or instinct (Zhi), and spiritual intelligence or guiding intuition (Shen). As we know, in the West, any level of intelligence needs a brain to manifest itself. But for the traditionalist Chinese the brain is not an organ proper but a central system of connecting nerves.

Gille Merin of the Chi Nei Tsang Institute, coined “At the most, it is considered as a connective bridge like a switchboard in between levels of consciousness. The brain itself cannot create intelligence. It can only repeat the information stored into memory or to follow an induced program like education and conditioning. It is the vital force of the intelligence that is responsible for the development of the brain. We first exist as energy and information and then we manifest physically.”

From this perspective, we need to rethink a different paradigm than the one conventional medicine is portraying. It then becomes fundamental to differentiate between thoughts and emotions. We don’t “think” emotions, we “feel” them. Emotions literally mean we are ‘moved’ set into motion from the inside. The visceral body responds to emotional sensations much more rapidly than our mind does.

Chi Nei Tsang’s characteristic touch facilitates the performance of emotional digestion. It establishes a physical connection not only with the organs but also at the tissue and cellular levels, with the body’s intelligence. Thus, Chi Nei Tsang practitioners have to be educated and trained so their way of touching is able to transmit the quality of energy and the information (Chi) necessary to calm down intestines in crises.  

Chi Nei Tsang is recommended 5-7 days before the menstrual cycle and has proven to be a great relief for Menstrual cramps. In addition, to getting this massage you can also learn a self-abdominal massage within the 8 Trigrams Qigong in White Tiger School. The 8 Trigrams are taken from the I-Ching and depict the 8 forces of nature. Heaven, Earth, Water, Wind, Thunder, Mountain, and Lake. They are arranged into their opposites forming an Octagon called Ba Gua. One exercise called “Rabbit Springs” uses the fingers to gently press the 8 abdominal points around the umbilicus that reflect the Ba Gua organ clock.  This exercise is deeply spiritual as well as physical cleansing. We can now safely surmise that Gut health has a direct link with the brain and the effect of mental health. A must learn not only for Menstrual health but for the proper functioning of the entire body.