The Clock Continues: Small Intestine Time 1 PM – 3 PM
Do you have an unclear life direction or an inability to focus on a single task? Do you sigh often or experience a lot of resentment or pessimism? Do you have a desire to eat strange things? If so, you may want to understand how the small intestine plays a role in this.
For the last several months, we have been learning about our 24 hour body clock. Each month we have covered a different organ so in case you missed it, you can read it from the beginning in my prior article titled, “Is Your Hose Kinked?” Be sure to review the archives for the last couple of months to read the articles that support the rest of the body clock. So far we have covered the lungs, the large intestines, the stomach, the spleen/pancreas and the heart.**
Each organ has its very own unique set of tasks that it performs daily at a very specific time of day similar to your daily tasks or “in-box” at work. And, just like your life, your organs have to deal with an occasional “emergency” in their day. Something you didn’t plan. This emergency could simply be a food you are allergic to such as wheat which often has a bad effect on the intestines in the world of Chinese Medicine. Your body still needs to work on its regularly scheduled daily task, but eating the wrong foods or food you have an intolerance to may cause your body to have to go deal with that “emergency” instead of completing the scheduled task. This is how blockages, build-ups and stagnation can cause an organ’s meridian pathway to be clogged. This can lead to a host of issues. If you get sleepy after lunch, it could be a small intestine imbalance.
The small intestines holds position number six in the body clock which means that the clock starts each day at 3 AM with the lungs, then passes the baton every two hours to a different organ throughout the 24-hour clock. This month, our focus will be on the small intestine which begins its daily routine at 1 PM and continues until 3 PM.
The small intestine influences the shoulder blade, the back of the shoulder and the neck. The small intestine meridian influences the brain, in particular, the frontal lobe. The small intestine has a number of functions including:
- Receiving food from the stomach
- Separates pure fluids to the large intestine and impure fluids to the bladder
- Generates discernment and separates pure and impure thoughts
- Generates joy/sadness and helps discern appropriate behavior
Often the following symptoms may accompany a small intestine that is not balanced:
- Pressure and pain in chest, deafness, pain in the elbow
- Uneven emotional state, melancholy, depression
- Violent abdominal pain and bloating, gurgling
- Pain in the testes, premenstrual tension
- Bitter or sour taste in mouth, burning or itchy anus
- Feeling slow or stupid, poor assimilation of ideas
There are a number of ways to address an imbalance in the small intestines such as exercises like Yoga, Tai Chi or Qi Gong.
We are continuing this series next month until we have covered all the organs in the 24 hour body clock. However, if you have low energy during this time or other times of the day, it could be a food intolerance or adrenal stress. Pinpointing if this happens after you eat is a good indication of a food intolerance. If not, suspect adrenal stress in which case you could benefit greatly from my prior video release called the Tahiti Vacation Relaxation Technique.
Another way to address energy imbalances is through BodyTalk, a modality I use in my practice. A BodyTalk session can be done in person or remotely (over the phone or live video conference such as Zoom). Learn more about BodyTalk and schedule a session.
The Clock Continues Series:
Is Your Hose Kinked? Introduction to series: Lung Time 3AM to 5AM
The Clock Continues: Large Intestine Time 5 AM – 7 AM
The Clock Continues: Stomach Time: 7 AM – 9 AM
The Clock Continues: Spleen/Pancreas Time: 9 AM – 11 AM
The Clock Continues: Heart Time 11 AM – 1 PM
The Clock Continues: Small Intestine Time 1 PM – 3 PM
The Clock Continues: Bladder Time 3 PM – 5 PM
The Clock Continues: Kidney Time 5 PM – 7 PM
The Clock Continues: Pericardium 7 PM – 9 PM
The Clock Continues: Triple Heater 9 PM – 11 PM
The Clock Continues: Gallbladder 11 PM – 1 AM
The Clock Ends…Finally: Liver 1 AM – 3 AM