Winter Qi Chats | Week 8

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Written By Angi McClure

Can’t the world just shut up?!

This week we discuss how important silence is for the mind. Noise is correlated to stress that can affect our cognitive health.

How loud is your life?

Did you know that depending on how noisy your city, neighborhood and home is will have a direct impact on your brain’s mental health? Yup, more noice equals more stress. Stress created heightened levels of cortisol resulting in inflammation in the body, gut and brain.

Noise pollution is a true problem but many of us are not aware of this phenomena because we’ve become familiar with the sounds around us. Our brain works to ‘normalize’ senses around us otherwise we’d go insane with hyperactivity. But the brain’s ability to dampen the ‘threat’ of a stimulus doesn’t mean it still doesn’t affect us.

 

BE STILL + BE QUIET

 

It doesn’t have to take much. Wearing ear plugs, escaping to the out-of-doors, getting out of the city life, or turning down the sound in your home or car. Take breaks and just be still in the silence. With this, you begin to hear for the natural rhythms of your breath, heartbeat and the sounds of nature. It is necessary for our cognitive, mental and physical health.

I love the crossover of religions, philosophy and medicine and the direction of being still is very apparent. In Chinese Medicine, auditory stimulus is linked to our Kidney System. The Kidney system is connected to the Water Element and sound travels through water as quick speeds, essentially affecting the water as a whole. Sound can be used to balance Qi, simply think of sound as a vibratory stimulus. But sound that is without harmony can scatter Qi and affect our Kidney System.

In Chinese Medicine, the Kidneys are consider the “gate of life” and play a role in our longevity, managing our stress, metabolism and energy levels. The Kidneys also affect our ears and low back. The adrenal are housed right on top of the actual kidneys and this may be why the Kidneys are considered where our Jing (“essence”) is stored. Because when we experience high levels of stress, our adrenal glands produce stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine causing our bodies to reach to the threat. This overtime can weaken the Kidney Qi and it’s ability to grasp Qi is now allowing Qi to descend. Affecting how we age, hear, feel pain & experience fear.

 

Neuro-Qi Tip o’the day!

Where’s the mute button?

  • Take breaks from ALL noise once a week and get into nature (if you can!)

  • Carry ear plugs on you at all times (cuz you never know!)

  • In the evening, turn off all music, TV and detect any buzzing appliances that you could dampen the sound

Angi McClure
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Winter Qi Chats | Week 9
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Winter Qi Chats | Week 7