Getting to Know You
A Physician Explains How Acupuncture Helps You Be the Best YOU
A book by the father of medical acupuncture, Joseph M. Helms, MD
Will/Spirit Biopsychotype
If you are a predominantly Will/Spirit person, you are levelheaded, intellectually lively, willful, and decisive. You are comfortable being a leader, and in this role you are balanced and effective. You are usually healthy and assume you can do whatever you set your mind to do. You automatically find yourself the clear-thinking motivator in your organization, providing structure and direction and sparking enthusiasm in those around you.
The organs associated with this biopsychotype are the Kidney, Bladder, Heart, and Small Intestine. Kidney's sphere of influence includes personal, professional, and sexual drive. Kidney supervises the bones and teeth, ears, the sense of hearing, and balance. In its role of supervising bones and bone marrow, it is responsible for joints and flexibility. If Kidney energy is strong, the bones will be strong and the skeletal structure and spinal column will be resilient. Its energy nourishes, warms, and activates all the other organs. In acupuncture physiology, just as in conventional physiology, Kidney and Bladder work together to create, store, and excrete urine, and thus rid the body of impure and excess fluids.
The most important energetic function of the Heart is housing the spirit. Spirit from the Heart supplies vigor and strength to the constitution. A strong spirit creates a clear consciousness, creative thinking, good memory, balanced emotions, and good sleep. Spirit allows us to be happy in our emotions, actively engaged in our relationships, and at peace with our place in the universe. When Heart energy is in balance, the spirit is lively, the mind is open, the eyes are clear, and the complexion is bright. We can express ourselves creatively and articulately. Spirit refines and manifests the will and focus created by Kidney. Heart and Kidney thus complement one another in their energetic functions.
The Will/Spirit person can diverge from a healthy and balanced state in one of two directions. At one extreme, the confidence and authority of the Will/Spirit type can become an imperious, imposing presence, with voice too strong and demeanor too assured. The person in this state tends to dominate in relationships of any nature. He might easily erupt into anger or become intoxicated with a sense of invincibility and invulnerability.
Those at the other end of the Will/Spirit type can experience a loss of confidence that creates doubts and prevents clear decisions and actions in someone who is usually commanding and assertive. These mental and emotional features are likely to be accompanied by a diminished physical vitality, a sense that the body's stamina can no longer be relied upon to execute the usual workload and responsibilities.
Back pain is often the only thing that goes wrong with the person of the integrated Will/Spirit biopsychotype. The lower back is by far the most common location for pain, but it can occur anywhere along the vertebral column from neck to sacrum, with or without pain radiating into the arms or legs. Pain is as commonly precipitated by tension and fatigue as by strain or deterioration of the vertebrae. If the backache becomes chronic, its very duration can create fatigue and diminished will and drive.