Jing - Conserve Your Essence

by Michael Laughrin (michael@jyotish.ws )

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine philosophy, there are 3 treasures in the human body/mind system: Jing, Chi and Shen. Roughly speaking, Chi is energy of all kinds. Most of the herbal books that deal with the Chinese system speak mostly of Chi. Shen is consciousness and higher emotions. It covers what is otherwise referred to as the spiritual realm.

However, in my experience (and I am strictly an amateur in these matters), Jing is either ignored in most books or is just mentioned in a cursory manner. Jing is also sometimes referred to as Essence.

From what I have seen, at least for people over 50 years of age, Jing is BY FAR the most important treasure. Why? What is Jing? Jing is derived from our parents. It is the most physical of the treasures. It resides in the Kidney Meridian (which also includes the adrenal glands). The kidneys are said to be the battery of the body. No battery, no life.

I like to think of Jing like this: our parents, when they created us, bequeathed to us some gold, say, one hundred 1-ounce gold coins. In this illustration, chi would be your credit limit and Shen might be either the theory of economics or the interest that comes from savings in Jing and Chi.

Back to Jing: when we are young, we think that we are rich in life energy and we feel immortal. However, we are not. Starting in our 40s we start to feel tired. This comes from having spent too much Jing. How?

1. Not enough sleep
2. Too much sex (this especially applies to men)
3. Stress
4. Too many drugs - prescription or otherwise
5. Chronic diseases

To put it simply, once you have spent your Jing, you are dead (no matter how old you are).

How can we accumulate more Jing?

1. Enough rest
2. Meditation
3. Proper diet
4. Happiness
5. Certain herbs

In my experience, the "Jing" formula by Dragon Herbs (1-888-55-TONIC) has amazingly regenerative effects.

Here are 2 real life examples

Example 1. Female - age 54 - massage therapist. Last winter, all of a sudden, she could hardly walk. The previous 6 months had been extremely stressful for her. Her legs were weak, she was exhausted. She was on the verge of collapse. She started taking Jing and, within 1 day, energy returned to her. She could walk again. Her back and legs felt strong again. This recovery has lasted.

Example 2. Female - age 68 - college professor. Last winter she had terrible pains in her hips and legs. Now, we know that TCM tells us that lower back pain, and leg pain or weakness often come from kidney meridian weakness - in other words, low levels of Jing, both Yin Jing and Yang Jing. Our teacher (now retired) started her on a course of physical therapy, chiropractic and pain relievers. They all helped. She also started taking Jing - 3 capsules per day. It seemed to help a little. After about 6 weeks of treatment she had improved by about 70%, but there was still pain and stiffness. She increased her dose of Jing to 6 capsules per day and almost all the pain, stiffness and weakness in the bottom half of her body virtually disappeared overnight.

Please note that there are many, many herbs and herbal formulas that can help replenish Jing. Walnuts, for example, help re-invigorate Yang Jing.

As one doctor told me several years ago, "Men have weakness in their kidneys starting in their 40s; women in their 50s."

Preserve your Jing!