Are you suffering from Low back pain?

Low Back Pain within a Chinese medicin context

I meet people all the time who suffer from low back pain. Usually we tend to believe the cause is in some way structural. This could mean muscular tension, misalignment or injury. In this text we will explore low back pain from the point of view of Chinese Medicine, especially the kidney system, and it's deepest essence called Jing.  Keep in mind this text is general in nature and the kidney system is not explored very deeply.

When we speak about the kidney in Chinese medicin we don't mean just the physical organ but a sum total of a set of frequencies in our system that manifest as bone, bone marrow, brain, reproductive system, joint health as well as the kidneys, adrenals and the emotions of fear vs .courage. With a healthy kidney system we feel safe and courageous, we sleep well and our body has strong bone structure and joints. We have a healthy appetite for sex and can have normal sexual release without feeling fatigued afterwards. When the kidney system is depleted or out of balance we might experience symptoms of low back or knee pain, weakened sexual function, fatigue or fear. 

The kidney system holds within a deep essence the chinese call Jing. This basically means our inherited, genetic strength, or the stored life force passed down to us through our lineage of parents, grand parents and great grand parents. This energy strongly influences our lifespan and quality of life, and it is slowly depleted just by living and greatly sped up by modern life stresses, stimulant use and excessive sexual activity. 

If you are experiencing low back pain is it worth to look at the following behaviors in your life and try to change them and see if it helps!

1.Stimulant use

Coffee, Yerba mate, tea, cacao, guarana, alcohol, tobacco, recreational/spiritual drugs. These all work by releasing a flood of neurotransmitters and hormones that excites your system, mind and emotions in various ways creating feelings of well being, alertness, focus, insights etc. They all have their proper use and can be a great help and tool for managing different aspects of life. Excessive use or even regular small amounts will use up jing. If we use up more than we can put back in from properly metabolized nutrition we will experience depletion of the kidney system causing different symptoms including lower back pain. If you on a regular basis experience lower back pain and you regularly take in stimulants mentioned above try to cut back or quit their use for some time, ie. a month and see if it helps.

2. Stress/overwork

When over a period time we are exceeding our body’s capacity of regeneration by working too much or being in stress for prolonged periods our body will use it’s reserves to keep us going. This will over time create a depletion in the kidney system that might manifest as lower back pain. Try to relax in the evening for a few hours before bed without exposure to computer/phone, take a walk in nature, meditate, read a book or just hang out with loved one(s) in a relaxed manner. If you find it hard to relax try moderate exercise earlier in the evening. Stressful times in our lives often go hand in hand with an increased use of stimulants to keep us going. This is ok sometimes, we cannot live full lives and avoid stress completely as we have responsibilities and need to accomplish things. If you experience low back pain stress might be the cause, so be mindful of this and try to get more downtime.

3. Excessive sexual activity

This concerns mostly male ejaculation. Semen holds a large portion of our available kidney essence or Jing in the form of minerals and fatty acids as well as the energetic charge of the body released in orgasm. Depending on your age a certain amount of releases is good for you, but when excessive it will deplete your kidney system. If you are a male over 30 it’s a good idea to quit habitual masturbation and get acquainted with tantric/taoist sexual practices where ejaculation is not necessarily a part of every intercourse. For females carrying and giving birth to a child is the most taxing on her body and in times of pregnancy extra care must be taken to nourish her Kidney essence.

4. Malnutrition/malfunction of digestive functions

This might mean weakness in the metabolism or digestive system, preventing the body from getting enough deep nutrion. This will over time also deplete the kidney system because the body will constantly need to use deep reserves as it’s not getting enough nutrition to produce the amount of energy needed for the output of the individual.  Do you have loose stools, irregular bowel movements or undigested bits of food in your stools? Do you experience tiredness after meals? Are you eating regular and balanced meals most days? A closer look in these topics may reveal that you are either not getting enough nutrition in, or that your body for some reason is not processing the food well enough to provide deep nutrition. The first step is to eat nutritious and well balanced meals around the same times every day, chew your food well and eat in a relaxed atmosphere without distraction. Avoid snacking and drinking large amounts of sweet drinks (also teas) in between meals. Avoid too many different foods in the same meal and don’t overeat.If you already have this routine more or less in place you might want to try herbs to strengthen digestion. Ginger tea is an efficient herb to use in periods, even better for long term, gradually working, building effect are Chinese herbs like astragalus (huang qi)  Codonopsis (dang shen), ginseng (ren Shen) or especially for women Angelica root (dang gui)

How to build kidney essence, or Jing?

Nutrition

It’s important to have a whole food diet devoid of processed foods and sugar. Moderate amounts of good quality animal produce will quite fast replace lost essence. Grass fed milk products is the most balanced ones. Bone broth is more effective but also a more aggressive therapy that more easily can cause imbalances. Seafood and eggs are effective as well as spirulina, chlorella and other micro algae. Keep in mind that seafood these days is very polluted, and animal foods in general are produced in a way that doesn't honor life. More on this topic in the post: animal vs. plant foods. Example of Other Jing building foods are: almonds, ghee, bee pollen and coconut.

Herbs

There are a number of tonic herbs that are safe to take on the long term that will gradually improve Jing essence. Some of the most beneficial are :He Shou wu, rehmannia root,  goji berry and cordyceps.

Exercises

In order to build our kidney essence we must have a good metabolism and move our bodies daily. Exercise should not be too taxing and should leave us feeling more energized after than before. There are specific exercises in the eastern traditions for building kidney essence, for example the five tibetans and various qi gong exercises. 

Quality sleep

Sleep is extremely important if we want to build our deep energy reserves. Points to consider: get to bed on time as every slept hour before midnight is equal to two hours slept after midnight. Try to relax for an hour or two before bed without any electronic stimuli, and don't eat heavy foods just before bed.

To conclude this article I'd like to point out that we really need to learn to respect ourselves and our bodies, especially our precious physical essence as it's the foundation of our health, strength, immune system and in the end our ability to create and manifest the kind of life we want to live. 

If your lower back is sore a lot of the time it might be you are low on Kidney Essence and may have to change some lifestyle factors to build your reserves back up again. This might help your lower back to get stronger and painless again.  I hope this information will help you, I know from experience that it works.