the Three treasures - jing, qi & shen
Humanity in Daoist thought, were regarded as having a special place amongst all living creatures and regarded as forming a bridge between Heaven and Earth. The Ling Shu says that the “Human body imitates distinctly and exactly”, each person a microcosm of the Universe, their Qi resonating with the Qi of Heaven and the Qi of Earth. Humans were regarded as having a special place amongst all living creatures as only humans were endowed with the ‘Three Treasures’ - Qi, Jing and Shen.
This school of thought emphasises the unity of all things and what unites and underlies everything that is, is Qi. We share Qi with all living things, is the animating energy that gives us our life and our vitality.
INVITATIONS
Take time to get outside and observe that patterns of nature. Remember nature changes the way you experience yourself whilst revealing the way we can live.
Explore Yoga, celebrate what makes you unique whilst recognising that which holds us all together. Try to move in a way that feels spontaneous and that doesn’t overwhelm your Qi.
Ideas shape the way we see and feel our lives so, what can you do to loosen the grip on any limiting ideas? Delve those parts of yourself tracing limiting ideas and beliefs back to their source. We come into life absorbing so much that is not us but where do you stand now?
Establish how much sleep and water you need as an individual knowing that this will shift at different stages of your week, month and life.
Eat to heal. Fuel your body with foods that are high in nutrients and compounds that promote healing. Eating well also helps your body fight off infection, reduces inflammation and improves immune function whilst providing the fuel necessary for you to carry out the important and meaningful tasks of your life.
Jing has a slow moving quality and carries our biological connection and is the gift we share with our parents, along with carrying the physical energy we need to live out the pattern of our own life. Jing holds within it our primal instincts and plays an important role in how we live our life.
Shen / Spirit is the treasure we don’t share with anyone or anything else. The Daoists would say it is our most precious and rarefied gift from Heaven. We would know and sense this as the sparkle in someone’s eyes and the feeling of a person that we have when we share a more intimate connection. Shen t is that which makes us who we truly are.
