Both traditional Chinese medicine and Taoism believe humans have two souls. They believe every living person has both a yin and yang aspect to the soul. Each soul aspect has a name and the Metal element’s spirit or consciousness aspect is called P’o. In this article, we discuss the Metal P’o spirit of Lung and how it can guide you to live a fuller life.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) long ago observed five aspects of our spirit/consciousness:
Our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual expression are all integrated facets of human life ordained by these five aspects of spirit.
These five aspects of soul align with the yin organ of each of the five elements’ pair of organs.
For example, the spiritual ethereal yang soul that leaves the body after death is called Hun. This soul is the spirit of the Wood element's organ–Liver. The Chinese gave the name Cloud Spirit to the ethereal Hun and formless consciousness.
But the P’o spirit of Lung is a yin soul. It has actual substance and remains with the body after death.
And the Chinese gave the name White Spirit to the corporeal soul and tangible consciousness‚ P’o.
The word P’o literally means soul.
We write the word P’o with an apostrophe between the p and the o to signal pronunciation. Make a breathy puff of air just after the p and before the long ō.
“The Spiritual resource is P’o, translated as the animal-soul, which enters our being with the first breath from heaven.”— Gary Dolowich, MD in Archetypal Acupuncture: Healing with the Five Elements
P’o is the ruler of the body.
The Chinese use the term P’o li to describe one who’s in charge of his being. This person is ‘with it,’ excited, and maybe even extra-animated. P’o li describes a confident person who’s deeply and fully involved in an activity.
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The P’o Spirit of Lung Is Closely Linked to the Breath.
Traditional Chinese medicine considers breath the pulsation of the P’o spirit of Lung. It finds breath of vital importance to not only a healthy body but a healthy P’o.
Good breathing roots P’o into the body. In fact, good breathing animates and grounds us making us better able to live in the now.
Good breathing, in part, comes from strong Lungs. Strong lungs actually assist us to register physical sensations from what we feel, see or hear. When the P’o spirit and Lung are strong and in balance, we feel bodily sensations.
Weak Lung and P’o spirit causes shallow breathing that makes us much less aware of bodily sensations. In effect, we end up feeling distanced or cut off from others because we cannot feel.
Lung is very much associated with our innate survival response. Similarly, P’o guides our instinctive reactions. For example, when we instinctively reach out our hand in order to catch a falling thing, this is P’o spirit in action.
If our Lung capacity and therefore our P’o spirit of Lung are weak, we are out-of-balance in Metal. This causes disorder in our very necessary instinctual drives. We may lose our instinct for self-preservation and begin to feel vulnerable and useless.
Weak P’o leads us to obsess and grieve over a future that has not even arrived. And we will probably lose our ability to bounce back from stress.
Grief is the emotion of Metal. The P’o spirit of Lung gives us the ability to accept the inevitable losses we experience in life as we grieve them. It also gives us strength to let go of what no longer serves us.
P’o inspires us to breathe deeply and fully and live life to the fullest. An aware connection to our P’o spirit of Lung supports us to participate fully in life.
The P’o Spirit of Lung Helps Us with Spiritual Balance.
The P’o spirit of Lung helps us strike balance between our spiritual life and material desires. Whether conscious of it or not, most Metal Types somewhat naturally find spiritual balance.
The person who completely shuns the material world to become a full-time spiritual seeker demonstrates P’o imbalance. She needs to fill the gap she feels inside. Therefore she wanders from guru to guru and seminar to seminar looking to fill a sense of emptiness. And she is never able to find the deep inner spiritual connection she seeks.
“Metal is very much associated with clear awareness and P’o is intricately involved in the understanding of the impermanence of the form/physical but is death within life and relates to the calmest of all aspects of being.”—David Nassim in The Nature of Classical Chinese Medicine
P’o encourages all of us to be dependable, conscientious, respectful and virtuous. These often come easier to the Metal Type. Their connection to P’o supports them to be happy and enjoy a good life as they age.
We Can Support P’o Spirit of Lung with Physical and Mental Exercise.
Exercise helps us maintain a balanced Metal energy and Lung chi balance.
If you are a Metal Type, you will want to exercise outdoors to help you contact the heavenly chi through the breath. Metal Types often crave being outdoors for this very reason whether they realize it or not.
Exercise for Lung chi balance doesn’t have to be strenuous. Brisk walking outside is quite adequate. Many Metal Types often feel mentally and physically stale so going outside for a walk is an antidote.
Charles A. Moss, MD,(1) offers the following breathing technique to strengthen Lung spirit of P’o:
“… inhale thinking of the Chinese word P’o, which represents the positive qualities of Metal, and exhale [thinking] one of the following words:
inspiration, acceptance, value, respect, appreciation, endurance, resilience or letting go.
The qualities embodied by these words are key aspects of the healthy Metal Adaptation Type. Repetition of the concepts can reinforce their strength within Metal Types. If other thoughts intrude as [you] do this exercise, simply observe them and bring [your] attention back to the breath and the word repetition. Alternate these words while exhaling and inhale P’o each time.”
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Endnotes:
(1) Author of Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.
Sources:
Hicks, Angela, et al. Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture. United Kingdom, Elsevier Health Sciences, 2010.
Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.
Nassim, David. The Nature of Classical Chinese Medicine (Book 1 of 2). N.p., HI Publishing, 2013.
Clogstoun-Willmott, Jonathan. Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 1985.
Dolowich, Gary. Archetypal Acupuncture: Healing with the Five Elements. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.
Jarmey, Chris. The Foundations of Shiatsu. United Kingdom, Lotus Pub., 2007.