The word Shen in Chinese has many different meanings and in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) it is chiefly used in two different contexts. Firstly, Shen indicates the complex of mental faculties such as intelligence, memory, sleep, emotions and thinking and is usually translated as “Mind”. The “Simple Questions” in chapter 23 of the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine says “The Heart Houses the Mind (Shen)”. 

When the Heart is healthy, the Mind is strong resulting in an individual who is happy and resilient. When the heart lacks vitality and is weak, it results in a person who is sad, depressed or in low spirits. When the heart is in an excess condition, it can result in mental illness such a manic depression or schizophrenia. In this context Shen is one of the Three Treasures (Shen, Qi and Jing), which we cultivate in our practice to bring about all round health and wellness.

Secondly, Shen is used to indicate the whole sphere of emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of a human being and, in this context, it is one of the Five Spiritual Aspects; Shen, Hun, Po, Chen and Yi.  These Five Spiritual Aspects represent five expressions of spirituality; five resources that give quality to life. They operate on a higher plane than the physical and emotional. Spiritual in this context refers to the art of refining our thoughts, feelings and self. TCM teaches that when we experience an emotion, if we hold onto it, it will ultimately manifest in the physical plane as a physical problem. However, if we raise our awareness to the spiritual plane, we can find a way of allowing the emotion to move through us and away.

The Five Spiritual Aspects are linked to the five Yin organs and their related emotions as follows:

Shen – Heart – Joy (or lack of)

Hun – Liver – Anger (notably self-anger)

Po – Lungs – Grief (and anxiety)

Chen – Kidneys – Fear 

Yi – Spleen – Worry (or aimless thinking)

Shen describes a feeling of ease, relaxation, lifted spirits, internal wellbeing and joie de vivre (joy of life). It is that sense that all is well and everything is as it needs to be. Someone with strong Shen will be kind, generous and loving. The best way to build Shen is to love yourself and take care of yourself. This means eating well, sleeping well, allowing yourself the time and space to process challenges and change and listening to your heart (intuition). It’s about doing things that make you feel good such as taking a nice walk in the country or by the sea, spending time with uplifting people, doing work you love, singing, dancing and sharing good food. Having a poor work-life balance is not good for our Shen. Similarly, giving to others while not first giving to yourself will deplete your Shen. People with strong Shen are loved by others.

Hun describes a sense of destiny and individuality. Someone with strong Hun will have a sense of being on a journey through life, of having things they want to do and experiences they want to have. They will always be on the lookout for opportunities to further expand their experience and understanding of life. They celebrate their uniqueness and individuality and are often highly motivated. Doing things we don’t enjoy or a job that we dislike tends to deplete our Hun and invariably leads to self-anger. Doing things to please others, going against your intuition and being ruled by guilt all deplete our Hun. The best way to build Hun is to do what you love. People with strong Hun are often admired.

Po describes our energy in group situations and is all about quality and resources. We all have different resources and as we go through life, we look to acquire new resources and to improve the quality of the resources we already have. We do this through our interaction with other people. When we spend time with others who share similar values or interests to us, we tend to build our Po. Shibashi is a great way to build Po. Qigong is a powerful resource and the more we practise it, the more the quality of that resource in our life improves. As we spend time practising with others, we learn from one another further expanding the quality of our Qi. If we don’t connect with others, our Po can become depleted, and we start to feel like we don’t have the resources within us to cope with life and this in turn leads to anxiety. However, doing something as simple as learning and practising Shibashi can often bring about consistent positive change as we build resources in our lives. People with strong Po are often liked.

Chen describes our power and determination. People with strong Chen are good at applying themselves and are able to easily push through challenging situations. They are fearless and know how to get a job done. They are empowered, resilient, adaptable and not afraid of hard work. One of the best ways to build Chen is to gently stretch yourself or set yourself tasks of gradual increasing difficulty. This might be walking for an extra five minutes, choosing the stairs instead of the elevator or doing one extra breath in each of your qigong exercises. People with strong Chen tend to be admired.

Yi describes our Intent and is really the sum total of the other four spiritual aspects. When all the other four aspects are strong, then we have a clear intent in every situation we meet in life. We understand why we have attracted a situation into our lives and how we are meant to work with it. We view life with excitement and curiosity, eager to discover and understand more. Yi without Chen leads to weakness; Yi without Shenleads to sadness, Yi without Hun leads to aimlessness, and Yi without Po leads to mental weakness. Conversely, if we feel weak, we need to build Chen; if we feel sad, we need to build Shen, if we lack direction in our lives, we need to build Hun and if we are suffering from mental health problems we need to build Po.

One of the wonderful things about regularly attending and/or teaching a Shibashi class is that it builds all of these Spiritual Aspects and over time we see tangible improvements in every area of our lives. The deep breathing and relaxation builds our Shen. Being part of a class builds our Po. Building our energy and learning to move it with our minds builds our Hun. Stretching ourselves in our practice builds our Chen. All this helps us develop an Intent that is clear, focused and expansive. Many people feel dramatic improvements in their health and wellbeing after just a few weeks or months of practice. Having been practising for more than 35 years now, I can attest to the fact that the improvements continue exponentially!