The following material is excerpted from Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing.

The po represent the yin, materialized aspect of the soul. The po are the animating agents of vital life processes that take place beyond our conscious awareness and control. They are closely related to the autonomic nervous system, the sensory receptors, especially the primitive touch responses of the skin, and the interior sense receptors of the visceral organs. Just as the shen and the hun can be correlated with the frontal lobe of the brain and the conscious mind and imagination, the po and the zhi can be correlated with more primitive aspects of the brain such as the limbic system and cerebellum.

The po are our embodied knowing, our animal wit, our street smarts, the part of us that can sniff out what’s right or wrong, good or bad, safe or unsafe. Deep below the level of our conscious ability to articulate in words what we think about a person, place, or situation, the po spirits already know, and whether or not we realize it, our body has begun to respond by contracting or expanding, hardening or softening.

The po spirit are related to:

• Element: metal
• Organ: lungs (and large intestine)
• Emotion: grief
• Psychological Functions: animal wit, embodied knowing, sensation
• Psychospiritual Issue: letting go and moving on
• Cosmological Associations: stones, gems, minerals, caves, labyrinths
• Chakra: First/Second — Matter
• Virtue: appreciation of preciousness

Signs and Symptoms of Po Disturbance

Common Symptoms:

Spirit Level Signs:

• a vague feeling that “something isn’t right” but no clear sense of why
• physical pain that takes over entire life yet seems to have no identifiable cause
• extreme sensitivity to outer influences on a psychic level; for example, other people’s negativity “gets in” without awareness and creates somatic disturbances such as digestive upsets, headache, etc.
• unexpressed somatized emotional issue and “stuck destiny”; the person doesn’t ever seem to move on in life

Possible Causes:

• maternal vitamin and nutrient deficiencies during gestation
• insufficient touch and tactile stimulation during infancy
• restrictive child raising practices that did not allow freedom of bodily movement and expression
• ancestral and familial issues that have been “swept under the rug”
• early childhood abuse forgotten by the conscious mind but “remembered” by the soma resulting in disturbances of the po in later years
• refusal to face one’s own shadow; trying to be all goodness and light while denying deeper layers of emotions
• resistance to life changes crucial to one’s karmic development and destiny
• a break between the upper and lower spirits, a split between what is consciously thought should be done and the wisdom of the body

Ways to Cultivate the Po Spirit:

The po is responsible for the five senses, the limbs, and the somatic emotional responses. In order to cultivate this spirit, all these areas need to be addressed.

Feed the senses

• Listen to beautiful music
• Eat fresh, beautifully prepared food
• Wear colors that nourish you and complement your mood
• Keep fragrant flowers in your home and if possible in a garden or window box
• Use aromatherapy; find scents that relax and calm your body
• Take walks in places where you can feast your eyes on the landscape
• Touch and be touched by people you feel close to
• Bring your body into contact with the natural world — air, water, sunlight, earth

Spend time with animals. Let your pet teach you about the animal soul. Watch how your cat or dog observes and reacts to the world. Notice the life around you. Watch fish swim and birds fly. Watch foxes, deer, mice, rabbits. Animals reflect a part of our own wild nature, our unconscious visceral responses to the world around us.

Practice for Healing the Po

Next time you face a difficult situation, imagine how the animal part of you would react. Stay in communication with that animal as you deal with the situation. Ask questions of your animal. Should I sign this contract? Should I date this person? Notice your reactions on a body level. Are your muscles tightening or relaxing? Are you sweating or feeling agitated? Is your skin crawling? Do you feel a sense of well-being or are you ill at ease?

You may discover that your po, your animal soul, wants very different things than your shen or conscious mind. It is imperative for our health and for the successful completion of life projects that these spirits come into some kind of alignment. Even if you cannot react to life purely from your animal soul, make sure to pay attention to its messages, feelings, and responses. Acknowledge its gifts. Be deeply respectful of the body’s wisdom and desires. If you cannot immediately satisfy the needs of the somatic soul, let the po know that you are listening and that you will try your best to respond to it as soon as possible. In this way, there is less likelihood that the po spirits will turn to malcontented gui who produce depression, stress-related illness, and psychosomatic pain.

Notice where strong emotions go in your body. Is your heart beating faster? Are you beginning to tremble or feel warm? Is your stomach tight? All the physiological responses to emotion are governed by the po. As you become familiar with your body’s reactions, you are connecting to your po spirit. Rather than trying to do anything about these visceral reactions, practice wuwei, doing by not doing. Don’t do anything. Just be. Just breathe. You will find that the po usually responds to your gentle awareness by calming down. Once you are calm, ask yourself what your body needs in this moment.

• Do I need to take a walk outside alone for a few minutes?
• Do I need a glass of water?
• Do I need to stretch?

If you create this space around your emotions, you may find that an image or message emerges from your own body. You may be surprised by what comes up.

What to Expect as You Heal and Cultivate Your Po Spirit

As you heal your po spirit you will notice changes in your life, including

• a sense of enlivenment and a zest for life as the energies of the lower body return
• a feeling of being “back on track,” as if your life force is aligned with your goals
• increased desire to move and explore the world
• increased sensory acuity: music sounds are clearer, colors brighter, textures more pleasurable, scents more noticeable
• a feeling of relief as you let go of old patterns and move on
• more awareness of body needs and messages
• increased inner stability and sense of solidity, you cannot be pushed over, you have a body!

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