If we think of qi as the difference between life and ordinary matter, we can then begin to think about how qi can be subcategorized into different types according to what role they play in maintaining that life. Movement, growth, transformation, defense: these are aspects of living creatures that the Chinese have come to identify as different elements of qi. In terms of the body’s defense qi, the Chinese call this Wei qi and it can be understood in terms of a virtual body armor, or as its referred to in Western, more common terms, immunity.
Each of our bodies contain some amount of this Wei Qi, and it’s what protects us from outside pathogens that can attack our internal resources. In Chinese medicine, the Wei qi is known to be primarily located in what’s called the Cou Li space, the space between the skin and the muscles, curiously the location of fascia, that still enigmatic element of the human body that we know plays a major role in physiology. Here, the Wei qi resides, waiting, like an army to fight foreign invaders. But, the size of this “army” is not a fixed thing, nor something that is guaranteed. We all, at different times, have different levels of it or its strength is sometimes low, or high depending on how we are moving about the world and what is happening on the inside of our body. Think about what happens when you’re working a lot, dealing with a lot of stress, or not getting enough sleep. Do you find yourself getting sick more often? More aches and pains? This is happening because we are failing to nourish the primal qi (Yuan qi) that helps to create and feed our Wei qi. The result is that our body armor, our army is depleted, and those outside invaders—viruses or bacteria for example—are able to break the barriers of the Cou Li space to access our internal organs and negatively affect our health. But it’s not just daily lifestyle that can deplete it. Simply having a chronic disease—hypertension, diabetes, or cancer—can also deplete this resource, because the Wei qi is distracted by its immediate role of trying to mitigate the negative effects of those conditions that enough of it is not available to attend to its daily job of being our protector. The overall result is that we become sick more often and are physically run down.
Tending to our Wei qi is a primary element of maintaining optimal health. Acupuncture can help our bodies organize our Wei qi to work more effectively, helping to push out and cleanse our bodies of unwanted pathologies. There exist also herbal formulas that will provide us with nutrients to build resources to nourish our Wei qi. But, even more simply, we can help protect and restore this qi by simple lifestyle habits at home. The first is getting the right amount and quality of sleep. Our sleep is when our body reorganizes and replenishes its own resources. Similarly, eating a balanced, nutrient dense diet will also strengthen the body’s Wei qi, because nourishing food gives our internal bodies more tools, more armor if you will, to bolster the strength of the Wei qi and help it move along its necessary path to guarding those physical bodies. Finally, regular exercise is so important because, even as engaging in it depletes some qi, it ultimately helps what remains work more effectively. It smooths out the edges and allows to flow more freely, more efficiently.
All of these practices help to keep ourselves healthy and free from unwanted pathologies that would otherwise take over and make us sick. They are positive ways that at Autonomic Acupuncture we like to say to optimize your physiology.
