Do you struggle with mosquito bites and allergies?
Do you scratch yourself raw, wake up from deep sleep hearing that familiar buzz, or are you the mosquito bite shield for friend and foe? Or perhaps you suffer from seasonal and other kinds of allergies? Maybe you have allergic reactions to your mosquito bites!
I know how you feel. With Aries Ascendent and Type O blood, mosquito bites feel like something I just have to deal with. Or is it?
Mosquito Bites
There are many ideas about why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes. Factors include sweat odours, carbon dioxide, body heat, blood type, and dark colours. Especially given the proclivities of the different species of mosquitoes, it’s still not clear why some get ravished.
Research shows that people with Type O blood are more attractive. Like me. However it also depends on genetics that determine the chemical cocktails of the odours we emit. Are you Type O? Do you get bitten all the time?
What I see with my friends is that they may get bitten, they don’t all react. They don’t scratch themselves ragged in their sleep. Their bites don’t turn into welts.
In Medical Astrology, Aries Ascendent indicates proneness to inflammatory conditions. Fevers. Sensitive skin. Reactivity to bites. Aries, ruled by Mars, the hot red planet. Aries, moreover, and so its related cell salt, Kali Phos, is one of my missing three. Medical Astrology is a field of study that can provide much insight!
To be fair, I don’t get bitten all the time and I don’t always react when I do. Sally, the founder of Hong Kong Dog Rescue, shared her secret – vitamin B. (I recently re-started my Vitamin B12 regime. Here are some foods high in Vitamin B.)
Allergies
Nuts, lactose-intolerance, animal dander, hay fever, mold, dust.. all kinds of allergies.
Is it because of compromised soil health and so poor dietary nutrients? Perhaps it’s other environmental stresses and our separation from Nature, and our own nature. Chronic stress compromises our health and our body’s innate ability to function, heal, and rejuvenate.
What are you allergic to? What has your body made out as an enemy? Look at the symbolism of the allergen. Is it an aspect of self? Is it a barrier to protect your perceived vulnerability?
It’s believed that allergies develop as a response to an emotional and challenging situation. When in similar circumstances, the response is triggered.
According to TCM, allergies are a symptom of an internal balance. A qi deficiency in one or more organs. Seasonal allergies can also reflect the body’s health in the previous season, such as the winter for hay fever. Did a person push too much while rest and quiet would have been restorative? Perhaps they did not ground the energy from one season to the next.
We are a microcosm of the macrocosm, a universe unto itself. We experience both external and internal stimuli to which we can respond and adapt to. Will we be able to digest the information and integrate it within our system? Will we struggle with it and create chaos in our world?
Both mosquito bites and allergies are a reflection of an imbalance.
In Chinese medicine, health is the ability of an organism to respond appropriately to a wide variety of challenges in a way that insures maintaining equilibrium and integrity. Disease represents a failure to adapt to challenge, a disruption of the overall equilibrium and a rent in the fabric of the organism.
Harriet Beinfield L.Ac & Efrem Korngold, L.Ac, OMD, Between Heaven & Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine
New Environment
I see my body’s reaction as its adjustment to a new situation or environment. Whether it’s a hike or being in a different part of the world. It’s an initiation, starting a new relationship with the Spirit of Place.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s getting medicine and information via blood. I think back to Zach Bush’s perspective of viruses’ role and them being indicators of environmental stress. Viruses help to upgrade, update, transfer environmental information for us to adapt and evolve with our world.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
WEI Qi
In Chinese Medicine the air we breathe and the food we eat combine to create wei qi or protective/defensive qi. Strong wei qi means a strong boundary from external pathogens. The Spleen forms, the Kidney supports, and the Lung distributes this energy. So tonifying these organ energies strengthens our wei qi.
Right now we’re in Aries Season. This zodiac sign corresponds with Lung Function Energy which relates to skin. This makes both the Lung and skin more sensitive, to imbalance and to harmonization. Our skin, our container, interfaces with world. First contact on the material plane.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Wei Qi is a combination of what we take in externally. We are nourished by both the breath and the nutrients we extract from food. In Jin Shin, we see this as liquified grain and compressed oxygen function energies. An imbalance results in a struggle between them, found at the waistline, where we have Stomach and Spleen. We can see this as a struggle between Heaven and Earth, spirit and matter.
My Work-in-Progress Protocol
Strengthening my Wei Qi
Wei qi is formed from the air we breathe and the food we eat. As “grain” is transformed by the Stomach and Spleen, supporting these Middle Burner organ energies strengthens the wei qi.
Suggestions include acupuncture, herbs, culinary alchemy. Between Heaven and Earth by Harriet Beinfield L.Ac. and Efrem Korngold, L.Ac., O.M.D has in-depth information.
Dr Jiang shares in his article that the Spleen defends, the Kidney supports, and the Lung distributes. So we can also strengthen our wei qi by supporting the Kidney and Lung function energies.
Jin Shin Self-Help
- holding my thumb to harmonize both Stomach and Spleen energies, digestion, and the Earth element
- to harmonize the Stomach energy, I place my right hand on my left cheekbone and my left hand on my left collarbone. Then switch sides.
- to harmonize the Spleen energy, I place my right hand on the inside of my right ankle (below the bone) and my left hand on my tailbone. Then switch sides.
- for the Lung function energy, I hold my ring finger and for the Kidney function energy, the index.
- holding your fingers also harmonize the corresponding attitudes – worry (Stomach and Spleen), grief (Lung), and fear (Kidney).
Other Considerations
- I run these organ and meridian energies and their related Bach flower essences in a Quantum Biofeedback session.
- I also look at my experiences through the Human Design lens, which points to dual consciousness – the vehicle (body) and the passenger (mind). The mind measures and is the outer authority (sharing wisdom and experiences). The mind is, however, not equipped to make decisions. It’s the vehicle. We can contemplate how much we are navigating life from our mind, patterns of worries, and conditioning. If you want to dive deeper, different gates and energy centres also relate to different organs such as stomach and spleen.
Supporting my Earth Element
Stomach and Spleen make up the Earth Element, which is about grounding, gathering, nourishment, substantiality, constancy, and continuity.
When we face a new situation or move to a new place, a sense of continuity may be disrupted. We are not always very grounded. Energies are in flux and it may feel chaotic on a level we are not conscious of. A friend once told me that we may need about a year to adjust to living in a new place! It’s something to consider and observe within myself as on average, I have moved every two years.
Part of our adjustment is taking in and digesting new information. Because the Stomach and Spleen organ energies help with digestion – of food, information, emotions, and energies – supporting them is important.
These organs live at the waistline, which is about our mind, connecting Heaven and Earth. Our mind is insecure, looking for all kinds of ways to feel safe and it can get out of control, with stories, distraction, illusions, etc to rationalize and explain. When we ruminate and worry, we disharmonize these energies. Jin Shin reminds us why babies suck their thumbs or why we intuitively hold or rub ours. We are wanting to support our digestion and being more embodied, with Spirit descending into matter.
What are the sources of your worry? Where do you not feel supported and safe in life?
Taking a walk in nature, barefoot if possible, helps to ground.
Boosting my Adaptability
How we adapt to a changing world is how we survive, individually and as a species. The rate of change feels like it’s increasing every single year, doesn’t it? 2020 has certainly uplevelled our ability to adjust and navigate from our inner authority.
Of course there is the question of adapting to a reality that is dissolving or one that we do not resonate with. Do we want to function well and win the prizes of a “sick” world?
To boost my adaptability, I hold the area under my collarbones. You can do this with hands crossed or you can place your right fingertips beneath the right collarbone and your left fingertips on the other side.
This area is where all the elements and the body’s 144, 000 functions come together. Harmonizing this area helps us move from a place of mental indecision to a state of natural rhythm.
After-Bite Care
- essential oils as a natural bug deterrent and after-bite soother⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- The Alchemist’s Wound Repair is fantastic for itchiness and wound healing. This is all natural and seriously, one of my more brilliant finds! It’s that good.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Upping my B vitamin⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Homeopathics – Ledum & Apis for the bites. I didn’t have these on hand and so I took Aconite for shock.
Allergies Help
The Allergies Relief Mandala has helped me tremendously. I made it into my phone wallpaper. You can broadcast it from your desktop, laptop, or electronic photo frame. Another method is to print either black-and-white or colour copies, amplifying the effects by increasing the numbers of copies.
Try the following Jin Shin self-help for your allergies:
- place your right hand on your right occipital bone and your left hand beneath your left collarbone then switch sides.
We are in a radically changing world. 2020 has shown us that what we believed to be our world needed a revisit. Our priorities, health, goals, relationships, work, lifestyle, etc have been redefined and reworked, and continue to do so. The amount of information we are subjected to has increased exponentially, calling us to master our ability to continuously digest, adapt, and shift into alignment.
Whether you struggle with mosquito bites or allergies, these tips can support you on your journey.
