Thoughts on Pada Kshipra and the Chinese Medical Liver System
Download this information in PDF format (Download size 365 KB).
Download this information as a Word document (Download size 43 KB).
Please note, what follows is a very brief review of some aspects of the complex systems of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine. Though what follows is accurate, in any clinical interaction much more information would be required and collected before actual application of therapy.
Also, my understanding and practice of Chinese medicine is heavily influenced by my study and practice of Taoism and its related arts. Some of what I write about and practice, especially most of those things related to spirituality, the development and evolution of the soul/spirit, and the interpretation of physiological processes as the material manifestation of such development, does not reflect widely practiced or taught modern Chinese medicine (though I believe it has been part of the classical understanding of the medicine, as rooted in the Chinese medical classics).
-----------------------------------------
Pada Kshipra is a marma point of the Ayurvedic system located at the midpoint of the base of the nail of either big toe (Lad & Durve, 2008, p. 226). Pada means foot and Kshipra “instantaneous or immediately acting”. According to the same source, it’s associated with all the vayus, except samana (that is, prana, udana, apana, and vyana).
It’s reported to relieve headaches (via a nadi that runs from the point to the brain), to “activate prana”, and to regulate kundalini (be it assisting in stimulating the upward movement of kundalini or returning a person to “normal consciousness” should kundalini become hyperactive.)
Pada Kshipra is also said to act on the ovaries and testicles.
The acupuncture point Dà dun (Liver 1) is located near Pada Kshipra, just outside the medial (inner) corner of the nail. Many of the abovementioned qualities and actions overlap those attributed to Dà dun. This offers us an opportunity to explore a little of Chinese medicine.
Dà dun, being the first acupuncture point on the Liver channel (and classified as a Jing “Well” point), has a significant effect on the channel, as a whole, and on the opposite end of the channel, in particular. (A good way of thinking about this is that action on the handle of a whip is amplified over the length of the whip and has a strong effect on the opposite end.)
The Liver channel runs up the inner leg to the bottom of the ribcage, “wraps” the genitalia, then goes internal, passing through the liver organ, passes through the eye and terminates at the crown of the head (Bai huì Du 20, also the marma point Murdhini (aka Adhipati)). It, thus, has a powerful effect on the head and is often used for treating headaches, just as Pada Kshipra (and, interestingly, for the same reason – an energy channel running from the point to the brain).
When analyzing the effects of an acupuncture point you may look at its point classification (e.g. Dà dun as a Jing-Well point, the category of points that are located near the finger and toe nails), its respective channel pathway, such as the Liver’s pathway to the vertex of the head, or the actions of the organ system of which it is a part.
The Liver system has a powerful ascending or rising action (Liver Yang, specifically). Clinically, it is this action that so often experiences pathological dysfunction, with excessive rising, causing disturbances such as headaches.
This rising function, though, spiritually, is the action of one’s innate, inner potential actualizing, manifesting upward and outward to the world. To be discussed in greater detail below, another primary action of the Liver system is to ensure the smooth flow of qì (the Chinese medical equivalent of prana) and Blood (xuè) through the being. The actualizing job of the Liver system quite frequently experiences blockage and obstruction. Most clinical treatment of the Liver system is to open up and remove obstacles to its free movement.
This mirrors the actions and role of kundalini quite well. For the practitioner to reach full self-realization (the manifesting of their greatest potential), kundalini must rise upwards through the sushumna, overcoming all (many) obstacles on the way. Additionally, the practice of yoga asana, as a means to open the nadis to allow free movement of prana for better health and eventual “liberation” (indicating freedom through release), reflects perfectly the role of the Chinese exercises of Qì gong (“Chi kung”) and Tài jí quán (“Tai chi chuan”), where they open the acupuncture channels for improved circulation of qì – All of which is very much related to the Liver system.
For the sake of context, and to illuminate even more parallels, the Liver is associated with the Wood Phase (of the “Five Phases” (Wu Xíng), aka “Five Elements”). These phases represent specific states of energy through which all events and entities pass in an endless cycle, the other five being Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.
The “mother” of Wood (the phase occurring just before it in the cycle), and thus the Liver, is the Water phase, and the associated organs the Kidneys. Water, and the Kidneys, represents one’s core reserves of yin and yang, as well as their deepest, innate potential, the seed, if you will, of who they are.
The Kidneys are the foundation of all physiological process, the source of metabolism, as well as the resources consumed in living. They are also the foundation of the being, located at the base of the body in the lower jiao (the body being divided into three jiaos, or “burning spaces”, the “lower jiao”, roughly from the navel down, the “middle jiao”, roughly the navel to sternum, and the “upper Jiao”, from the sternum to the top of the head.)
The Kidneys, being the mother of the Liver, feed and nourish the Liver. Clinically, a Liver deficiency can be treated by strengthening the Kidneys (as the Kidneys, then, naturally turn and nourish the weak Liver system.)
In parallel with the yoga system, the Kidneys, in the lower jiao, contain that potential which is manifested through the action of the Liver. This is their respective roles; this is what they do, who they are. This seems to mirror, quite nicely, the idea of kundalini residing, dormant, in the Muladhara cakra, until its activation and subsequent rising upwards as the action of self-realization.
Mentioned above, one of the primary functions of the Liver system is to ensure the smooth flow of qì and Blood throughout the system. The Liver acts something like the stoplights on streets; it can either allow the free movement of energy or block and obstruct it. (To be fair, it is not the Liver system that causes blockages, but instead, to be specific, blockages are associated with it, due to its “ensuring smooth flow” function.) The Liver system is, thus, very frequently treated to stimulate the movement of qì in the body.
The action of “activating prana”, attributed to Pada Kshipra, and having “immediate effect” seem to correlate well with the Chinese idea of the Liver, especially of the Jing-Well point on the Liver channel, that point located at the very beginning of the channel. Where there is blockage or obstruction, as made evident by a wide range of symptoms, as any internal system may be affected, but commonly frustration, irritability, anger, or pre-menstrual syndrome symptoms such as cramping, pain, and mood swings, the Liver system can release, or activate, energy, and give near immediate relief.
(For comparison, symptoms that are rooted in weakness or deficiency, and not blockage, take longer to have similar positive effect, as that energy needs to be added to system which necessarily takes time. With a simple obstruction, the forte of the Liver system, plenty of energy is present; when it is released, great effect can be soon quite soon.)
There is a posture, Anantasana "Couch of Visnhu", that incorporates Pada Kshipra, I will discuss in a paper soon to follow.
_________________________________________
Lad, V. & Durve, A. (2008). Marma Points of Ayurveda. Albuquerque, NM: The Ayurvedic Press.
Back to Yoga and AOM
Top of Page
