極泉

1. Name:  Lets start with the name and essence of the point. A spring suggests something refreshing, rejuvinating and purifying – contacting the Qi at it’s source.  The character 泉Quan in it’s modern form has the radical “white” or “pure” above (the light from the first rays of sun), and the “water” radical below – hence clear or pure water.  The original character shows water flowing from deep below the surface, bubbling upwards, and spreading out. This is the first point of the Heart Channel, where the Qi bubbles up to the surface from the Heart organ itself.

The character Ji2極 is the same character found in the “Tai Ji Diagram” (the famous black and white yin and yang symbol) and in the internal martial art Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi Chuan).  It means “supreme”, “polar” or “most extreme”.  The left part of the character shows a tree; the right shows a man with a mouth and a hand between heaven and earth – a person surviving in the elements, and hence implies extreme or urgent.  The original meaning of the extreme and wood mixed was a rigdgepole, and polar, and hence extreme or utmost.

The supreme here of course refers to the Heart, as supreme controller, so this point is refreshing, rejuvinating and renewing to the Heart, and hence to the Spirit.  I often use this point when patients need rejuvinating at a Spirit level, have lost themselves, and feel unable to cope, manifesting as joylessness, anxiety and overwhelm.

 

2. Functions:

Entry Point – as the first point of the channel He 1 is the entry point.  As such it can be used to clear the heart channel itself (often with it’s paired exit point He 9); it can clear blocks between the Spleen and Heart channels (usually with Sp21, especially if the Sp/St pulses are full, and the He/SI pulses weak); it can also clear stagnation from the chest, by moving Qi down the channel and away from the chest.  .

• Clear the Channel, Relax the Sinews (as an entry point for paralysis of arm, shoulder pain, inability to raise shoulder, local pain – bi/obstruction syndrome, wei/atrophy syndrome and zhong feng/wind stroke)
• Expand and Relax the Chest (heart bi/obstruction, chest pain, shortness of breath, fullness or distention of lateral costal region).  Compare it with other Expand and Relax the Chest points such as Lu 1, Lu 2, He 2, He 9, P 6.

Nourishing Function – as a “Supreme Spring” He 1 can nourish the Yin and Fluids of the Heart, thus both moistening dryness, and soothing an unsettled and unrooted Shen.

• Nourish Heart Yin, Clear Empty Heat (mental restlessness, insomnia, anxiety and sadness; night sweats, dry mouth and throat; also for dry-phlegm with lymph gland swellings and scrophula).  Used alongside other Nourishing Heart Yin points such as He 6, P 6, Ren 14, Ren 15, He 7.

 Compare and Contrast with other ‘Spring’ points such as Kid 1 – Bubbling Spring, Kid 5 – Water Spring, Liv 8 – Crooked Spring, GB 34 Yang Mound Spring, Sp 9 – Yin Mound Spring.

 

3. Location:

• At the armpit (axilla) between the latissimus dorsi (posterior) and pectoralis major (anterior) muscles, in a depression at the highest point of the axillary hollow.
• Medial to the axillary artery (avoid this when needling)
• To locate, place your finger on the anterior axillary crease and slide your finger up to a deep hollow that appears when the arm is held out at a right angle and the forearm is rotated from pointing to the toes to pointing up to the sky.
• Hold the arm out, like a policeman stopping traffic.  This will highlight the line from Heart 3 (at the elbow medial to the biceps tendon) through Heart 2 (3 cun superior to Heart 3, medial to the grove of the biceps muscle) and up to Heart 1.