In long-established Chinese traditions, there are "Three Treasures" that are the essential energies sustaining human life. They are Jing ("essence"), qi ("breath," "vital force") and Shen ("spirit").

Shen is commonly interpreted as spirit, denoting the spiritual dimension of our existence. It encompasses consciousness, emotions, and cognition. In the context of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is believed that Shen governs functions occurring within the mental, spiritual, and creative realm and is related to the capacity of the mind to form ideas and the desire to live life.

Shen in Traditional Chinese Medicine shows up in the radiance in the eyes, facial expressions and in speech.

"Shen cannot be detected with the ears. You must have excellent eyesight and an open and sensitive heart; in that case, Shen, the spirit, reveals itself in your own consciousness" — Su Wen, Chapter 26.

Location of shen

The Shen is housed in the Heart in Traditional Chinese Medicine. This is because the Heart governs mental activity, consciousness and emotional wellbeing.

However Shen also resides generally at the interior and fills the entire physical form of the person.

different kinds of shen in traditional chinese medicine

There are micro and macro concepts of Shen.

On a macro perspective, Shen resides in the entire body. It is the “light behind the eyes” and the “glow of the entire person”.

On a micro aspect, Shen resides in various organs.

Shen located in the Heart is called Heart Shen (神); Shen residing in the Liver is called the Hun(魂); Shen residing in the Lung is Po (魄); Shen residing in the Spleen is Yi 意; and Shen residing in the Kidney is Zhi (智).

Healthy and unhealthy states of shen

The ideal Shen shows up as a healthy, harmonious spiritedness. The loss or disturbance of Shen presents as spiritlessness and mental illness. The ways Shen show up in terms of how healthy it is are divided into 5 categories: Harmony, Awareness, Clarity, Balance, Strength.

Harmony & Disharmony of Shen

When Shen is in harmony, the mind and body are in sync with each other. There is wisdom in how the person moves through life and synchronicities in what the heart desires and external actions.

When Shen is in disharmony, there is disparity in the desires and executions of the person. Because of that the person may constantly feel unhappy and unsatisfied with life without fully understanding why.

Awareness and Unawareness of Shen

When Shen is working on awareness, the person is in recognition of his own existence, actions and location and can navigate through social and life situations at ease.

When awareness is lost, the person may be ignorant that they are in a state of illness or may even deny that they are displaying unbalanced behaviors.

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Clarity and Vagueness of Shen

When Shen is clear, the person has clear thought processes. The mind is working at a level of breadth and depth of consciousness.

When there is lack of clarity of Shen, the person may often complain of mental cloudiness, poor memory and the inability to concentrate and focus.

Balance and Imbalance of Shen

When Shen is in balance, the person has the ability and capacity to control and recover from slight disturbances of balance. An example is when the person cries or get angry, the recovery of normality and relief is smooth after the trigger.

However when the Shen experiences a loss of balance, the person may not be able to regulate his emotions and chronically for long periods of time experience the extreme emotions such as sadness or anger, even after the incident that trigger the emotions has long passed.

Strong and Weak Shen

When Shen is strong, the person will feel more joyful and able to keep an optimistic mind most of the time, need suitable amount of sleep and have abundant mental and physical energy.

When Shen is weak, there is sluggishness mentally and physically tiredness and fatigue no matter how much rest is taken.

Read more about What is Blood here.

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Clinical Presentation of Shen Disturbance

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, if the Shen has been disturbed or unsettled, then the following symptoms may arise:

Ways to Calm and Settle Shen

Acupuncture

From an integrative viewpoint, the Shen functions similarly to the Central Nervous System, as both oversee consciousness, awareness, and thought processes. They regulate emotions, sleep, memory, and cognitive functions, and both are similarly influenced by stress, trauma, and overstimulation.

Research indicates that the biochemical mechanisms involved in Acupuncture impact the Autonomic Nervous System, which includes both the Parasympathetic and Sympathetic Nervous Systems. Additionally, studies demonstrate that Acupuncture promotes the release of Endorphins, which aids in managing both physical and emotional stress.

Herbal medicine

To calm the Shen, herbs that are of flavors that are sweet are preferred as they are able to moisten and nourish the blood.

Some example of herbs that calm the Shen and nourish Heart blood include: