In Chinese medicine, the soul isn’t only an ethereal wisp; it comes in parts, one of which is the corporeal soul, which is attached to your body via the pomen until death. So, what is the pomen?

Many westerners might be shocked to hear this, but the pomen is the last stop of your digestive tract: the anus. While we all use this body part daily, there’s no denying that it has a certain stigma as a ‘dirty’ part, which has made conversation about the pomen a difficult one to brooch.

This is unfortunate because the anus is one of the most important treatment areas of the human body when it comes to traditional Chinese medicine, particularly when it comes to preventing and treating disease. The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of 81 Difficult Issues, a classic of traditional Chinese medical literature, claims the pomen as “also [of] the five internal organs.” In other words, the functions of all the body’s internal organs are related to the anus, and any changes in its shape or structure reflect changes in other internal organs.

Some of this relationship is obvious: a healthy anus is a closed, thick one, revealing that the individual’s qi levels are normal (the closed/thick property relates to the spleen and lungs). A loose and soft anus, on the other hand, indicates disease – this is even more true if it droops or has ulcers, indicating issues or disease in other internal organs. Inevitably, the sufferer will also experience what might politely be called ‘accidents’ as their vital organs lose their essence and their corporeal soul weakens.

In ancient Chinese society, this principle became ingrained into everyday philosophies of life. An elderly person was not ready to die until they became incontinent, as this was a sign that the corporeal soul had left the body. In the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic, the relationship of organs to the soul is made clear:

On the five organs: the heart embodies the mind (Shen), the lungs embody the corporeal soul (Po), the liver embodies the ethereal soul (Hun), the spleen embodies intellect (Yi), and the kidney embodies willpower (Zhi). 

For these reasons, emperors in ancient China had their stools examined daily by their physicians, who then prescribed appropriate food and medication to treat any imbalances in the imperial body.

But how does TCM relate to the modern world – a place with a different culture and society? One only needs to look at the high incidence of diseases such as constipation, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, strokes, and tumors in the West to see that our society’s health is poor.

The simple fact is that each of these diseases are related to the anus. Many chronic diseases arise due to qi deficiency in the lungs. This then links to the anus, as the two organs correspond in yin and yang. In fact, the anus is at the root of the body’s yang meridian. Take the kidney; many people look to invigorate theirs without realizing that the kidney only revives yin energy – while the anus can improve not only kidney function but also boost its yang, rebalancing and reviving a previously ailing organ.

In China today, martial arts practitioners still practice the anus lift technique, designed to keep the anus tight and closed so they can use their qi for extra strength; this clenching movement is something that many of us do without a second thought when lifting heavy objects, too!

This interconnectedness runs through the whole body. A person suffering from neurasthenia (physical and mental exhaustion) is undergoing soul weakness; the prescribed treatment in TCM is to vibrate the anus to restore its thickness and tightness. At the same time, this activity strengthens the qi in the lungs to promote the repair of a damaged central nervous system.

Vibrating the anus is also a treatment for more common diseases, such as diarrhea and incontinence. The theory behind this vibration treatment is that stimulating the contraction fixes the qi. Diarrhea or incontinence is a symptom of sinking yang taking down the body’s overall qi with it. Through vibrations, individuals seal their ‘middle burner’ (the TCM term for metabolism), one of the ‘triple burners’ – top, middle, and bottom – in your intestines. In doing so, they can recreate the conditions required for a healthy digestive system without the embarrassment of loose bowels.

Likewise, people with gastroptosis (displacement of the stomach) also suffer from drooping anus. In TCM, physicians work to lift the anus, thereby lifting the affected stomach at the same time. Similarly, A prolapsed anus arises through a lack of air, something that can be fixed through vibration to strengthen the anus so that it can once again hold air, lifting the prolapse with it.

These are not the only issues that people face: constipation, leakage, prolapses, and hemorrhoids are all relatively common in the modern era – and more so than in the past! This can be put down to the increasing pace of life, pollution, a poor diet, and even sedentary lifestyles. As convenient and comfortable as life is, this daily lifestyle does lead to a build-up of garbage and waste in the human body.

What goes in, must come out – and invariably, the anus is vital in this process, thanks to its unique properties. Intestinal lesions can be treated through the anus, while constipation is often a result of too much cold or heat. While cold constipation is uncommon in the West, hot constipation isn’t. 

Hot constipation results from a dry and hot small intestine. These conditions mean a lack of fluid in your triple burner (intestines) due to the dry heat, making it difficult for your body to process waste. Conditioning the anus adjusts this to increase fluid levels in the intestines, which allows them to start efficiently moving waste through (peristalsis) once again.

While the West may not think too much upon the anus, there is no denying that it has a vital function in our overall health and wellbeing. Therefore, it makes sense to exercise and maintain it to prevent such issues from arising in the future.

At the Taiyi Institute, we have created TYQA, a wearable medical device that allows you to do this quickly and easily. Registered with the FDA, this is a smart acupuncture device that helps you to restore and rebalance your qi with no pain, no side-effects, and no diagnosis or treatment required.

All you need to do is place TYQA on a chair and sit on in such a way that your anus is on top of it. As a smart device, it connects directly to the Taiyi Institute’s website where you can use the ‘lung sound waves’ program. Just by sitting on TYQA in this manner, you can then use resonance waves to boost the movement in your intestines and anus, improving the overall function of your human body – and its corporeal soul.