In Chinese medicine, the Stomach can sometimes seem almost secondary. After all, it is “just” a Fu organ working closely alongside the Spleen. Its job? To receive food, break it down and send it downward.
But the Stomach is incredibly powerful – and more sensitive than we often realise. Most of the time, we take it for granted until it starts making itself known.
When Liver Qi attacks the Stomach, its natural direction of movement is disrupted. What should descend begins to rise instead: nausea, belching or acid reflux can follow. Some people vomit during migraines; others notice an immediate change in their digestion whenever they are under stress.
Cold in the Stomach can cause pain that feels better with warmth, a strong desire for warm drinks or cramping digestive discomfort.
And of course, the Stomach also knows what it feels like to have too much: too much food, too much stress, too much thinking, too little rest.
As so often in life, we tend to pay the least attention to the things that quietly and reliably work for us every single day. Until one day, they no longer do.
The importance of the Stomach in Chinese medicine is also reflected in one of the most significant points on its channel:
Stomach 36 – Zusanli.
Stomach 36 is located about 3 cun – approximately four finger-widths – below the knee and one finger-width lateral to the front edge of the shinbone.
What do you feel?
Does the point feel hard or tense? Is it tender to pressure? Or does it feel as though your finger is sinking into an emptiness?
Three more li
The Chinese name of Stomach 36 is Zusanli 足三里, commonly translated as “Leg Three Li.”
There are several explanations for the origin of its name. One of the best known is the idea that stimulating this point could give an exhausted person enough strength to walk another three li.
This image beautifully captures one of the essential qualities of Zusanli: finding strength when your own reserves are running low.
Stomach 36 is one of the most important tonifying points in Chinese medicine. It strengthens Qi and Blood, supports the Stomach and Spleen, and is particularly valued in states of weakness and exhaustion and during recovery. Its range of applications is so broad that Zusanli has also been called the “point of a hundred diseases.”
But Stomach 36 does more than nourish and strengthen. It can also bring movement back to an Earth that has become heavy, sluggish or weak.
On a physical level, we may see this as tiredness, heaviness and a lack of strength. On another level, we may recognise similar qualities in overthinking, thoughts that keep circling, or the feeling of being stuck and unable to move forward.
When Earth lacks Yang, it loses some of its ability to transform, lift and move. ST36 can help restore that movement.
But with a point this strongly tonifying, another question is worth asking:
What are we actually going to do with that strength?
How will you walk your next three li?
The old image of Zusanli giving an exhausted person the strength to walk another three li raises other questions for me.
Not as additional indications for the point, but as thoughts we can bring into our work with it – whether we are holding Stomach 36 for ourselves or using it in clinical practice.
Do you actually need to walk those three li?
When we are exhausted, depleted or have been pushing beyond our limits for a long time, having more strength to keep going is not automatically what we need.
Sometimes we are tired because we should be tired. The body is asking us to stop, eat, sleep and recover.
With such a strongly tonifying point, it is worth paying attention to this. If every bit of newly gained strength is immediately used to push through another three li, we may simply be pouring into a bottomless pot. Instead of truly rebuilding ourselves, over time we may begin to draw more deeply on the reserves associated with the Kidneys in Chinese medicine.
This is something we can keep in mind when treating others with Stomach 36, as well as when holding the point for ourselves:
What am I strengthening right now – and what will happen to that strength afterwards?
Is it helping me to truly rebuild? Or am I using it to keep going a little longer, even though my body has been asking me to stop?
Sometimes another pattern needs our attention. And sometimes we really do need exactly that strength to walk the next three li.
Which brings us to a second question.
If you keep going – how do you want to walk?
If we need the strength to continue, it isn’t only about having enough strength to walk those next three li. We can also ask ourselves how we want to walk them.
Am I rushing, while my thoughts are already ten steps ahead? Am I carrying not only my own responsibilities and needs, but everyone else’s as well? Or can I feel the ground beneath my feet and notice where I am, what I need and how much I can actually carry?
Zusanli belongs to the Earth element. Earth gives us ground beneath our feet and a centre to return to. It allows us to move without losing our connection to our own centre.
So when holding the point, alongside the wish for new strength, we can also work with an intention:
How do I want to move forward with this strength?
Not simply to keep going, but to move with a sense of where I am and what I actually want to carry with me along the way.
And when is it time for a break?
There is one more part of this image that matters.
New strength does not have to flow immediately into more work, more movement or another three li. We also need times when we replenish what we have used. Times when the body is allowed to receive rather than constantly being asked to perform.
In this way, the story of Zusanli becomes more than a story about endurance. It leaves us with three questions:
Do I actually need to walk those three li?
If I do, how do I want to walk them?
And when is it time to stop and recover?
These are not fixed indications for Stomach 36. They are thoughts we can bring into our work with the point – whether we are holding it for ourselves or using it in clinical practice.
Because having the strength to walk another three li does not always mean that we need to.
How to work with Stomach 36 yourself
Stomach 36 is an easy point to incorporate into everyday life. You can hold it with your finger for a few minutes or gently massage it. Depending on your pattern, warmth – for example, with moxa – may also be appropriate.
Another option is to place small gold pellets over the point, providing gentle stimulation over a longer period of time. A suitable essential oil can also be used when working with Stomach 36.
This August: Stomach, Spleen and your centre
Throughout August, the DaoSense Membership is dedicated to the Stomach, Spleen and our centre – through food and recipes, Qi Gong, acupressure, meditation and sound healing.
Chinese medicine made practical – and brought into everyday life.
Would you like to explore the Stomach and Spleen in more depth at another time? You can find the comprehensive Spleen Workbook in the shop at any time.
