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I wanted to share some ideas on the mind-body-spirit connection and, more specifically, how biological function has soul-spiritual links.

I remember when we were living in China and one of the kids was running a fever, the nanny would say, ‘after the fever the child gets smarter’. We thought that a little odd at first and when we paid attention to this we really noticed there were often significant psychological changes in children after a fever.

Chinese Medicine continues to support the importance of feverish illness in childhood development. Now, we know there are risks and complications in high pediatric fevers and fevers deserve a doctors attention. This is beyond the scope of this article and we will focus on the ideas linked to the deeper meaning and purpose of fever.

This article is inspired by treating pediatric febrile conditions in the clinic and much of the writing comes from one of my favorite pediatric books – A Guide to Child Health Glockler & Goebel. A wonderful reference for parents combining sound medical advice with the physical, spiritual and psychological development of children. The authors base their theory and practice on twenty years experience in the children’s out-patient department of the Herdecke Hospital in Germany which is run along anthroposophical (inspired by Rudolf Steiner) lines. I am continually intrigued by how much anthroposophical ideas mirror Chinese medicine philosophy.

What Causes Fever

Fever is a crisis-like change in the body’s warmth system. Its causes are varied. For a child, even a birthday party, a long trip, a sudden change in the weather, overcooling, or an erupting tooth may overburden the body, leaving it susceptible to colonization by ‘germs’.

Animal experiments have shown that viruses and bacteria reproduce best and thus most likely to cause damage at temperatures of 32-35C/90-95F – that is below normal body temperatures. Hence the expression ‘to catch cold’ is quite justified. On the other hand, fevers provide optimum temperatures generally 39-40C/102-104F) for killing or preventing the proliferation of the viruses or bacteria that affect the body.

In the process of activating endogenous defenses, many important reactions are set in motion only by fever. Fever stimulates the activity of the immune system preventing the proliferation of viruses or bacteria.

Fever suppression with measles can lead to complications, and with an unrecognized ‘blood poisoning’ (lymphangitis) where bacteria multiply in the blood affecting the organs. Fever suppressants also lower the efficacy of the kidneys. Research has shown that fevers in early childhood prevent allergies. The risk of cancer is lowered, particularly after measles, German measles and chickenpox.

Fever is a highly effective reaction of the body to combat illness and lay the foundation for sound health

Not only fever suppressants, but antibiotics can interrupt the body’s activities and therefore be administered only when the body can not hold its own against a bacterial infection. The other thing to note is that viral infection, which are more common than bacterial infections, are resistant to antibiotics.

The Soul-Spiritual Connection

Thermo-regulation and fever also have a soul-spiritual aspect. Heat is more than just a quantitative factor measured with a thermometer. As such, warmth also manifests in the activity of the human soul and spirit. We ‘feel warm inside’ when we meet a good friend or revisit the familiar landscape of our childhood. When we have a good idea or wax enthusiastic about an ideal, warmth can literally shoot up into our limbs. Conversely, fear, anger, or great sorrow, or even hate, envy, or discontent in our surroundings, makes our ‘blood run cold’. We may speak of an icy mood, frosty silence, or a cold refusal, or we may say, ‘that leaves me cold’.

Just as a comfortable body temperature of 37C/98.5F supports the activities of body, soul and spirit, so to a joyful experience, inner concentration or meditative work can have positive effects on how the body is pervaded with warmth. Blood circulation and the supply of blood to the organs are sensitive not only to the body’s movement and nutrition but also to our emotions and thoughts. We quite rightly relate warmth to the soul and spirit as well as to the body. At all three levels, the same warmth is at work, although sometimes it is more inwardly and sometimes more outwardly active.

The unified nature of warmth allows us to experience ourselves as self-contained physical and soul-spiritual beings. Hence, we can say that the body’s warmth organization as a whole is the physical vehicle of the self, the human ‘I’.

Every illness is accompanied by a change in this warmth system and thus affects and involves the I in a very direct way. 

Individual Differences

We change our attitude towards illness when we see it as related to a child’s own activity and volition – that is, to his or her I. Hence, the individual differences – the child who never runs a fever, the one whose fevers remain slight and rises slowly, the one who gets brief attacks of high fever. We meet whole families of children who are always first to be flat on their backs while their neighbors kids are still splashing in the puddles. Then they switch roles, and the last one to catch a cold may have the longest struggle with the infection.

Other individual differences become evident in adults. A person who enjoys her work and works long and hard but rhythmically may be much less susceptible to cold and flu than someone who takes a lot of time off to ‘relax’. When we enjoy our work, when the I is heavily involved in it, our warmth system is stimulated ‘immunizing’ us against illness.

Purpose of Fever

Psycho-neuro-immunological research has confirmed that positive emotions like courage, enthusiasm, trust and love stimulate the human immune system while stress, anger, fear, lethargy and depression weaken it.

When we confront the high fevers of childhood infectious diseases, we must ask about the purpose of each fever. Is it an attempt to temporarily strengthen the soul-spirit’s ability to intervene in the body? Or to create a substitute for a lack of soul activity? We can make many interesting observations that help to answer these questions.

Here is an example: Relatives who initially say that a new born baby ‘looks just like his grandfather’ may later change their minds and decide he looks more like his mother. But, after he undergoes a feverish illness, his parents find a new trait not found among his relatives and are pleased to see his unique personality emerging.

Fever helps a child’s I adapt its inherited body to its own purposes, making it a more suitable vehicle for self-expression. Predisposition to diseases such as eczema or asthma in infancy has been known to improve after serious feverish illnesses. A possible physiological explanation for this phenomenon, as suggested by the immunological and genetic research of the last two decades, is that a persons genetic material is not a fixed entity as was previously assumed but rather a dynamic one that may manifest differently under different circumstances. It has long been known that genes and their functions are influenced not only by the immune system but also by soul-spiritual and psycho-social processes throughout the persons lifetime.

From a purely outer perspective, the rapid regaining of weight loss during a feverish illness is an indication that the body is being organically remodeled. The child has deconstructed some aspect of her inherited body and is rebuilding under the independent direction of her own warmth organization.

Our Experience

In our own pediatric practices we have experienced repeatedly that flu with high fever, a carefully managed case of pneumonia, or even measles may introduce, a new more stable phase in a child’s development. Less frequently, longer bouts of repeated illness indicates a task that remains to be accomplished.

Fevers affect on the body can be compared to good educational methods – under both circumstances the child learns something through her own efforts. Constantly telling children, ‘do this; don’t do that; you’re not allowed to do that’ is generally considered poor educational practice. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens in many feverish infections. As soon as the child’s temperature exceeds 38.5C/101.5F, she is given a suppository, and if infection is confirmed, antibiotics are prescribed too, leaving the body with little chance of independent involvement. Furthermore, a body thus treated loses an opportunity to practice the ‘flexibility’ it will need to confront tasks more serious and more important than overcoming the feverish infections of childhood.

However, we know that dramatic and extreme reactions such as febrile seizures can occur and permanent damage is possible. To counteract these reactions in a timely way is the appropriate function of the medical profession. Because complications, although infrequent, must be caught in time, childhood feverish illnesses do require a doctor’s attention.

Alex Tan

Alex Tan L.Ac is a licensed Acupuncturist. After completing his degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Alex lived and practiced Chinese Medicine for 10-years in Beijing, China. A native-born Australian, the son of his Australian mother and Chinese father, Alex's bi-cultural heritage helps him skillfully bridge Eastern and Western health perspectives. He believes the true power of Chinese medicine lies in a balanced approach towards prevention and treatment. Rooted in Chinese Medicine observation based theory & methodology over millenniums, Alex’s talent lies in delivering these Eastern healing modalities to his modern Western clients. Click here for more about Alex.

2 Comments

  • Rekha says:

    Wow!! Thank You for this Article. This article confirmed my own experiences. Have had these experiences that after almost every illness there has been quite a few changes for me personally for years, but I have doubted it, questioned my ideas and also kept it to myself. Thank You again!!

    • Alex Tan says:

      Rekhar, thanks for your comments and yes, humans have noticed this phenomena using the age old art of long-term observation. I am pleased it resonated with your experience.