Zhi: The Energy of Will, Purpose and Destiny

The spirit of the Water Element is zhi (pronounced zhur). This is one’s will, ambition, purpose, and destiny — a force that moves a person towards their destiny without much conscious thought or effort. Additionally, zhi is thought to be the innate power of life itself…life that wants to live and survive. In this blog, learn more about zhi and ways in which you can cultivate this powerful energy.

Zhi is housed in The Kidneys. Therefore, a person with strong Kidney strength has strong zhi, i.e. a drive to be alive, and a person with less Kidney strength may have a lack of drive and overcompensate by pushing themselves.

Anything that injures the Kidneys will also injure zhi. Chronic fearfulness, trauma, ongoing stress, penetrating cold, addictions, overwork and insufficient sleep will all contribute to draining Kidney Qi and zhi.

When zhi is imbalanced, the result can be one of two extremes – either lack of drive or overdrive. Therefore, a person can experience listlessness and passivity, weakness, withdrawal and despair. Or conversely, a person may become restless and unrelentingly active and hyper-determined. Other possible outcomes of zhi imbalance are forgetfulness and memory lapses, the overuse of stimulants to provide false fuel for activity, addictive patterns, insomnia, and nervous breakdown.

When zhi is balanced, a person moves forward without much effort, as if propelled by some invisible force. A kind of “going with the flow,” living life with ease and effortlessness.

Ultimately the highest form of zhi arises when one’s personal will is in alignment with the “will of heaven.” The “will of heaven” is stored in our essence (jing), existing as a blueprint for our highest development. Aligning our personal will with this blueprint enables us to manifest our true destiny. The more balanced our zhi, the more we will experience an inner knowing of how this alignment will occur.

How to Nourish Zhi and The Kidneys.

• Get acupuncture.
• Practice grounding Kidney/Root Chakra Yoga by Adriene.
• Practice winter-focused qigong exercises such as Mimi Kuo-Deemer’s Qigong for the Water Element.
• Add in seafood, seaweed, and kelp in your diet. Be aware that too much will cause water retention.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat hydrating and nourishing food such as soups and stews.
• Moxibustion, a deep heat therapy using mugwort herb, is especially beneficial for Kidney Yang deficiency.
• Try this ginger foot soak to activate the Kidney meridian on the foot, which helps build the Kidney’s energetic function and strengthen your zhi.
  
  You will need:
  

• 1 gallon very warm water

• 2 tablespoons ground ginger

• 1/2 cup sea salt

• Juice of 1 lemon
  

  
  Fill a small basin with enough water to completely cover your feet up to your ankles. Make sure the water is hot enough to stay warm for the duration of your soak, but not too hot that it burns your feet.

  Add the lemon juice, sea salt and ground ginger to the water and stir. Slowly put both feet into the basin. Relax and soak your feet for 10 to 20 minutes.

Cultivate Zhi in Your Daily Life.

• Incorporate a nourishing practice every day for a month.
• Do something you’ve never done before.
• Do something for five minutes longer when you’d rather stop.
• Do something very slowly.
• Do something no one would expect you to do.
• Postpone an action you want to do.
• Do something now that you’d prefer to postpone.

Sources:

Five Element Acupressure. “The Spirit of Water.” Five Element Acupressure, n.d., http://www.acupressure.com.au/wprss/?tag=bl-52. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
Thomson’s Chinese Medicine. “The Water Element in TCM.” Thomson TCM, n.d., https://www.thomsontcm.sg/articles/the-water-element-in-tcm/. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
WebMD. “Purifying Lemon-Ginger Foot Soak.” WebMD, n.d., https://www.webmd.com/beauty/features/purifying-lemon-ginger-foot-soak. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.