I. The Classical View
In classical physiology, the Qiao and Wei vessels are said to come online after birth, distinguishing them from the prenatal eight extraordinary vessels. They belong to what is sometimes called the “secondary ancestry”—that which is shaped through life rather than inherited.
What does it actually mean to be? In clinical practice and daily life, we often speak about the need to “just be” or to “stop doing so much”—but the state of being is rarely defined in physiological terms. Is it rest? Is it stillness? Is it the absence of threat?
This analysis focuses on the neurochemical, structural, and developmental disintegration process that occurs when long-term trauma-based identity scaffolding collapses—commonly misread as depression, but functionally distinct. This collapse may follow the completion of a major life task, existential awakening, or the cessation of over-adaptive striving, and is particularly common in individuals with schizoid or spiritualized defenses rooted in early relational trauma.
A Clinical Narrative Synthesizing Heller, Lowen, and Dopaminergic Physiology
In patients
with early relational trauma—especially those with perinatal rupture, adoption,
or spiritualized abuse—we frequently observe the emergence of schizoid
character structure as defined by Alexander Lowen: a core split between the
physical body and the organizing self. When paired with early threat to
attachment and survival, this structural split often lays the foundation for a lifelong
pursuit of safety through abstraction.
Heller’s developmental trauma framework identifies that rupture in the earliest stages (birth to three months) tends not to produce emotional dysregulation in the classic sense, but rather a failure to develop embodied contact with existence itself. In these cases, the infant may form a basic impression: “It is not safe to be here,” or even more primally, “I do not belong in a body.”
Primitive reflexes (PRs) are foundational components of the human nervous system, and serve as essential building blocks for complex motor and cognitive functions. These automatic, involuntary movements are present at birth and were thought to integrate as the child matures, usually by the age of 8. Controlled by cranial nerves in the brainstem—a primitive part of the brain—these reflexes maintain a balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems to support motor movement, decision-making, and emotional regulation. When PRs remain reactive (retained) or reemerge later in life, they disrupt vagal nerve signals and leave the body in a heightened state of arousal, with higher levels of stress hormones along the HPA axis.
