When someone approaches death, it is common for the pulse to become Empty. What this means is that the more superficial aspects of the pulse feel full of excess qualities, like robust pounding and tense; sometimes there is the presence of slippery, and often a form of vibration appears, which feels rough to the fingertips. A vibrating pulse at this stage signifies tissue and organ breakdown, so it is fairly common to feel throughout the depths of the pulse. Medication that a dying person is on will also be reflected in this superficial layer, usually adding to the tension and pounding. It feels, literally, like stuff has floated up to that depth because it cannot be held down deep in the body any longer.
Beneath this layer, the Blood depth and then the Organ depth can feel vacuous. Resources at these deeper levels in the body are completely depleted.
Another quality that I have felt, of late, is a pulse Dr Shen and Dr Hammer termed Yielding Hollow Interrupted. I have felt it most commonly appearing in the middle (Guan) position, and I am certain has been there all along, I am just now sensitive to it.
The Interrupted piece is referring to the noticeable abnormality in the rate and rhythm of the heartbeat, and signifies severe Heart Yang deficiency. The fuller billowy qualities of this pulse are felt at the top of the impulse and yet yield away with any pressure, giving it the yielding and hollow quality. It is a death pulse. And for some reason, just recently, I finally felt it as a death pulse. It finally made direct experiential sense.
I have felt this quality on a pulse of someone who is days or even hours away from death, surely a clear display of Yin and Yang separating.
At this time, the pulse appears in bursts, and often can feel as if the impulse is in pieces. It rises up, appears, and is gone. The billowing up of the pulse feels to be the Shen rising up as it departs.
As we die, the Qi of the body transforms into Shen, moves up through the central channel in the body toward governing vessel 20 (crown) to leave, and is gone. It is a process, however, and this pulse quality demonstrates that.
It is a beautiful to experience. There is a lightning to the quality of the air surrounding everything in the room. A shift has occurred. A transformation.
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*** To learn more about pulse taking, please refer to Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis by Leon Hammer, MD