The practice of Chinese medicine has become quite mainstream over the last decade or so, but people still find it illusive and mysterious. And in some regard, it is. For example, the way we look at emotions in Chinese medicine is quite unique.
Before we jump into how emotions are interconnected with the body, let’s reveal some basics.
Traditional Chinese medicine has actually been in practice for over 3,000 years. The medicine is comprised of acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, cupping, moxibustion, Chinese nutrition and Tai Qi. The goal of all these modalities is to achieve balance in the body by way of manipulating Qi, blood, Yin and Yang.
When there is balance in the body, we feel healthy, symptom-free, our mind is kind, our digestion is easy, our sleep is deep and rejuvenating, energy is bright and radiant and our body feels solid, grounded and flexible.
Most people think that Chinese medicine is only effective in treating pain, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. While it’s true, acupuncture and herbal medicine are incredible at bringing down inflammation and healing pain, the medicine is actually an incredible asset to every single system in the body.
One area where this medicine is very different from Western medicine is around emotional wellness. Chinese medicine believes that each organ, will not only give way to physical symptoms when out of balance, but emotional symptoms as well.
Let’s take the Liver for example. When the Liver is out of balance, meaning it’s not in harmony or perhaps there’s some stagnation or stuck energy, it will create symptoms or warning signals. With an imbalance, one might experience tension in the upper back and shoulders, headache, migraines, waking up between 1AM-3 AM, constipation, IBS, menstrual cramps, PMS to name a few. The emotions that the Liver rules are anger, frustration and depression and those too will come to the surface more easily when there’s an internal imbalance.
Now, how do organs get out of balance? Many things can cause this and nothing too surprising; too little sleep, too much alcohol, too much fried or rich food, too much work, too much stress. And being in a particular emotion much of the time can also create physical symptoms. For example, a body that is deeply rooted in sadness and grief might start to further that imbalance by becoming asthmatic, thereby making it even harder to move through or past that emotion.
Here’s a list of organs and their associated difficult emotion, but also the virtue or antidote that can rebalance it.
Lung
Sadness and grief
The virtue is Courage
Heart
Impatience
The virtue is Love
Spleen
Worry and pensiveness
The virtue is Trust and Sincerity
Liver
Anger, frustration or depression
The virtue is Kindness
Kidney
Fear and shock
The virtue is Peace
San Jiao (The Triple Burner, basically the Sacral, Solar Plexus and Heart Chakra)
Panic
The virtue is Balance
If you are experiencing any kind of emotional challenge or stress, consider connecting with us. We can help immensely and support you in all areas. The beauty of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine is that we treat all of you; body, mind and spirit.
