You are what you think: emotions, mental health and your wellbeing
Emotions are the best index to measure health by yourself according to ancient Chinese medicine
When you hear about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it’s likely that words such as ‘acupuncture’, ‘herbal tea’ and ‘guasha’ will pop into your head. But is this all that it is? TCM can be very effective in tackling external and physical problems that it is easy for us to forget that those problems start from inside our body and the emotions we feel. Emotions are one of the fundamental TCM elements that link to our organs and systems.
While conventional medicine starts to stress the psychological aspects of psychosomatic ailments, the pathological damage to the internal organs is very real indeed and is of primary concern of the TCM practitioner.
You certainly haven’t heard about TCM psychologists, right? It’s not that they don’t exist — it’s because EVERY TCM doctor could be one!
Today, let’s dive deep beneath our skin and find out how ancient TCM concepts and wisdom can help us navigate this modern, yet complicated, messy lifestyle.
Wellbeing is a reflection of our state of mind
The mind-and-body connection is so well-blended in TCM’s holistic approach that you might not even notice it. Interestingly, emotions are considered one of the major causes of diseases in TCM, and the Five Elements theory assigns different emotions to our organs. The heart is related to joy, the liver to anger, the digestive system to pensiveness, the lungs to anxiety and the kidneys to fear. The intensity and fluctuation of our emotions affect the functioning of the organs therefore how our body feels.
Within normal limits, it’s perfectly fine for us to experience various emotions. But if the intensity of an emotion is so great or it comes suddenly, or it’s been a long time and becomes chronic, it makes our mind-and-body balance out of whack and will open our doors to diseases.
Have you ever got a stomach ache before an interview? It could be read as the digestive system being hurt whilst you’re imagining hundreds of possible scenarios.
If we look at our body as a factory, uncontrolled emotions mean the production schedule is stirred up (Yin-Yang imbalance), the supplier and conveyor are disrupted and blocked (blockages of Qi and blood), making less or no output. If serious enough, different parts (organs) will affect each other, therefore meaning the whole system needs repair.
What the liver has to do with our mental health?
In TCM, the liver plays a very special role in our mental wellbeing. TCM sees the liver differently than conventional medicine — it doesn’t only refer to the organ below the lungs, but a systematic concept in a macro way. The books of TCM say that the liver ‘governs and controls emotions’. Like the general in an army, it overlooks all of our emotions, and any excessive or unhealthy ones will damage the liver first. It is because one of the liver’s functions is the mobilising of Qi, and therefore our body’s metabolism. Whilst emotions will hurt the liver, liver imbalance can also, in turn, disrupt our emotions as well.
People suffering from depression often can’t figure out how to let things go, especially emotions. When they stay in the body long enough, they cause the liver’s Qi and our overall metabolism to be blocked.
Our body is very much like a river system — these streams need to be unclogged to flow freely. They allow Qi, our life essences such as oxygen, and molecules of nutrients to flow through different parts of the body. The streams also allow the body to excrete waste. When one of the streams is blocked, even if the blockage is small, it’s large enough to cause flooding upstream and drainage downstream, making us ungrounded and imbalanced.
These imbalances affect us by headaches, stomach disorders and sore limbs. Same for our emotions, if they are imbalanced and can’t be released, they could cause serious flooding and mental breakdowns. We might not be aware of the damage at the first place, but over time we could see how it took a toll on our physical wellbeing.
Contrarily, if a depressed person can let their emotions out, for example, by talking to trusted ones or reaching inner peace through meditation, something remarkable is going to happen. The stagnant liver Qi will then dissipate, clearing the blockages and the body will slowly recover. Hence, it is important to keep both our liver and mind healthy.
Take this simple 1-minute self-body check
Just as uncontrolled negative emotions could lead to bad liver health, so may the below list of bodily issues. You might be surprised to know that this list could explain the reasons for the ailments you have been trying hard to nail down. Even if you don’t have these problems, it’s good to know for later prevention:
- Often feeling irritated, worried or depressed for no reason;
- Insomnia;
- Sore throat and a dry mouth;
- Bad breath;
- Sore eyes, often itching;
- Vertical lines of varying shades on fingernails;
- Brittle nails;
- Jaundice, a condition in which the skin, whites of the eyes and mucous membranes turn yellow and even itching;
- Spider angioma on the palms, chest or neck — swollen blood vessels found slightly beneath the skin surface, often containing a central red spot and reddish extensions which radiate outwards like a spider’s web.
Now you probably have learned the relationship between our emotions and welling, carried out a mini self-body check, and know which areas of wellbeing you’d like to work on. Stick with us for the second part that we’re releasing soon for the tips and tricks to keep your mental and physical health on the peak!
The story doesn’t end here…
Keep following us for Part two of this story, as we roll out the best practices and to-dos for your liver and mental health!
Want a more tailored and detailed TCM body analysis and action plan for your mental welling? Book us on our new website or email me at alfiechungdesign@gmail.com for a modernised TCM Food Therapy chat! See you next time!
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