Healing Our Emotions

Even when an illness is seen as physical only, such as a state of chronic after an injury, there is always an emotional component, either around the event of the injury or our emotional response to the pain, whether it is anger, depression or even sadness. Although we may not be aware of it, our emotions have a direct effect on our bodies’ physiology. When we get angry we tend to tense up, which can contribute to muscle aches, pains, high blood pressure and in extreme situations a heart attack or stroke. Stress has an obvious effect on our bodies and many of us in times of stress will hold the tension in their neck and shoulders or in their abdomen.  Another example is the effect of immense grief: you may feel like there is a lump in your throat, your chest feels tight and heavy, your eyes begin to burn, and you have difficulty swallowing or breathing.

In some cases in order to “control” our emotions we bury them away, but these emotions do not just disappear. If these latent emotions are not addressed, they may lead to physical problems.  Chinese medicine has long acknowledged the effect of our emotions on health, qualifying them as causes of diseases alongside things like climate, epidemics or poor diet. An important part of the healing process consists in discovering the roots of our emotional response and transforming them.

Acupuncture and meditation can help us uncover hidden emotions and promote the healing process. Exercise helps by dispersing and balancing emotions, but is not enough to transform them and complex health conditions may require a combination of acupuncture, nutrition, exercise, meditation, lifestyle changes, and emotional work such as psychotherapy.