Question: I tend to be an overly emotional person. I often feel angry and frustrated and sometimes find that these emotions consume me. How do my emotions impact my health?

Answer:

Today we understand everything about energy. Energy can be visible and invisible. Indeed, quantum physics shows us the universe is a combination of both the material and the non-material. Human beings are part of this universe. This means that we are connected to both the material and the non-material aspects of this reality. Our bodies are the material, visible aspect. Emotions, which are also a form of energy, are non-material. Everything is connected. We can see how interrelated things impact one another. Therefore, as part of the entirety of our being, our emotions have an impact on our bodies. Perhaps the greatest learning for most patients involves recognizing how emotions strongly impact their health and ultimately becoming skilled at “managing” their emotions.

A fundamental theory of Chinese medicine is the Five Element theory. Through deep spiritual practice, ancient masters were able to observe the basic elemental underpinnings of Nature. These observations were organized into five master groups or patterns in Nature. Each of the five groups—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water—include limitless associations, such as a season, climate, stage of growth and development, internal organ, body tissue, taste, color, sound and emotion. The Five Element theory speaks about how all things are connected and interrelated. It shows us how the structures and systems in our bodies are connected to each other, how we are connected to the natural world, and how our world is part of the greater universe.

Liver Health

Applying the Five Element theory to healthcare, we see that each organ has a particular emotion associated with it. For instance, the Liver is related to anger and frustration. As for the remaining organs, worry affects the Stomach, sadness and grief unbalance the Lung and fear points to the Kidney. This means that the experience of these emotions on a long-term basis can unbalance and impact the corresponding organ’s function and health. Using this framework, we can see how our invisible emotions—our consciousness—directly impacts our very visible, physical body.

Today, everybody is under tremendous physical and emotional stress. Stress directly impacts the Liver and its function. So we ask ourselves, “How can we let stress go”? How can we truly understand the meaning of the phrase, “Go with the flow”? This flexible state is optimal for maintaining healthy Liver function. But teaching someone to ‘let it go’ is a complex issue. For this we turn to the ancient insights of Chinese medicine and modern discoveries to show us a pathway.

Modern science says positive and negative always exist at the same time. This concept mirrors the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang. When we apply this concept to life it means that when a person is under a lot of stress, there is a different angle from which to view the situation or event that is causing the stress. The person’s initial viewpoint makes her angry, stressed and frustrated because that’s all she can see—and truthfully, that’s all she wants to see. According to quantum physics, we choose the reality we see out of many possible or potential realities. Yet if that person were to change her point of view, she would change her energy frequency and would then see the situation—her reality—differently.