The seven emotions (Qi Qíng) in TCM

What could be more natural than emotions? They are what set us in motion and protect us from certain situations by pushing us to react. However, TCM considers that emotions, although essential, can upset our internal balance when they become excessive or prolonged. How do they influence overall well-being? What impact can they have on the body?

What is an emotion?

Emotions can be described as a passing affective state which, depending on its intensity, can have more or less serious repercussions on body and mind.

It is very healthy to feel emotions: they allow us to regulate the internal state of our body and to have appropriate reactions to the events we go through, and they are above all the result of human behaviour.

The pathogenic emotion

In TCM, there is the notion of the pathogenic emotion, in other words a harmful emotion. This type of feeling causes certain dysfunctions in the body and greatly affects the organs. Traditional Chinese medicine states that illness can generally be caused by one of these three things:

• dietary imbalances
• external causes (pernicious energies), often climatic
• internal causes, such as overwork, inactivity or emotions

Unlike the Western view, which does not place emotions at the heart of the body's imbalances, Chinese medicine considers that each organ is linked to an emotional and a physical dimension. There can therefore be a direct correlation between an intense emotion and a general imbalance in the body.

However, emotions do not systematically lead to imbalance. It is those that are excessive, repressed, absent or prolonged that can disturb the body's harmony. What are these emotions, and which organs do they influence?

The seven emotions and their consequences for the organs

The notion of Qi Qíng

The great Classics of traditional Chinese medicine confirm the link between the five Zang organs and the emotions. The Kidney, Liver, Lung, Heart and Spleen produce five energies that we call emotions. In Chinese theory, each organ and its paired viscus are associated with an emotion and an element. Originally, there were five pairs:

• The Kidney and Bladder are associated with fear and Water.
• The Liver and Gallbladder are associated with anger and Wood.
• The Lung and Large Intestine are associated with sadness and Metal.
• The Heart and Small Intestine are associated with joy and Fire.
• The Spleen and Pancreas are associated with worry and Earth.

Then the five emotions eventually became seven. It was in the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (dating from 770–221 BC) that two more emotions were added to the list and that the notion of the seven emotions (Qi Qíng) appeared for the first time. Different works use different names for these emotions, but their meaning remains the same.

These two "new" emotions are grief and fright. Like sadness, grief is associated with the Lung and Metal. As for fright, like fear, it is associated with the Kidney, but also with the Heart and Water.

Their consequences for the organs

Emotional imbalances come mainly from the organs. Whether caused by Deficiency or Excess, they can be devastating for the body.

And with good reason: an excessive emotion harms the Zang organs, disturbs Qi and creates imbalances in the body. Here are the consequences of the seven emotions for the organs:

Joy (Xi)

Joy is a feeling that everyone sees as very positive. It supports our health and the circulation of Qi and Blood. It is partly thanks to the production of hormones such as dopamine and endorphins that we experience joy¹.

In Chinese medicine, joy becomes a dangerous, negative emotion when it is excessive. It damages the Heart, its target organ, slackens its Qi and attacks the Lung.

People affected by this excess have difficulty concentrating and speaking coherently. Excessive joy often shows up as palpitations, a feeling of euphoria or uncontrollable agitation. What's more, as the Heart is no longer able to house the Shen properly, intense joy can give rise to psychological imbalances, which TCM treats by restoring Heart Qi.

Fear (Kong)

Fear is a Yin emotion associated with the Kidneys, which explains why we can be seized by a very strong urge to urinate when we are frightened. Fear differs from fright because, unlike fright, it comes from an internal source.

When danger approaches, fear appears as an alarm signal to push us to react and find a way out of a worrying situation. This powerful emotion, often labelled as negative, is meant to protect us.

However, when fear is out of proportion, it weakens Kidney Qi and forces it downwards, giving rise to a feeling of loss of control, marked fatigue or a feeling of weakness in the limbs. In women, fear can cause abnormally long and irregular periods.

Anger (Nu)

Anger is an emotion associated with the Liver. Anger is beneficial: it makes us aware that a change needs to be made, that a situation no longer suits us. It is a healthy emotion that allows us to defend ourselves, to respect ourselves and to make others respect us.

There are two types of anger: Yin anger, which is a blocked emotion, and Yang anger, an extreme emotion. Excessive (Yang) anger affects the Qi of its ruling organ, the Liver. It makes it rise and carries the blood circulation up with it, which can cause irritability, sleep disorders, a heavy head, dizziness and a feeling of suffocation.

In women, fits of anger are often associated with the onset of periods: TCM seeks to restore Liver Qi when menstrual troubles occur.

Sadness (Bei)

Sadness is a Yin emotion associated with the Lung. It is a natural feeling we meet from childhood. It allows us to free ourselves from the event that affected us, to move on, to manage to say goodbye. Sadness is a fundamental step towards accepting how hard a situation is. It is the experience of sadness that pushes us to move forward.

However, when it becomes too oppressive, sadness turns into an intense melancholy that isolates us from society. It exhausts our general energy and attacks Lung Qi. This causes coughing, weakened immunity, a feeling of oppression and, in the most extreme cases, a deep state of melancholy.

If excessive sadness lasts over time, it will harm the Heart, Liver and Spleen, and may even attack Heart Qi, giving rise to Fire.

Worry (Si)

Worry, sometimes called "obsessive thinking" or "pensiveness", is an emotion associated with the Spleen. Worry mainly shows up as going over the same anxious thoughts all day long.

Going hand in hand with stress, worry can be destructive, but paradoxically it is also quite useful, since it signals a problem to be solved and encourages us to take action to deal with whatever is troubling us.

When it is extreme, worry obstructs Spleen Qi, affecting the organ's work of digestion and opening the door to obsessive thoughts. A weakened Spleen, one of the organs involved in producing Qi and Blood, leads to a marked drop in energy.

What's more, when it takes the form of obsessive brooding or excessive thinking, worry can lead to prolonged stagnation of Heart Qi and so weaken the organ. This can lead to palpitations, anxiety, sleep problems, deep fatigue, loss of appetite, constipation and, in the most extreme cases, impaired cognitive faculties.

Grief (You)

Grief, sometimes called "oppression" or "despondency", is an emotion associated with the Lung. Although it resembles sadness, it lasts much longer and is experienced far more intensely.

Grief often involves the loss of a loved one (bereavement or heartbreak, for example); it is a painful stage that we inevitably go through in life. Grief shapes us, makes us grow and, at best, can lead to a rebirth.

Experienced to the extreme, grief harms the Lung and exhausts its Qi. It causes widespread stagnation of vital energy, which greatly reduces the function of the internal organs. In people who experience it, grief leads to breathing problems, tightness in the chest, tension, significant loss of appetite or even a depressive state.

Fright (Jing)

Fright, sometimes also referred to as "startle", "terror" or "emotional shock", is an emotion closely linked to the Heart and the Kidney. Compared with fear, fright is much more intense, since it causes real emotional turmoil.

Fright shows up as a feeling of extreme terror that comes on very suddenly, often accompanied by anxiety and agitation, and that paralyses mind and body. Unlike fear, it is caused by external factors.

In the West, people often speak of a "panic attack" to refer to this type of emotion. This excessive fright causes a general dysfunction of Qi and agitates it, giving rise to signs such as palpitations, mental agitation and cold sweats. Fright disturbs the Heart-Shen (source of vitality and joy) as well as the Heart-Kidney balance. The Kidney, weakened by the emotion, calls on the Heart for help and exhausts it. This shows up as dizziness, tinnitus, palpitations and breathlessness.

The role of the Heart

In TCM, the Heart is the most important organ. It governs body and Spirit and rules the emotions. Because it houses the Shen, in other words "the Spirit", the Heart is particularly vulnerable to excessive emotional imbalances. According to Chinese medicine, joy is essential to its proper functioning, because without it, its energy can become blocked, compromising the protection of the Shen and encouraging emotional and psychological troubles.

Two kinds of disorder affecting the Heart are recognised: blood circulation problems and emotional troubles. So, to keep this vital organ healthy, it is important to maintain psychological harmony. What does TCM advise for managing these extreme emotions?

Managing your emotions with Chinese medicine

Express as much as you can

To avoid tipping into pathological excess when we are gripped by an intense emotion, TCM advises expressing our feelings through talking and meditation:

• To calm very violent anger, physical activity is generally suggested, since it allows the release of the excessive amount of energy built up in the body.
• When we are drowning in sadness, we need to work on accepting the situation, and it is advisable to turn to things that do us good and gradually get back in touch with the outside world.
• Seeking comfort from others and surrounding ourselves with people who make us feel safe can be a good way to overcome paralysing fear.

So expressing our emotions and owning them allows us to channel them.

Live by the principles of Yang Sheng

Yang Sheng is an art of living that brings together a set of methods aimed at preserving health, preventing illness and promoting longevity. Yang Sheng, which literally means "nourishing life", encourages us to take up meditation, the principles of Chinese dietetics and regular physical activity in order to strengthen our immune system. By fortifying our body, we protect ourselves against emotional troubles and improve our quality of life.

Qi Gong, a meditative therapy, is part of Yang Sheng. This gentle exercise, which is not a branch of TCM but is dear to Chinese tradition, involves physical, energetic and psychological exercises that aim to strengthen the muscles and organs, work the memory, ease stress and relax the body through breathing exercises.

Thanks to these exercises, which are best done every day, Qi Gong restores and harmonises Qi, calms the Spirit, releases physical and emotional blockages and, overall, helps us manage our emotions better.

Try Tui Na massage

Tui Na is the name given to traditional Chinese massage. Considered an energy massage, it is one of the five branches of TCM. Very different from Western massage, Tui Na is very dynamic and "tailor-made". Most of the time, patients who turn to it have muscular, joint or energy problems.

Acupressure is one of the Tui Na massage methods. It consists of stimulating very precise acupuncture points with the fingers. To treat emotional troubles, the masseur will focus on the meridians affected by the pathogenic emotion in order to dissolve the surplus energy and clear blockages.

Acupuncture can also be a solution for emotional turmoil, which is often caused by a deficient organ or by a shock. The acupuncturist will stimulate the meridians associated with the organs that have been hurt by this overly violent emotion in order to release them.

Trust in plants

To restore Qi, calm the Spirit and soothe emotional turmoil, the Chinese pharmacopoeia offers the benefits of medicinal plants. Here is a selection of plants that act against emotional troubles:

• St John's wort is reputed to soothe emotional turmoil. Nicknamed "devil's scourge", it keeps melancholy and insomnia at bay.
  

  Organic St. John’s wort cut aerial parts

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• Xiao Yao San is an essential TCM formula for regulating Liver energy and soothing emotional troubles linked to stress, anger or sadness. Thanks to plants such as Bupleurum root (Chai Hu), this formula harmonises Liver and Spleen Qi, promoting emotional and physical balance. Natural and recognised for its effectiveness, Xiao Yao San is particularly recommended for prolonged emotional fatigue or psychological imbalance.

• Chai hu (Bupleurum root) is a plant recommended to calm the Spirit and release emotional blockages. It is credited with very powerful soothing properties. Because Chai hu makes Liver Qi flow freely, it is highly recommended for regaining serenity.

Natural and healthy, emotions become a problem and damage the vital organs as soon as they are excessive and last over time. Preserving our emotional stability is therefore essential. According to TCM, a healthy lifestyle and a strong immune system allow us to achieve serenity. So welcoming our feelings with open arms and expressing them openly would be the way to keep them from taking control.

References:

[1] DFARHUD Dariush, MALMIR Maryam and KHANAHMADI Mohammad, Happiness & Health: The Biological Factors – Systematic Review Article, Iran J Public Health. 2014 Nov; 43(11):1468-1477.