How Emotions Manifest

What happens when you feel an emotion? Does it make your stomach flutter? Or cheeks flush? Or maybe it makes your chest burn?

These are all physiological responses to a felt emotion. It's real for you, because you feel it. Sometimes these responses happen without us even realizing what emotion they are attached to. But if you pay attention to where that feeling is in your body, it can help you figure out what's really going on inside. 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, each organ in our body has a corresponding emotion associated with it. Below, we have highlighted each pair and how symptoms might manifest if you're experiencing an emotion that is stuck. 

Grief & Regret - Lungs: Tightness in the chest, being unable to take a big breath, tiredness.

Worry & Stress - Spleen/Stomach: Upset stomach, poor digestion, loss of appetite, "knots" in stomach.

Overstimulation & Shock - Heart: Rapid heartbeat, fluttering, palpitations, insomnia, restlessness. 

Fear & Anxiety - Kidney/Bladder: Persistent urination, incontinence, lower back pain, panic attacks. 

Anger & Resentment - Liver: Red/hot face, headache, menstruation issues, dizziness, outbursts.

If you can acknowledge and face your emotion, you can release it. When we don't recognize emotions or we ignore what we are feeling, that emotion will hide itself and manifest in different symptoms until we pay attention. When something is wrong and we are not feeling at ease, that's what creates dis-ease. You can use different tools, which we will discuss next week, to release these emotions but it's also important to face and acknowledge that emotions exist.

To feel what you are feeling, is not wrong but a healthy start for your best wellness.