Treating the Emotional Heart
Do you find yourself feeling down at this time of year? Maybe you have trouble sleeping and feel like you keep forgetting what you were doing? Since I’ve been seeing heart decorations everywhere, I wanted to use this post to tell you about the heart in east Asian medicine and its special relationship to the emotions and mental health. Check out my graphic at the end of this post if you’d like to try some acupressure for a quick emotional pick-me-up!
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the heart as an organ is understood to be the same as how we generally think of the heart biologically. However, TCM goes further into assigning more functions for the organs. The heart is considered the most important organ, not only for its ability to pump blood around the body but because it is considered to be the home for the mind and the emotions.
It wasn’t only Chinese Medicine that had this theory: most medical traditions throughout history considered the heart to be associated with the mind and emotions. Interestingly, research is coming back to this original idea of the biological heart being deeply linked to our emotional states. We still see this in our culture when there is a cute or sad moment: we clutch at our hearts, not at our heads!
With regards to the heart’s role in mental health, when the heart is in balance and healthy, the mind is clear. A person is able to perceive things as they are without mental confusion. This helps us to better relate to others and our environment. The emotional state is level and calm. This allows for deep, peaceful sleep without too many dreams.
What does it look like when something is out of balance with the heart, specifically its role in housing the emotions? Anxiety can occur: most times when we are anxious we know that there isn’t really much to be anxious about, but we can’t let the thought go or stop the feeling that something bad might happen. Sadness and depression also relate this and can be a result of a heart imbalance. Insomnia may occur or you may find you have many vivid dreams that have you waking up feeling like you didn’t sleep at all! Or you may just have a feeling of being disoriented and slightly removed from your body.
If you find yourself having insomnia, depression, anxiety, forgetfulness or any emotional stress, getting acupuncture and taking herbal medicine can help you get back to feeling calm, focused and energized.
Try out the acupressure below if you’re having any of these issues for some self care.
