Acupuncture and the Emotions.  Written by Ann Batten

Everyone has emotions and feelings whether you are male or female. Some people feel them acutely and others don’t. Some people express their emotions freely and others hold their feelings in and there are many shades in-between.

From an oriental medical point of view the body, mind, emotions and spirit are all connected. This means that when you feel something it registers in the physical body and changes the energetic balance. The 10 channels that are connected to our internal organs are also connected to different emotions.

Liver & Gallbladder - Anger (which may take the form of frustration, irritation, short temper etc.)

Stomach & Spleen - Worry

Lung & Large Intestine - Grief

Heart & Small Intestine - Sadness

Kidney & Bladder - Fear

This is all from an energetic point of view. We can’t see emotions but we know they are there because we feel them. We cannot see energy but again we can feel it. The same way we cannot see electricity but if you cut a flex off and stuck it to the end of your nose you can sure feel it. (NOT ADVISEABLE!)

OK, so let’s look at what happens. Anger is a good example. Let’s say you are out driving and somebody does something stupid in front of you, you may respond with irritation, name calling etc. Now you have changed the liver balance. Later on you go to the supermarket and there is a big queue, a little bit more frustration. This is often daily life for a lot of people. At the end of the day we may have accumulated a lot of anger. Some people can just let it go and other hold on to it. Some people also think they have let it go but it is still in the body. Over a period of time we may start to see symptoms like for example: stress, tension, insomnia, menstrual problems, grinding our teeth at night, easily irritated over small things, flying off the handle, tension headaches, migraines etc.

Anger is very, very common. It is probably a symptom of modern life these days. Most people may have a dominant emotion but there is normally a mixture underneath. Worry and anxiety is also common. Grief, sadness and fear are often present in many people’s lives as well. Everything depends on what life situations we are dealing with.

With chronic worry you may get symptoms like weight problems, sweet tooth, varicose veins, muscular problems, and cotton wool head, tiredness in the afternoon after lunch etc.

Grief: tight chest, sinus problems, waking around 3-5 am, recurrent colds, shortness of breath etc.

Fear:  lower backache, having to pee at night, hair loss, lethargy, tooth problems, tiredness etc.

Sadness: difficulty going to sleep, palpitations, listlessness, tight chest, mild depression etc.

Now remember that all of this is in terms of energetics. Acupuncture can be very effective in helping to change all of these symptoms and more. Whether a person decides to have acupuncture because of physical or emotional problems doesn’t matter because with treatment you would be working on both as it is all connected.

Ann Batten lives in Lanjarron.  You can contact Ann for further details on 0034 653 477 299 or by email on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it