The Seven Emotions (七情)
Traditional Chinese Medicine recognizes seven main emotions, each one linked to a specific organ. Moderate emotions are natural and healthy, but intense or chronic ones cause illness.
Emotions and Organs
😤 Anger (怒) → The Liver
- Effect: Causes liver qi to rise upward
- Symptoms: Headache, dizziness, red face, pain in the side, high blood pressure
- Treatment: Movement (moving stagnant qi), green tea, green foods
😄 Excessive Joy (喜) → The Heart
- Effect: Excessively relaxes heart qi
- Symptoms: Insomnia, palpitations, poor concentration, fragmented speech
- Treatment: Calmness, meditation, moderate red foods
😟 Worry (思) → The Spleen
- Effect: Knots spleen qi (stagnation)
- Symptoms: Loss of appetite, bloating, fatigue, diarrhea
- Treatment: Movement, yellow/sweet foods, staying away from excessive thinking
😢 Grief (悲) → The Lungs
- Effect: Consumes lung qi
- Symptoms: Shortness of breath, fatigue, crying, weak immunity
- Treatment: Deep breathing, white foods, walking in nature
😨 Fear (恐) → The Kidneys
- Effect: Causes kidney qi to descend downward
- Symptoms: Urinary incontinence, diarrhea, weakness of the knees and back
- Treatment: Strengthening the kidneys, black/salty foods, safety
😨 Fright (惊) → The Heart and Kidneys
- Effect: Separates heart qi from kidney qi
- Symptoms: Palpitations, forgetfulness, insomnia, involuntary urination
- Treatment: Reassurance, regular sleep, calming foods
🤔 Deep Sorrow (忧) → The Lungs and Heart
- Effect: Disturbs lung qi and depletes the heart
- Symptoms: Depression, weakness, loss of interest
- Treatment: Social activity, exercise, stimulating foods
The Practical Rule
The Relationship of Emotions to the Five Elements
```
Wood (Liver) ← Anger
Fire (Heart) ← Joy
Earth (Spleen) ← Worry
Metal (Lungs) ← Grief
Water (Kidneys) ← Fear
```
Controlling Emotions (五志相胜)
Traditional Chinese Medicine uses certain emotions to regulate other emotions:
- Fear controls anger (Water extinguishes Wood)
- Anger controls worry (Wood penetrates Earth)
- Worry controls grief (Earth produces Metal)
- Grief controls fear (Metal generates Water)
- Joy controls grief (Fire melts Metal)
🧘 Practical exercise: When you feel intense anger, take 10 deep, slow breaths. This moves stagnant liver qi and prevents it from rising to the head. Suppressed anger is worse than expressed anger — but expressing it properly is the solution, not exploding.
