h e a r t s c e n t
EMOTIONAL HEALTH
is an important part of our overall health. Today anxiety and depression are the most common complaints next to fatigue for health care providers. Whether we deal with everyday stress or a serious disorder, there are many tools we can use to help ourselves.
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h e a r t s c e n t
WHAT ARE EMOTIONS?
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”An emotion is a feeling such as happiness, love, fear, anger, or hatred, which can be caused by the situation that you are in or the people you are with.”
“Emotion is the part of a person’s character that consists of their feelings, as opposed to their thoughts.”
Collins English Dictionary
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h e a r t s c e n t
WHY DO WE HAVE EMOTIONS?
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Emotions are a part of our internal guidance system. They tell us when we are on track and when we have deviated from the best course for our self. In the same way that our nerves will indicate when we are exposed to something that is harmful to us – like a hot stove, emotions get our attention when something needs to be changed. If we listen and make changes early on, the emotions subside. However, if we aren’t present enough to catch this guidance early on, we hold on to emotions that can get “buried” or more difficult to sort out.
Emotions are very important in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Each of the main organs in our body are associated with an emotion. Even in our western culture we are beginning to share this concept on a very basic level, we know the ‘gut’ acts as our second brain and that stress is very toxic to our health.
In TCM here are the five main emotions and the organs that resonate with the same frequency:
| EMOTION(S) | ORGAN(S) |
| Grief + Depression | Lung, Large Intestines |
| Fear | Kidney, Bladder |
| Worry + Nervousness | Spleen, Stomach |
| Anger + Frustration | Liver, Gallbladder |
| Happiness + Joy | Heart, Small Intestines |
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h e a r t s c e n t
HOW DO EMOTIONS AFFECT OUT HEALTH?
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Emotions are a normal part of our human existence. They serve the important function of guiding us through life. However, when these emotions are excessive, repressed or turned inward, they have a detrimental affect on our health. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) it is often noted that the organ(s) connected with a particular emotion will be stressed when we experience bouts of intense emotion or try to repress the emotion.
TCM also indicates that it is a two way street. Sometimes if an organ is not functioning properly it may cause or increase the associated emotion.
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h e a r t s c e n t
WHAT CAN WE DO TO FEEL BETTER?
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The things I am suggesting here are for the average, everyday emotions we experience. This is not intended to replace professional care for more serious emotional experiences such as chronic depression or anxiety.
During moments of uncomfortable emotions, it is helpful to pay attention to our thoughts. What are the thoughts that lead me to this feeling. Now, I know that sounds simple, but we tend to think thoughts so often that they become a belief and we aren’t even aware of the original thought. You will need to do some digging on this one, but it is worth it.
Once we are aware of the thoughts that impacted our mood, changing our thoughts can be life changing. The only thing is that it is difficult for most of us to go from thinking, “I can’t do anything right” to “I am amazing”. Therefore, small steps are very effective. If you are starting at, “I can’t do anything right”, perhaps you can ‘believe’ “sometimes I do get it right”. “It feels good when I am successful”. All it takes is that one little thought that is more optimistic than the original thought, and so on and so on… Once this becomes a habit, we can start to catch our thoughts and decide, “do I really believe that, or is this just a habitual thought?”.
Also, essential oils in general are very helpful for emotional health. They have direct access to the limbic portion of the brain, which controls heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, and hormone balance. They can be a useful tool in this process.
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h e a r t s c e n t
WHAT ESSENTIAL OILS ARE HELPFUL?
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SINGLE OILS:
CITRUS (lemon, lime, orange, bergamot) – uplifting, reduce anxiety
LAVENDER – reduce tension, anxiety, enhance sleep
EUCALYPTUS and ROSEMARY – uplifting, increase alertness
In the same way that diet, exercise and stress management help our physical health, they also help our emotional health. READ MORE
A number of foods have been linked to stressful emotions; wheat/gluten and schizophrenia, dairy and anxiety, etc. An elimination diet for 5-7 days can give you an indication if this food may have an effect on you physically or emotionally. Talk to your health care provider or Naturopath for more information.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. As always it is best to work with your health care provider regarding any mental health issues or concerns.
