Have you ever gotten angry, irritable, or impatient, then felt relieved by the catharsis of either pacing back and forth or rolling your eyes… or both? The body is wise, in fact more so than we know in its ability to often understand what it needs when it needs it.
Chinese Medicine assigned everything to the organ channels. Every organ has a corresponding emotion, a color, one of the five senses, even their own sounds and movements. While some of this might sound a bit “woo-woo” or New Agey, we can now with modern biomedical interpretation of Chinese Medical principles, observe their incredibly intuitive scientific logic, as opposed to ridiculing it as theoretical guesswork.
The kidneys are said to connect to the ears. The lungs connect to the nose (this one is obvious enough), and the liver connects to the eyes. The movement (or lack thereof) of the heart is to stand still—of the stomach is to remain seated, which is why this is the ideal position to be in for the first few stages of digestion. And the movement of the liver is WALKING. This is just part of the reason why over-worked urbanites are often healthier than suburbanites with easier lives: The former spend every day walking off their stress, while the latter remain stagnant in cars in traffic, which only further exacerbates stress.
The liver, in Chinese Medicine, doesn’t really mean the liver itself, but is referring more to healthy overall circulation due to proper cortisol management. When we are stressed the diagnosis is “liver chi stagnation,” which might express the way any of our own personal stress symptoms do. When we are enraged it becomes “liver fire,” which is less subtle, more RED, LOUD, and violent. How to offset the effects of hyper cortisol secretion, aka “liver qi stagnation,” on our bodies?
Simply roll your eyes and pace back and forth. If you’re still unsettled go for a walk. Roll your eyes some more. If you must, go for a run. This will “smooth out the liver” for the time being, until you’re able to resolve the fundamental source of your stress.
ACUPUNCTURE IS ALSO GREAT! Most of you have been needled at points like “Tai Chong” on top of the foot, or “Yang Mound Spring” at the head of the fibula and felt a strong sensation through the foot or running down the leg. While I know I’m not your favorite person in that moment, that is the feeling of cortisol reduction. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need such relief!
