Adrenal Glands
The adrenal glands can contribute to anxiety and insecurity and reduce stress resistance. The fact that we have two adrenal glands, one on each kidney, implies a need for balance, especially in our relationship with the world. Without this balance we can build up excess fear or anxiety, we can push ourselves too much and suffer related disorders. It is essential to spend time relaxing and creating more equilibrium in life.
Appendix
Appendix imbalance invites us to consider how we may be blocking the flow of good in our lives. Do we have a fear of life? Affirm “I am safe and let life flow with ease”.
Arteries/Veins
Physically, they carry blood away from and towards the heart and therefore represent our ability to receive and be nourished by joy and love. Too much desire increases stress and a lack of relaxation.
Bladder
The bladder symbolizes the holding and releasing of emotions. The bladder meridian is in the Water Element of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In balance this element expresses a deep sense of connection and awe. Imbalance can be expressed as indecision, fear, and uncertainty. The bladder is often said to hold our ‘unshed tears’.
Central Nervous System
How is communication flowing in your life? Are you communicating enough? Too much? Are you listening and responding to feedback from your body? Or are you ignoring your body’s wisdom. Are you balancing yin and yang energy in your life - activity vs calm?
Colon
The colon meridian is part of the Metal element in Traditional Chinese Medicine, together with lungs, skin, and mind. The colon is where we hold on to waste, ready to be released from the body. As such, this organ also represents our ability to let go of what no longer serves us. Issues around perfectionism and self-esteem can also affect the colon.
Connective tissue
Recent evidence suggests that a correspondence exists between acupuncture meridians and the body-wide network formed by connective tissue. The connective tissue network may support an important, yet so far poorly recognized, body-wide communication system corresponding to meridians and qi. Helpful metaphor may be to consider how well you are connecting and expressing all aspects of yourself.
Eustachian tube
The Eustachian tubes have a connection with how we filter what we hear. Consider what areas of your life in which you may have ‘selective hearing’. What message may you be ‘filtering’ and maybe are choosing not to hear or acknowledge.
Eyes
In Chinese Medicine the eyes are the gateway of the liver. Our eyes represent how we see, or perceive, the world around us. We ‘see’ emotionally as much as we do physically. How we perceive things can be very influenced by our values, beliefs, and upbringing.
Frontal sinus
To breathe is to inspire, to take in new ideas. As such, imbalances in sinus energy may imply either a pushing away of what inspires us or nourishes us, or an overload of mental work without enough creative energy. As the extremity of the lungs, sinuses relate to our ability to breathe in chi. Sinuses also relate to the Stomach meridian.
Gall Bladder
Gall bladder is involved in new beginnings and decision making. Liver is the planner, helping us to see where we want to go in life. The Gall Bladder is the decision maker that enables us to know what steps our first steps are. When gall bladder energy is blocked, we may feel stuck, frustrated, resentful or angry. Relating to bile, consider the balance between acceptance and bitterness.
Heart
The heart is our most protected organ, with the ribs to the front of the body and the shoulder blade behind. It is the seat of our Fire energy in Chinese Medicine. Connected with our expression of passionate love, and conversely, hate. Our ability to feel joy or lack of it, also our being able to forgive.
Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus is the emotional centre of the brain. This is where emotion is transformed into physical response. Hypothalamus energy needs freedom to be able to respond to our experience of life, so anything that makes us feel restricted may affect hypothalamus balance.
Joints
Our joints represent our ability to move with grace and ease, or in a disjointed action, depending on our psycho/emotional attitude. Joints are energetically related to liver and therefore with our ability to move forward in life. Body will deposit waste where it can cause least harm. Where stiffness is present, consider what areas in your life need a more flexible approach.
Kidneys
Just as the main function of kidneys is to extract unwanted substances from the blood, and to discriminate between what is harmful and what may be potentially damaging, an imbalance in kidney energy may also represent an inability to recognize what we need to release from our lives. Kidneys also represent the balancing of opposites. Issues here may include imbalances within our relationships with others, particularly with our primary partner, or imbalances on the masculine and feminine energies within ourselves. Anxiety and fear tend to sit in the kidneys. Also our ability to respond to change, whether we are able to go with the flow of life or are trying to swim against the tide.
Large Intestine
The large intestine meridian is part of the Metal element in Traditional Chinese Medicine, together with lungs, skin, and mind. This is where we hold on to waste, ready to be released from the body. As such, this organ also represents our ability to let go of what no longer serves us. There is also a strong connection with perfectionism and self-esteem.
Liver
In Chinese Medicine, the liver is where we hold anger, frustration, bitterness, and resentment. Repressed anger is often an underlying issue in addictions. Unacknowledged or unexpressed anger leads to depression, shame, jealousy, or irritability, which further deplete our energy levels. The liver is also connected to deeper issues of meaning and purpose. Balanced liver energy encourages enthusiasm, creativity, inner strength, and resilience.
Lungs
Lungs relate to our intake of oxygen and chi and release of carbon dioxide and toxicity. At birth, independent life begins with the first intake of breath. We let go of life as we release our final breath. Emotionally the lungs represent our ability to be open to receive life’s experiences and to let go of the past. Lungs hold grief and sadness.
Lymphatic System
Emotional aspects of the lymphatic system include our ability to let go of unhelpful patterns and beliefs that may now be toxic to us. Just as the lymph needs muscle movement to create flow, energetic blocks also need conscious decision and action to create change and movement in our behaviors and beliefs.
Maxillary Sinus
To breathe is to inspire, to take in new ideas. As such, imbalances in sinus energy may imply either a pushing away of what inspires us or nourishes us, or an overload of mental work without enough creative energy. As the extremity of the lungs, sinuses relate to our ability to breathe in chi. Sinuses also relate to the Stomach meridian.
Pancreas
Pancreas energy has much to do with maintaining balance in our lives - a balance of giving and receiving, of working and playing, of fear and love. The pancreas and stomach meridian associations with the Earth element in TCM, connect us to emotions related to compassion, motherly love, to personal transformation and transitions in life.
Parathyroid
In connection with thyroid energy, an imbalance in parathyroid response may relate to how we engage with life. Over-energy here may be associated with a fear of responsibility, or of avoiding responsibility by staying overly busy. A depleted energy response may suggest that the will to live is depressed or that the person is entering a state of emotional hibernation.
Peripheral Nervous System
Concerned with the balance of rest and activity, yin and yang. Modern lifestyles over-emphasize productivity and activity 24/7. The peripheral nervous system needs calm to be able to function efficiently. Consider whether you are taking the time to digest and experience life fully? Do you need to create more time for calm in your life?
Pineal Gland
Descartes called the pineal gland the ‘seat of the soul’. Pineal is the link between spirit and matter, relating to the third eye intuition. Imbalance here suggests something about the relationship between mind, the endocrine system, and the nervous system - how we feel, how we behave and how we are physically.
Pituitary Gland
The pituitary gland is sometimes called the ‘seat of the mind’ and relates to reason and intellectual concepts as well as emotional thoughts such as poetry and music. Consider the balance of thought and emotion.
Reproductive Organs
Reproductive organs may relate to relationships and sexuality: issues of acceptance or rejection, communication or the lack of it, experiences of trauma or distrust, self-dislike, or confidence.
Skin
Through the skin we face the world, and how we are seen by the world. Skin is the outermost expression of our being. Emotions related to skin are often connected with difficulties in communication and boundaries. Are you at peace with life and who you are? Do you accept yourself fully, at peace with the world knowing that the world is safe and friendly?
Small Intestine
On a physical level, the small intestine selectively absorbs what the body needs. Where an energetic imbalance appears here, it is worth considering whether we are trusting that we will absorb from life only what nurtures us. In TCM, the small intestine meridian has a close connection with the heart meridian and will often absorb emotional shock and trauma to protect it.
Sphenoid & Ethmoid Sinus
To breathe is to inspire, to take in new ideas. As such, imbalances in sinus energy may imply either a pushing away of what inspires us or nourishes us, or an overload of mental work without enough creative energy. As the extremity of the lungs, sinuses relate to our ability to breathe in chi. Sinuses also relate to the Stomach meridian.
Spleen
The word ‘spleen’ means moroseness and irritability. Energetic imbalances here may indicate that, rather than filtering out the waste, there is a harboring of old or stagnant thoughts and feelings. A strong spleen encourages clarity, compassion, and sympathy, as the blood is freed of negative influences.
Stomach
Digestion symbolizes the ability to absorb what we need and to let go of what we do not need. Stomach energy can represent whether we are feeding ourselves appropriately, emotionally as well as physically. Unless we can receive nourishment from ourselves and others, there can be a constant craving, a longing to fill hidden needs, or a strong denial and rejection of those needs. The stomach is where we harbor worry - the digestive enzymes churning with anxiety - until we can no longer stomach what is happening. It is common for food to be used to pacify uncomfortable emotions.
Teeth
Teeth develop at the stage of life when we begin to crawl, a time when we are developing our own identity and independence from the mother. Teeth in general can therefore be associated with issues such as dependence and asserting independence. They are also involved in communication. While we can speak without teeth, what we are saying may not be so clearly understood. Through the teeth, we bite down when we need to protect ourselves.
Thymus Gland
Thymus is known as a source of chi or healing energy. It derives its name from the Greek word ‘thymos’ meaning soul or personality, indicative of its relationship to our sense of identity. The thymus is also known as the seat of fire because of its close connection with the heart. For instance, when we are in love, feel confident, or have an open, positive frame of mind, we generally enjoy vibrant health. It appears that the emotional state of the heart can energize or deplete the thymus gland, which in turn influences the health of the immune system.
Thyroid Gland
Thyroid is the endocrine gland associated with the throat chakra. Energetic imbalances often result from a lack of expression of the heart emotions, for example when a person will push down their own emotional needs to do what they think is their duty. Thyroid sits at the junction between the body and the mind. Imbalances here may result from a desire to separate body and mind, so as not to have to deal with deep feelings held by the body. Excess energy in thyroid can be connected to a fear of responsibility - there may be a desire to stay as a child, in a carefree and disconnected state. This may present as a pattern of staying overly busy to avoid responsibilities. Depleted energy, leading to depression and tiredness, can be connected to a depressed will to live or a wish to emotionally hibernate.
Urinary Tract
Physical symptoms of the urinary system often have emotional correlations and how well we can release them. Holding onto unshed tears will cause stress and irritation in this system. Kidneys and Bladder are expressions of the water element in Traditional Chineses Medicine and so have an affinity to fear, anxiety, and our ability to go with the flow.