Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Preservation and Emotions

It does not require you to suppress your emotions or force yourself to be peaceful and happy at all times. The core is to comply with the rhythm of the five internal organs and allow emotions to have a legitimate outlet. As long as the emotions are not stuck in the body for more than 72 hours, they will basically not cause organic harm to the body.

I treated a 52-year-old aunt a while ago. She is known for her good temper in the community. Her neighbors praised her and her children said that even her husband always said that she had never blushed with anyone in her life. The physical examination revealed grade 3 breast nodules and thyroid cyst. When she came over with the report, her eyes were red and she said, "I have never even had a fire, so why did I get this disease?" When I took the pulse, it was as tight as a rubber band. After asking for a long time, I said, why is there no gas? The last time her daughter-in-law spent money to buy a bag, she held it in for a week and did not dare to say anything. Last month, the property charge was excessive and she was afraid of getting into trouble and suffered a loss. All the anger was suppressed in her heart, and she had to pretend to be cheerful.

Some people may raise objections at this point. The "Huangdi Neijing" clearly states that "anger hurts the liver, happiness hurts the heart, thinking hurts the spleen, sadness hurts the lungs, and fear hurts the kidneys." Is it still reasonable to lose your temper? This is actually the biggest misunderstanding about emotional health care today. The traditional classics say that "lack of temper will hurt the internal organs." The key point is "lack of temper" - it's not that you can't have emotions at all, but don't let your emotions get stuck for a long time. Different schools have very different ways of dealing with this problem: Most of the old Chinese medicine practitioners of the Sutra-observant school advocate regulating the mind, saying that it is best to "not take things personally" and to be able to turn away when emotions arise. This is of course the best way, but it is too difficult for ordinary people, especially now that they have to deal with KPIs and parents' filial piety every day, which is impossible even after decades of practice. ； Zhang Zihe, one of the four great families of the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, was particularly pragmatic and directly advocated "emotion overcoming emotion". If you were overthinking and couldn't eat, he would deliberately tell a joke to make you laugh, and use the energy of joy to get rid of the knotted thoughts in your spleen. ； Nowadays, young doctors from the Fang sect are often more direct. When they meet a patient who has suppressed his emotions and got sick, the first thing he says is not to prescribe medicine. Instead, he says, "Don't hold it in anymore. Swear and cry when you need to. If you can't, find a place where no one is and scream for ten minutes. It will be more effective than eating two boxes of Xiaoyao Pills."

I have been in clinical practice for seven or eight years, and I have seen too many examples of "emotional internal friction leading to illness". The little girl who worked in operations was scolded by her boss and didn't dare to talk back. She had been holding back pain in her left rib for half a month, but she had no problems filming. I asked her to find a corner of a park where no one was around after work and shout out what she wanted to scold her boss for three days. When she came back, she said her ribs didn't hurt at all. ； A mother who is raising her baby at home is worried about her child's grades every day and can't eat or sleep. I asked her to rub her Tanzhong acupoint for 10 minutes every day. She can say whatever comes to her mind while rubbing it. She doesn't have to hold it in. When she comes back after half a month, she says her food is delicious and she doesn't always worry about her child's report card. Really, emotions are like water in a water pipe. If you open the gate normally to release the flood, it will be fine. If you block the gate, the pipe will burst sooner or later when the water pressure rises.

Of course, many colleagues do not agree with this statement and think that "indulging emotions is also a kind of harm." I also agree with this view. There are indeed those who lose control when they lose their temper and throw things and hurt others. Of course, these must be adjusted, otherwise excessive anger will definitely damage the liver. But for 90% of ordinary people, the current problem is not that they are too emotional, but that they are too "tolerant". In the end, nodules, cysts, and hyperplasia appear, and they are still wondering, "I am usually in a good mood."

To be honest, for the past two years, I was copying prescriptions from an old Chinese medicine practitioner who was my disciple. The old man always told his patients, "Don't always punish yourself for other people's mistakes." There is no perfect standard for emotional health. You don't have to force yourself to be an "emotionally stable adult". When you are angry, just argue for a few words. When you are sad, just cry for half an hour. As long as you don't keep your emotions fermenting in your heart for several days, you can feel comfortable as long as you feel comfortable. Always thinking about being "emotionless", this obsession to be "perfect" is itself the most nerve-wracking emotional burden, right?