'Anger causes energy to rise, joy causes energy to slow down, grief causes energy to dissipate, fear causes energy to descend, fright causes energy to scatter, exhaustion causes energy to wither, worry causes energy to stagnate'.
The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine Second Century BC
'......Emotions are triggered by sensory contact with the outside world, based upon the input of the five senses. Since humans relate to the phenomenal world and to each other through the five sensory organs, they remain in a state of constant emotional response. As the Chinese say: 'Contact with the external world generates internal emotions.' Therefore, the initial stimulant for each and every emotional response is external sensory contact, which at the primary stage is a physiological function of the nervous system, not a psychological process. In addition to the five physical senses the Chinese and other Oriental traditions also recognise the temporal human mind as a sixth sense, and therefore fantasies, dreams and other self-generated mental images function similarly to external images to engender emotional responses.
Psychology enters the picture briefly in the second stage of emotional response by interpreting and evaluating sensory stimuli in terms of aversion or attraction, which determines the sort of emotion attached to the response. After that, the emotion leaves the realms of the mind and enters the body's meridian system as a form of energy. Like all forms of human energy, emotions exert profound physiological effects on the internal organs, glands and other tissues to which they travel through the energy channels. The word 'emotion' is best understood as a contraction of 'energy in motion', or 'e-motion'. In other words, the mind attaches a value to a physical or cerebral sensory stimulus, then sets a powerful current of emotional energy through the body's energy channels. Once that energy is in motion, it takes on a life of its own.
Each emotion we generate triggers physiological reactions throughout the system, including secretions of various hormones, release of neurotransmitters in the brain and nervous system, changes in pulse and blood pressure, adjustments in breathing and respiration, and stimulation or suppression of digestive peristalis. When emotional responses are moderate and well balanced and are permitted to run their course swiftly and smoothly, they cause no serious harm and sometimes even provide positive stimulation to the body's organ-energy systems. But if a particular emotional response becomes extreme or explosive, and if it is prolonged or frequently repeated, it causes a series of severe physiological reactions which can seriously damage the associated organs and throw the entire human energy system off balance. When this happens, the body's radiant shield of protective energy is impaired, resistance and immunity are lowered and the offending emotions become major internal causes of disease, degeneration and debility.
In the traditional Chinese system of health care, extreme emotional responses are called the 'Seven Injurous Emotions' and are regarded as the primary internal causes of disease, just as the 'Six Evils of Extreme Environmental Energies' are regarded as the main external causes of disease. In Taoist alchemy, the five senses are called the 'Five Thieves' because they rob the adept's Three Treasures of essence, energy and spirit and waste his precious time and energy on idle sensory distractions and emotional indulgences. The leader of this pack of thieves is emotion, which is called the 'Chief Hooligan'. If you think about it, this is a very accurate analogy, for sensory distractions and the emotions that they provoke behave like a gang of vandals in your system, mugging your willpower to practice higher disciplines, assaulting your organs, glands and nerves with stress, looting your stores of precious essence and energy and intimidating your spirit.'
Guarding the Three Treasures The Chinese Way of Health Daniel Reid
