Five Element Acupuncture and the Emotions

One way of understanding emotions through a Chinese Medical Lens is through the five elements. This page will help you explore how we may begin to understand the elements, the organs, and their yin and yang counterparts.

A Five Element view of Emotions

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical practice that revolves around manipulating specific points in the body. These points are associated with five fundamental elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Each element corresponds to specific organs and bodily functions. Wood represents the liver and gallbladder; Fire corresponds to the heart and small intestine; Earth corresponds to the spleen and stomach; Metal is associated with the lungs and large intestine; and Water corresponds to the kidneys and bladder.

Each of the Five Elements in Chinese Medicine has an associated emotion. Going back to the beginning, it is expected to experience a mixture of these emotions, but the key is transitioning from Joy to Contentment to Fear (for example) in a free-flowing motion. As acupuncturists, when we consider mental health, we look for prolonged or intense stimulation of emotions that fall outside the 'normal' range of physiological function.

Of course, there are not just five emotions. There are many different nuances to fear, anger, and contentment. For example, Wood is associated with anger. Still, an element of the Gall Bladder, the yang aspect of Wood, resonates with frustration. At the same time, the Liver corresponds more with anger. There are various shades and often a complex blend of one or two emotions. For instance, fear can transform into anger or trigger it, and prolonged frustration can lead to anger.

There's also something to be said for our constitutional emotions. For example, my constitution is Water so that I may be predisposed to a tendency towards fear. Sometimes, we might not appreciate this, but our constitution can influence who we are and how we present ourselves. For example, I always want to make a good first impression. This could be a response to the fear of not being liked rather than from a more egotistical perspective.

Book a session

The Organs and their Emotions

The Spleen (Overthinking or Worry)

In Chinese medicine, the spleen's primary emotion concerns worry, overthinking, and/or contentment. An emotional imbalance within the Earth, of which the Spleen is a part, is said to disrupt the flow of Qi, often resulting in repeatedly going over the same thoughts without making a decision.
The Spleen plays a crucial role in digestion and nutrient absorption, including the body's ability to build and maintain blood. Therefore, it is closely connected to the muscles (alongside the liver) and the mouth/lips.
Due to its association with overthinking, the Spleen is often implicated when people are studying for exams. Thiscan lead to physical symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, poor digestion, and loose stools.
When the Spleen's function is impaired for an extended period, it can accumulate fluids and dampness. This may result in feeling physically and mentally weighed down, reducing the ability to think clearly or focus.
While there are many effective points to support the Spleen, one of the best approaches is meditation. This practice allows the mind to relax and reduce excessive worrying. Specific acupuncture points, such as Spleen 4 and Spleen6, can help strengthen the Earth element, resolve dampness, and calm the mind.
The Lungs (Grief)

According to Chinese Medical theory, grief is primarily related to the lungs and the metal element. The lungs serve as our first line of defence against external pathogens, and their function is mainly to disperse and descend qi throughout the rest of the body. Any sudden or prolonged experience of grief reduces the lungs' ability to move qi, which can lead to tiredness, lassitude, and shortness of breath. Long-term lung deficiencies can result in constant colds or flu (weakening the immune system), allergies, asthma, and more.
The nature of metal, and thus the lungs, is contraction. This contraction helps us by supporting our ability to recognise the sources of sadness we have been holding onto and providing us with the strength to resolve these issues.
There are some excellent acupuncture points for grief, including Lung 3 (Heavenly Palace), which is fantastic for processing grief and supporting the lungs. This point has a calming and uplifting effect on our spirits. It is located on the upper arm, on the inside of the biceps muscle, approximately 6 inches above the elbow crease.
The Liver (Anger)

The Liver in Chinese Medicine is one-half of the Wood element and is about the free flow of Qi and Blood throughout the body. When it is out of balance, it can cause the Qi to ascend, resulting in anger. This is because wood has much to do with growth and an expansion of movement. Any repressed anger can thus have a further detrimental impact, leading to symptoms such as headaches on the sides of the head, neck and shoulder tension, waking up between 1–3 AM (the time of the Liver on the Chinese Clock), and more.
The liver is strongly associated with the eyes in Chinese Medicine as well. This is why if Liver Qi rises too much, it can cause dizziness, blurry vision, conjunctivitis, and much more. Finally, the Liver is also strongly associated with the Blood, as it is said to move the blood. You might suffer from things such as painful periods if you have an impairment in your liver.
There are many incredible Liver points, including Liver 2, and Moving Between, which is excellent if you feel hot-headed. It's a Ying Spring point, so it helps extinguish any excess fire (which can lead to the heat rising). Depending on the symptoms, other incredible points like Liver 13 can help with digestive or painful menstruation-type symptoms.
The Heart (Joy)

The heart is an interesting concept in Chinese Medicine. It's considered the emperor, and traditionally, acupuncturists wouldn't needle the heart channel, as it was believed to rule without needing direct treatment. The heart's proper functioning is attributed to the harmonious interaction of all the other elements.
In Chinese Medicine, like in the Western perspective, the heart is closely connected to the blood. However, it's also intricately linked to joy, which doesn't sound terrible. Joy itself is not a negative emotion, but an imbalance in joy, whether excessive (resulting in restlessness) or deficient (leading to depression), can be problematic. As with anything in life, an excess of anything, like my night-time chocolate addiction, can have negative consequences!
When the heart is affected, you may experience symptoms like insomnia, palpitations, excessive dreaming, poor concentration, and psychological disorders, among others. However, we can overcome these issues by embracing joy, an emotion nourishing the heart. As a train conductor aptly said the other day, "a smile is free therapy." There is profound wisdom in this concise statement.
There's a close relationship between the heart and other emotions, and something beneficial for everyone is creating space—a mental space where we can give our minds the rest they need. It's important to remember that in Chinese Medicine, the heart is seen as an empty vessel. For our more spiritual well-being, our Shen (and our minds in general) require rest to thrive. This can include simple practices like getting enough sleep, meditating, avoiding excessive exposure to news, or visiting your favourite acupuncturist.
There are many remarkable heart points in acupuncture therapy. One of them is Heart 7, which has a name that helps calm the mind and tonify the heart due to its function as a yuan source point.
The Kidneys (Fear)

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the kidneys are crucial in removing waste and excess bodily fluids to produce urine. Additionally, they are associated with the emotion of fear. When the balance of qi in the kidneys is disrupted, it can lead to chronic fear or anxiety. This emotional imbalance can manifest as feelings of insecurity, weakness of willpower, aloofness, and isolation.
The kidneys are not only related to emotions but also have vital functions in sustaining life. They are responsible for reproduction, growth, development, and maturation. Imbalances in the kidneys can result in various symptoms, including frequent urination, urinary incontinence, night sweats, dry mouth, poor short-term memory, low back pain, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, premature grey hair, hair loss, and osteoporosis.

Psychological Profiles Based on the Elements

We can also divide the emotions into 10, using the Five Elements but applying a yin-yang aspect to each. Click learn more about how we can further nuance the emotions and how we might represent them.

- Yin: This causes someone to be overly cautious or fearful, which can lead to overplanning, hypervigilance, or a lack of trust. There may be an element of wanting safety or certainty by looking for a teacher, guru, or practitioner to look up to. There’s a tendency towards phobias or paranoia.
- Yang: This can show up in the opposite fashion with someone fearless, risk-seeking, or attempting to overcome their fear. They may strive to achieve, succeed, or win. An imbalance may result in bullying or grandiosity. There may be physical, long-term symptoms such as kidney stones, adrenal fatigue, infertility, tinnitus, or lower back pain.
- Yin: More yin wood will lead to us internalising our problems. This results in low self-esteem, being quick to blame ourselves, low self-esteem, and even self-harming. Often, it shows as people having a strong inner critic and wanting to always define what is or isn’t acceptable behaviour. All of these lead to someone constantly feeling small, weighed down, and their confidence being crushed.
- Yang: An excess of yang wood can lead to externalising our frustrations. This can show up as being quick to blame others, shouting, violence, passive aggressiveness, etc. People tend to shift responsibility or blame towards others habitually.
- Yin: The yin response to fire is seen through a real sense of dullness, coldness, joylessness, and a lack of spark. There is an underlying essence of vulnerability, with not enough energy to maintain contact with others. Romantically, this can lead to people falling in love very easily and, very often, with a tinge of being clingy, too.
- Yang: An excess of fire, particularly the yang aspect, can quicken everything. This could be hyperactivity, a fast pulse, excessive thirst, and all forms of feverish activity. Think of the person who feels they always need to talk or communicate, sometimes lacks boundaries in relationships, and is generally quite domineering. Often, with communication, there is a lot of incoherency and repetitiveness, which is almost like a nervous energy.
- Yin: An excess of yin in the earth element tends to show itself as someone who compulsively puts others first. There is a tendency to always give everything to others, often with a detrimental impact on themselves, with an excessive focus on others and being overly sympathetic. The other thing that these people struggle with is difficulty in receiving, which could be both physical and mental.
- Yang: The yang response to too much earth is co-dependency, where happiness is derived from helping others and not from confidence within. There is an exhaustion that comes from the cost of being a constant giver, particularly when this springs from deep and often uncomfortable unmet needs of the giver. We often give to others what we crave for ourselves but cannot bring ourselves to ask for. There is a tendency to give when actually all they want is to receive, which can affect their inability to receive sympathy.
- Yin: The metal is a lot about being able to let go of things. An excess of yin can mean that people want to hold onto things, not knowing what is valuable and what is not, and a sense of isolation which can strike us when we experience intense grief. It can be hard for people with an excess of yin metal to form new relationships and hold onto those, which means that they tend to be dependent on others and submissive. People will often have a low sense of self-worth and can often hold their breath.
- Yang: An excess of yang metal has some similarities to yin in the sense that they struggle to let go, particularly because they quickly form attachments but can’t let go of things that have no value or may even be harmful. There is a tendency towards accumulating material possessions, and this becomes compulsive. Think of the person who wants just one more pay rise, one more car, a bigger house. They tend to look forward, wanting to accumulate more and not let go of anything without ever being in the here and now. It’s a huge story around protection, almost fear-like, not wanting to feel any form of loss.