Emotional Wellness and Hormone Health

As a women’s health acupuncturist, I see many women in my clinic for a wide range of concerns – impaired fertility, emotional imbalances, digestive issues, menstrual irregularities and migraines. While the reasons for these conditions vary by individual, hormone dysfunction is usually involved in some way.

For a lot of women, suffering debilitating emotional issues has always been accepted as part of their hormonal ‘make up’. The connections between emotional wellness, physical ailments and hormones can be surprisingly new knowledge as women go through life’s stages. I hear so often, “my mum suffered from depression” or “the generations of women in my family had such problematic periods”, and this is widely accepted – that parents were just built that way.

Nowadays, in Western Medicine, the facets of emotional health are examined more deeply; there are evidently genetic links involved, as well as the influence of emotional trauma our parents experienced that filtered down to us. Then, in our present lives, there are additional layers of strain where we are managing a career, family, relationships, running a home and trying to look after our own emotional wellness (more recently in a pandemic!) So it’s really no wonder we’re suffering!

It’s all about the (im)balance

Chinese Medicine has long seen these emotional and hormonal issues that run through generations of women as being linked to organ imbalances. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is believed that if someone is experiencing debilitating, chronic or long-term emotional difficulties, it can be simply due to an internal physical imbalance (and isn’t necessarily the person’s feelings to blame). 

Many people come to acupuncture having already tried different approaches for their emotional health and hormonal imbalances. They are often surprised at how quickly they feel better in themselves. Acupuncture helps bridge the connection with emotional and physical wellness due to its holistic nature; both the physical and mental symptoms are treated simultaneously within an acupuncture treatment.

Traditional Chinese Medicine works beautifully in the fine balance of emotional health, it focuses on 5 main emotions: joy, anger, grief, fear and sympathy. ​Each of the five emotions correspond to a certain organ system in the body: the heart, the liver, the lungs, the kidneys and the spleen correspondingly. Each of these emotions are critical to human experience and necessary for the health of the body. However, an excess or deficiency in one emotion can be a symptom of imbalance in its pertaining organ system.

When you come for an acupuncture session, a diagnosis involves observations of the five main emotions which can be felt as a ‘lack of’, can be balanced (ideally), or in excess. During consultation I pick up subtle emotional clues as signs and symptoms of organ disharmony. A pulse and tongue diagnosis will also be taken in an acupuncture session. The pulse has many nuances that provide information about your current internal organ balance and the tongue can provide signs of stress from a longer-term point of view. 

Being able to control our emotions is seen as a beneficial trait in the Western world, and yet in Chinese Medicine it is known that the suppression of these intense emotions can be unhealthy. Conversely, there are emotions that are damaging if felt to an extreme level or for a prolonged time. Acupuncture can help retrain these emotions back into balance simply by treating the right organ(s).

Emotional wellness during assisted fertility treatment is an area I work with regularly in-clinic. The 2-week wait is enough to send some women spiralling into very deep anxiety. With the impact of the hormone medication, it is even more important to keep the appropriate organs balanced; this is why acupuncture is so widely accepted as the best treatment to support you through assisted conception.

Simple home remedies to support your emotional wellness

Here are some simple things you can do at home to support each Yin organ for better hormonal and emotional health:

Kidney / Fear
Rest, eat organic bone marrow or organic bone broth

Heart / Joy
Have fun, laugh, eat iron rich foods such as meat or dark green leafy veggies

Liver / Anger
Be assertive, confront frustrations, empower yourself with information, eat soothing food or drinks like nut milks

Lung / Grief
Get out in nature and breathe deeply, eat moist foods and oils for lubrication such as flax oil, fish and avocado oil

Spleen / Sympathy
Seek understanding and support from those who love you, eat warm, cooked foods such as porridges, soups and stews