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psychophysiology
bodymind relationships
psychospiritual approaches

definition

Many authors assert that various parts of the body correspond to patterns in the psyche, and any organs or tissue in distress may give a clue to unbalanced or suppressed areas in the psyche.
Of course, some of the same authors and many others deny the existence of such reductionistic relationships, warn against their abuse, and assert that each mental/emotional relationship to illness is unique to the individual patient and their experience of dis-ease.

Some of the bodymind relationships that have been posited, although equivalencies between Chinese organ systems and biomedical organs can not be assumed:

skin: guilt/shame emotions caused by hypercritical attitude toward the self; self disgust; compensatory critical attitude toward others

cerebrum (anterior pituitary): ability to reason clearly and logically; emotionally distorted or irrational thinking

medulla: concealed feelings, fear of opinions of others; compensated by creating a good image through cheerfulness, calmness, trying to be someone else

parathyroids: self confidence; uncertainty, insecurity compensated by arrogance, conceit; directly affects the nervous system

lungs: righteousness and courage; grief, sadness, worry and depression

heart: love, compassion, anxiety, joy, sadness, warmth, vitality, excitement, cruelty, hate, impatience

liver: anger, resentment, frustration; kindness, fairness

gall bladder: courage, timidity, initiative, indecision. decisiveness, kindness, control

spleen/pancreas: pensiveness, brooding, fairness, openness, deep thinking, reminiscence; excessive thinking, anxiety, worry; ability to assimilate, stabilize, feel centered and balanced

stomach: pensiveness, brooding; excessive thinking, anxiety, worry; fairness, openness; ability to assimilate, stabilize, feel centered and balanced

small intestine: love, joy, cruelty, hate, impatience, warmth, vitality, excitement

colon: primal fear - terror (panic), of what is consciously known (poverty, illness), of the unknown, of being insane or obsessed, or fear for welfare of another (not self); grief, depression and worry; righteousness and courage

bladder: hurt feelings, pride, tendency to dominate, fright, insecurity, jealousy, suspicion, gentleness; ambition, will power

kidneys: fear, will power, ambition, gentleness, fixed mind, over enthusiasm with consequent stress and tension

gonads: sexual frustration, loneliness, inability to express emotions

(Van Gelder, p. 46-47; Maciocia, various pages; Ni, p. 153-165)


see:
bodymind psychobiology
body reveals: the spirit
converting a symptom to a signal
Chinese organs
emotional tone scale
holographic consciousness
holographic paradigm
human energy centers: overview
human energy fields: (various) fields
human energy fields: causes of disorders
human energy fields: character of
human energy fields: overview
mind beyond body
process paradigm
quantum healing


footnotes

Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, various pages, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.