Have you ever wondered why we associate so many of our emotions with particular internal organs?

In some cases we actually feel our emotions internally, such as the churning in the stomach that comes from nervous excitement ("butterflies") or the deep sobs associated with grief. Also, the sudden onset of fear can have an unfortunate effect on the bladder.

In other cases, the connection is metaphorical: we refer to bitter anger as "bile" and talk about people who make us angry as having lots of "gall," both of which are references to the liver/gall bladder duo. Joy and its counterpoint sadness are strongly associated with the heart ("heartfelt joy" and "broken heart").

It would be easy to rationalize these associations as nothing more than quaint notions inherited from less scientific times, but in my work as an energy therapist, I have come to understand the complex connections between our emotions and our physical bodies.
According to the tradition of energy studies that originated thousands of years ago in China, emotions are an expression of our life energy, called "chi." This energy flows through 12 primary channels or meridians, each of which is associated with a major organ or physical system: lung; large intestine; kidney, bladder, stomach, spleen, liver, gall bladder, heart, small intestine, circulatory system, and thyroid. Each of these meridians governs a particular set of physical, emotional and mental characteristics.

It is interesting to note, therefore, that worry and anxiety do in fact correlate with the stomach/spleen pair of meridians, grief with the lung/large intestine pair, anger with the liver/gall bladder, and joy with the heart meridian. And the kidney/bladder pair does indeed govern the emotion of fear.

It may be helpful to consider the view that we actually have two bodies - the physical and the energetic - which are intrinsically linked like the yin and yang in the well-known symbol. In a way, they co-create each other: the energy body provides life to the physical body which in turn provides the basic form for the energy body.

In fact, without knowing it, we all display an innate understanding of the synergistic relationship that exists between these two bodies. Here are some examples:

- Pinching the bridge of the nose between the eyes when anxious. On either side of the bridge of the nose is the starting point of the bladder meridian, a major regulator of all chi functions. So when we pinch the bridge under stress, what we are really doing is stimulating the bladder meridian.

- Putting a hand over the collarbones in response to shock. This serves a similar purpose but with regard to the bladder's partner, the kidney meridian, which ends just under the collarbones. Just as a shock can "set you back" it can affect the flow of your meridians and even throw them into reverse. Touching or tapping under the collarbones corrects any meridian reversals that might exist.

- Rubbing of the temples to combat a headache. This is an effort to moderate an imbalance in the gall bladder meridian, which crosses the temples and ends beside the eyes. The gall bladder meridian winds its way back and forth across the sides of the head and is implicated in many types of headaches, particularly migraines.

- Clamping a hand over the mouth in response to shock or surprise. In this case the purpose appears to be the linking of two special meridians, the "central vessel" that runs up the front of the body and ends on the lower lip and the "governing vessel" that runs up the back and over the head to end on the upper lip. Every meridian is either yin or yang and these two special meridians regulate all yin (central) and yang (governing) energies, so keeping them in sync is important for overall balance.

- Linking the two sides of our bodies, such as clasping our hands together or crossing our feet. This promotes lateral balance in our energy bodies, another important element of healthy functioning. Every meridian has two branches, one on either side of the body. In addition to flowing properly on its own, each meridian must also remain in contact with its counterpart on the other side, so when we cross our legs or clasp our hands together we are promoting communication between the two halves of our energy body (half the meridians begin or end on the fingers and half begin or end on the feet). These gestures therefore help us to achieve a greater degree of relaxation or concentration.

We also encounter the energy body when we enjoy a massage. We all know how good a massage makes us feel, but the question is, why does it affect our emotions in addition to our muscles?

The explanation lies in the correlation that exists between the muscles and the meridians. In addition to being related to the major organs, every meridian is also associated with two or three major muscles. Stress in one is reflected in the other and treating one will likewise have a beneficial effect on the other.

So a shoulder massage that melts away the built-up stress of a hard day at the office is actually treating the energy of the kidney meridian, which is related to the muscles of the upper shoulder and lower neck. The kidney meridian is a particularly "emotional" meridian and an important regulator of all the emotions and meridians.

A back massage is the ultimate energetic/physical body treatment because it influences the entire energy body in a number of ways. First of all, the bladder meridian runs down the back, so a massage here directly affects this important pathway.

The bladder meridian is unique in that a number of its acupoints (the same points acupuncturists use) are also directly related to each of the other meridians, so the effects of working this channel are transmitted throughout the energy body. The bladder meridian is associated with the muscles that work the spine, so massaging them further enhances the effect on the bladder energy.

And finally, a back massage also includes other muscles on the back and shoulders that correspond to other meridians.

Hopefully this information has helped reveal the complexity that lies beneath those aspects of our being that we tend to take for granted. If nothing else, next time you feel like treating yourself to a massage, you can think of it as a medical necessity rather than a guilty pleasure.

Your energy body will thank you for it and will reward you with better physical and emotional health.