Medical Qigong
We have just had our last Wednesday night Medical Qigong class. After holding the weekly class for over eleven years I am taking a break to focus on a couple of other projects through the summer. I will be resuming teaching an ongoing Medical Qigong class in the early fall, with a longer class that will meet once a month or so. I’ll likely have the next Foundations of Medical Qigong workshop in the late summer. I’ll keep you updated in this newsletter and on the website.

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The natural movement of the emotions is the healthy movement of the energy of life. Ideally, the emotions move naturally and spontaneously, like the tides, ebbing and flowing in response to changing circumstances.

However, if the emotions become stuck this natural movement is exaggerated and begins to move astray. What was once natural emotion grows into a passion, beginning a process of disorder within the body. Thus, the emotions are considered Internal Factors (as opposed to the External Factors we discussed last time) as causative influences in health problems.

To get a greater understanding of this view of emotions we, we can view them as having a specific movement or directional influence on the qi.

Anger - The Movement Upwards
The force of life that surges forward at the beginning of any movement or cycle can bring with it an emotional surge that becomes anger. It is the energy that brings up the fresh greenery of the springtime or the first rays of light in the morning. According to classical Chinese thought, the qi of the liver generates this quality inside the body, pushing through obstacles and blockages, just as young plants push up through the cold, hard soil in the beginning of springtime.

However, this same surge can become an uncontrollable force, that rushes upwards without restraint, affecting the normal circulation of energy and blood.

Joy - The Movement Outwards
The fullness of life that we see in the radiance of the midday sun and the warmth and light of summertime are expressed within the body as joy. The joy of life and of being alive is abundant when the heart is clear and spacious.

People often wonder, “how can someone have too much joy?” In this sense, the problem is not actually too much joy, but rather joy that goes beyond its normal bounds. Joy is an outward movement of qi. If this outward movement becomes too intense, it can disperse the qi and essences and leave the shen without a mooring. Anything that stays beyond its natural time becomes problematic, and in this sense joy can turn to mania and agitation.

Sadness - The Movement Inwards
We can see the inward movement and containment of energy in the autumn and the waning of the moon. This drawing back from the movement of life is the natural balance to the beginning surge of life (as in the springtime), holding down that rising energy and containing it when it becomes too strong. This can be expressed as sadness within the body.

The harvesting or drawing in of energy takes place within the lungs, which take in the air and energy of the environment and draw it down into the body. If sadness becomes too deep and too set then the normal drawing in of life becomes exaggerated. This can oppress the chest and weigh down the heart and lungs.

Fear - The Movement Downwards
The deep sinking energy of midnight and the darkness of winter correspond to the containment of energy within the body. This can be seen as the normal and healthy movement of fear, which is a natural extension of the will to live. The will to live is the caution that tempers the full, outward, healthy joy of life.

If that caution becomes too intense it will draw the energy down and disperse the essences, creating an emptiness of nourishment and transformative power. This rushing down of energy leaves the heart without nourishment and disrupts the harmony of the upper and lower body.

Thinking/Worry - The Movement At The Center
The normal thought process is a manifestation of the richness of the blood and the vitality of the qi as expressed clearly through the heart with the support of all of the internal organs.

If we lose our point of reference our thoughts may become too fixed, not shifting and moving along naturally and easily. This is a disorder of the center, or the spleen within Chinese medicine, and at a deeper level the heart. Our thoughts become bogged down and repetitive and there is an inability to move ahead.


It can thus be seen that the healthy expression of the emotions is simply another expression of the movement of life. As such, the emotions within the individual can correspond to the changing seasons and weather within nature. Just like the weather in nature, it is only when an emotion becomes exaggerated or out of context that it disrupts the healthy functions of the body and becomes an internal causative factor.