Last week, I shared about how anger can overcome worry. This week, let’s take a closer look at the emotion, sadness.
In TCM (five elements), the lung is linked to the sadness emotion. When someone experiences prolonged sadness, it will disrupt the Qi in their lungs and negatively affect the body’s immune system.
The reason is because 肺主一身之气. This means when the lungs are weakened, the body’s Qi will also be weakened. This results in lower body immunity, and the person will fall sick more easily than others.
Let’s learn what is the emotion that can counter sadness in the following simple summary (the result is pretty intuitive):
- In TCM five elements, the lungs are represented by the metal element.
- The only element that can counter metal is fire.
- The fire element is represented by the heart organ.
- Heart is associated with the emotion of joy.
- Thus, joy can counter sadness (have you guessed it already?)
Yes indeed, the quickest way to lift someone out of sadness is by making them happy.
Just a general well-being tip: When someone experiences a temporary loss of mobility due to injury, they may feel very sad. During this time, it is helpful to encourage them to watch comedies or lighthearted shows to lift their spirits, as laughter can help in speeding up recovery. Staying sad for too long, however, may prolong the healing process.
Hope you find this short sharing useful!
Next week, we will learn about the kidney organ and its corresponding emotion, fear. How can fear make oneself sick and what is the emotion to overcome it? Stay tuned!