Taoist sages believe that each of our organs is associated with a certain emotion. So, when your stomach hurts, you should think – what lies behind the discomfort? What feelings are we trying to suppress?
Of course, acute abdominal pain is a reason to see a doctor or even call an ambulance, and not look for psychosomatic causes. I also do not propose to self-medicate with chronic pain. They need to be examined in order to identify dangerous diseases in time.
Another thing is when a person is healthy, but feels tension and stiffness in the abdomen. If you lie on your back and feel your abdomen, it is highly likely that the palpation will be painful. You will feel a pulling, dull pain that immediately disappears as soon as you release your fingers. What does tension in different parts of the abdomen indicate?
The abdomen can be conditionally divided into three regions, located from top to bottom:
- upper abdomen – the space under the lower ribs;
- the middle part is the navel area;
- the lower part is from the femoral bones and below.
And now we will analyze each section and the emotions associated with it in more detail.
Upper abdomen
On the right, under the lower ribs are the liver and gallbladder. These organs are associated with anger, irritation. We feel that our desires do not match the possibilities, and this causes negative emotions. Tension in the right hypochondrium often even makes us bend. Look at the boxer’s stance – it’s a classic example of this tension. But if a boxer needs to attack, defend, take a punch, then such a state in everyday life only interferes with us. Anger, irritation are inside us, even when there is no reason for them, and manifest as pain in the right hypochondrium.
The tension in the left hypochondrium, from the point of view of Taoist medicine, is associated with the inability to accept not only bad, but also good. For example, care, love, attention.
What can be done to relax the upper abdomen? Gently, gently massage the hypochondrium area. Pay attention to the sensations in the process, to the ease. To maintain and develop this feeling, as well as to cope with anger and learn to accept what the world gives, regular relaxation exercises are necessary. For example, in the framework of Qigong Sing Shen Juang, you need to make circular movements with the body, paying attention to the twelfth thoracic vertebra. This relaxes the space under the ribs, teaches the body to breathe and, therefore, to feel in a new way.
middle abdomen
Imagine that you have fastened a 4-finger belt around your waist. The place to which the belt adjoins will be the middle of the abdomen, and the navel will be under the buckle.
The middle of the abdomen is associated with the ability to feel joy. Tension in this area means that we most likely have forgotten how to have fun and laugh with friends and loved ones.
To return the joy of life, to feel happiness, you need to relax properly. To do this, you need to master breathing exercises from the arsenal of female Taoist practices. As part of this course, we learn the so-called authentic breathing – that is, breathing with the stomach, and get the opportunity to deeply relax it.
Life cycle: fear
Very often there is a fear inside us that we are not ready to admit even to ourselves. This is such a habitual state (for example, the fear of appearing clumsy, inappropriate, wrong – social phobia; or the fear of looking bad – dysmorphophobia) that it ceases to be considered by us as fear and is taken as the norm.
“I’m ugly from birth, of course, those around me see it and despise me for it,” we think, as if this is an axiom. This feeling of self “lives” in the lower abdomen and manifests itself through tension and pain. In this case, work with a psychologist helps, as well as bodily practices that relax this area, warming and soothing.
For example, in female Taoist practices there are exercises with a jade egg. You can find their description on the web. They must be performed by holding the breath and relaxing the stomach. Sometimes you have to look for this feeling, but as a result of such training, not only the shape of the body changes: they put intimate health and emotional background in order. We become more confident, calmer, and therefore happier.