Emotional Health > Start Here | Overview

Mental/Emotional Health: A Journey Of Returning

Asian woman with hydrangea petals over her eyes, symbolizing emotional healing, mental health, and holistic balance through Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

How we navigate the world is shaped by many layers—our experiences, perceptions, emotions, and beliefs, as well as how we respond to them. Sometimes these layers are the roots of imbalance; other times, they’re signals—heightened emotions, persistent thought patterns, or a sense of being stuck—that something deeper is asking for attention.

We all have emotions. Feeling them is normal, healthy, and necessary. But when it starts to feel like your emotions are running the show—or you’re stuck in a loop—it might be time to seek support. You deserve to feel balanced, connected, and at home in yourself—physically, emotionally, and socially.

Your body and mind are in constant conversation—with each other and with the world around you. So yes, the way you live—how you rest, nourish, move, and reflect—really does matter.

“When the body changes, the mind follows. And when the mind changes, the body follows.”

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), emotional and mental wellbeing is more than symptom relief—it’s a way of returning.

Healing isn’t just about managing emotions or quieting the mind. It’s about restoring harmony to your whole being—body, spirit, energy, and life direction.

It’s a journey of returning to clarity, authenticity—who you’ve always been.

What Is Mental And Emotional Health?

In the simplest terms: it's about how you live.

A bit more fully, it’s about how you think, how you feel, and how you act—both within yourself and in your relationships with the world around you.

The “mental” part leans toward the cognitive side: how you perceive, think, reason, analyze, judge, and remember.
“Emotional” health, on the other hand, relates more to instinctive responses—feelings like joy, sadness, fear, and anger, which can be deeply felt in the body. Even animals experience these. 

Yet in everyday language, mental health usually refers to both your thoughts and your emotions—and how the two dance together.

Why Do We Have Emotions?

Emotions aren’t optional—they’re essential. They’ve helped humans (and animals!) survive for millennia. Even the so-called “negative” ones are there for a reason. There are no good or bad emotions—no truly positive or negative ones.

Take anger, for example. It often gets a bad reputation, but anger isn’t inherently bad. We feel anger because we need to know when to set boundaries. Anger tells us, “This isn’t okay.” It’s a signal to protect, to say no, to uphold our sense of self. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. And no, most of us weren’t taught how to sit with it. But that discomfort isn’t the enemy—ignoring it can be.

Then there’s fear—your body’s built-in danger alert. Fear keeps you alive. It sharpens your senses and gears you up for action.

The truth is, suppressing emotions like anger and fear doesn’t make them disappear—it just buries them. And buried emotions often take joy down with them. Over time, this emotional repression can show up as depression, anxiety, or just that persistent feeling of being stuck.

The Biopsychosocial Model: Mind and Body in the World

Mental health is not just about what's happening in your head—it's about how you live in the world.
It weaves together your body (bio), your mind (psyche), and your relationships (social).

Modern science is catching up, calling this the biopsychosocial model.
But Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has long understood this truth:
that your health is inseparable from how you live, how you relate, how you rest, and how you engage with your environment.

Your body doesn’t exist in isolation. Neither does your mind.
They live in conversation—with each other, and with the world around you.

What Shapes Our Mind And Emotions?

Emotions are part of our biology—but how we experience and express them? That’s often learned.

When something happens, you first notice it, you interpret it. Then the emotion arises.
That middle step—interpretation—is shaped by your early environment, the people around you, and how you were supported (or not supported) growing up.

If expressing anger led to punishment, you may have learned to smile when you were actually hurting—masking your real feelings to stay safe.
If your worries were dismissed or ignored, you may have learned to carry anxiety alone. It becomes your default way of perceiving, feeling, and reacting to things, a kind of emotional reflex. 

And this brings you away from who you truly are. Authenticity is lost.

Over time, these experiences form internal narratives. When we feel something, the brain naturally wants to make sense of it. So it creates a story:
“They treated me that way because I’m too much…”
“If I were better/smarter/quieter, this wouldn’t have happened…”

These stories form the foundation of our emotional patterns, beliefs, and behaviours.
And most of these patterns start early—when our minds are still tender and not yet able to understand that sometimes, things happen to us, not because of us. Understanding this doesn’t erase pain—but it gives us a doorway to compassion.

You Are Not Emotions

Emotions are responses—not your identity. They arise from how you interpret what’s happening, but they are not you. You feel anger, sadness, fear—but you are not anger. You are not sadness. You are not fear.

That gentle, self-aware separation gives space. It allows you to observe what you’re feeling without being overwhelmed by it. With that space, you can pause, process, and explore: Does this emotion fit? Does it serve me? What is it pointing to?

It’s not about pushing feelings away—it’s about making room for them without letting them define you.

Is This Normal? Adapting To Abnormals

Mental health is becoming a louder conversation—and for good reason.

Partly, it’s because modern science is beginning to recognize, name, and categorize/diagnose the patterns we’ve lived with for decades. But it’s also because we’re living in a world that’s quietly asking far too much of us.

We’re expected to do it all, often without a “village.”
To grow up fast. To be endlessly independent.
To suppress emotions.
To keep up with more social expectations than ever.

When we’re faced with ongoing stress—whether emotional, physical, or social—we try to adapt. That’s what humans do. But when the pressure doesn’t stop, the body and mind eventually give in and say “that’s enough.”

As the renowned Canadian physician Dr. Gabor Maté says:
“Illness in this society, physical or mental, they are not abnormalities. They are normal responses to an abnormal culture.” (The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture)

This quote doesn’t make the suffering go away. 

But it does invite us to stop blaming ourselves—and begin asking:
What do I want to keep carrying? What can I gently put down? And where do I draw the line?

Top-Down & Bottom-Up: Two Pathways to Emotional Balance

Emotions may begin in the brain, but we feel them in the body—flushed cheeks, tight chest, a flutter in the belly. That’s because body and mind are always in conversation.

Top-Down: Mind to Body
This starts with your thoughts and perceptions. When you shift how you interpret something, your body often responds—your breath eases, your shoulders drop. It’s a way of calming the body by working with the mind.

Bottom-Up: Body to Mind
This approach begins with the body. Movement, breath, or even stillness can help you feel more grounded, which in turn settles the mind. Sometimes, it’s not about thinking your way through—it’s about feeling your way in.

Both Ways Matter
Top-down brings clarity and perspective. Bottom-up brings ease and release.
Together, they help you understand and truly feel your way to steadier ground.

The Psyche in TCM: A Whole-Body View of the Mind

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the mind isn’t confined to the head. It lives throughout the body, expressed through a constellation of spirits—or Shen—each dwelling within its own organ system. These aren’t just metaphors. They’re part of how we understand personality, emotional tendencies, memory, willpower, and even dreams.

You could think of these as different “aspects” of consciousness—each one speaking its own language, shaped by your life experiences and the health of your body. When the spirits are in harmony, we feel more like ourselves: clear, connected, and resilient. When they’re unsettled, we may feel anxious, scattered, numb, or unlike ourselves.

In this view, your mind and emotions are not isolated or abstract. They are embodied, relational, and always in conversation with your heart, your breath, your blood, and your life path.

  • Shen (神) – Often translated as “spirit” or “mind”
    Shen reflects your core consciousness—presence, awareness, emotional expression, and capacity for joy. It radiates through your eyes, your mood, and your sense of connection to yourself and others.

    • Balanced Shen: Clear thinking, emotional steadiness, inner warmth, and joy

    • Disturbed Shen: Anxiety, insomnia, emotional flatness, or mental fog

    The Heart is so vital it has its own protector: the Pericardium, the emotional "bodyguard" that shields it from shock or heartbreak.

  • Hun (魂) – Known as the “ethereal soul”
    Hun governs imagination, dreams, planning, and your sense of direction in life. It’s the spark behind creative flow, life vision, and your emotional responsiveness.

    • Balanced Hun: Motivation, creative momentum, adaptability

    • Disturbed Hun: Frustration, stagnation, irritability, mood swings

  • Po (魄) – The “corporeal soul”
    Po is your instinctive, sensory self—linked to breath, touch, sound, and reflexive response. It governs how you experience the physical world in each moment.

    • Balanced Po: Grounded presence, sensory clarity, healthy boundaries

    • Disturbed Po: Disconnection from the body, numbness, grief, shallow breathing

  • Yi (意) – Often translated as “intellect” or “intent”
    Yi is responsible for memory, focus, learning, and processing life experience. It helps us digest not only food, but also thoughts, emotions, and events.

    • Balanced Yi: Clear focus, strong memory, stable thinking

    • Disturbed Yi: Overthinking, worry, mental fatigue, rumination

  • Zhi (志) – Willpower or determination
    Zhi is your core drive and enduring strength—the foundation of resilience, courage, and perseverance. It helps you recover from life’s big challenges: illness, loss, change, or simply growing older.

    • Balanced Zhi: Steady energy, purpose, deep resilience

    • Disturbed Zhi: Fatigue, fear, indecision, burnout

    Bonus: The Kidneys also store Essence—your inherited vitality that fuels you through every stage of life. (Read more about Essence HERE)

Your body and mind constantly reflect and shape each other. Supporting your emotional and mental health means caring for your whole Self—not just talking about your feelings, but nourishing your energy, your body, and your connection to life itself.

How Emotions Affect the Body in TCM: The 7 Classical Types

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, emotions are not isolated “mental states.” Instead, they are dynamic movements of Qi—each with a distinct energetic pattern that affects the body. When you feel something deeply, your body doesn’t just react—it transforms.

TCM recognizes seven primary emotions, each linked to specific organ systems:

  • Joy – Heart: Slows and relaxes the Qi. Think soft laughter, ease, and inner warmth.

  • Pensiveness – Spleen: Knots the Qi. The feeling of heaviness or tightness in the gut.

  • Worry – Spleen & Lungs: Also knots the Qi. That tension in your chest or distracted mind? Qi is constricting.

  • Sadness/Grief – Lungs & Heart: Depletes the Qi. Long-term sorrow can leave you drained, foggy, and unmotivated.

  • Fear – Kidneys: Makes Qi descend. The sinking stomach, trembling knees, or sudden urge to flee are all signs.

  • Anger – Liver: Causes Qi to rise. It may show as flushed cheeks, tension in the chest, or emotional outbursts.

  • Shock/Fright – Heart & Kidneys: Scatters the Qi. That feeling of being mentally “all over the place” after a sudden event? This is scattered Qi.

TCM also teaches that emotions are carried in the Blood. But not just in the physical sense—Blood in TCM nourishes and grounds the mind. When emotional stress builds, it can disrupt Blood flow, leading to restlessness, fogginess, or emotional stagnation.

One way TCM addresses emotional residue is through the Luo vessels (meridians) a network of smaller meridians that store emotional impressions.

Beyond acupuncture, we can support emotional wellness through movement, herbal medicine, food therapy, and cultivating a deeper relationship with ourselves.

To learn more about the Luos, scroll down to the Meridian Layers section below.

Moods, Emotions, And Personality in TCM

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), moods, emotions, and personality aren’t just psychological—they’re deeply embodied. They’re expressions of Qi, the vital movement and activity for every aspect of your being. (What is Qi? Read more HERE)

They live in your body, shape your energy, and reflect your state of inner landscape.

  • A mood is something you catch—or something others catch from you.
    It hangs in the air around you and settles in your posture, breath, and tone.
    Moods often show up as subtle shifts in muscle tension, especially along the surface of the body.

    • Sinew Meridians are responsible for the expression of mood.

    • They reflect how you brace, react, and protect yourself—your body’s armour.

    • Chronic mood states can influence physical patterns like jaw clenching, hunched shoulders etc.

  • Emotions run deeper—they are what you feel and you are aware that you are feeling them.
    In TCM, emotions are stored and held in Blood, which nourishes both the body and the spirit (to read more about TCM Blood, check HERE)

    • Luo Vessels are connected to emotions.

    • Suppressed or unexpressed emotions may manifest through pathways: spider veins, certain lumps, lipomas, or even nosebleeds.

    • These vessels hold what couldn’t be processed at the time.

    For example, self-harming behaviours often trace along meridian that protect the Heart—the emotional centre. This isn’t an endorsement, but a compassionate reminder: every symptom tells a story, and healing is possible.

  • Personality begins to take root early in life, and it unfolds slowly—woven from your life experiences.
    Often, you don’t notice how you’ve changed… but those around you do.

    In TCM, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians reflect your deepest architecture.
    They govern development, identity, and destiny.

    These channels shape who you become, and mature emotionally and mentally, how you see the world, and how you find your place within it.

    They hold ancestral memory, early attachments, and the subtle ways your soul adapts, not just to survive, but to become.

These meridians belong to the Five Layers of the Meridian System, which explain how emotions and experiences are held and expressed in the body. Learn more about the Five Layers HERE

7/8-Year Cycles of Life & Mental/Emotional Maturity

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), life unfolds in rhythmic cycles—7-year intervals (8 for male bodies). These turning points mark phases of physical growth, fertility, transformation, and eventually, graceful decline. But they’re not just about the body.

These cycles are guided by Essence—your deep, inherited vitality (you can read more about Essence HERE)—and governed by the Kidney system and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, which trace your blueprint: body, spirit, and lineage.

As you move through these cycles, you’re not just growing older—you’re invited to grow deeper.
Your emotional maturity, sense of self, and capacity to meet life’s changes are meant to evolve along with your body.

So if someone’s emotional development feels out of sync, or their personality seems imbalanced, we don’t ask,
“What’s wrong with you?”
Instead, we ask, “Where are you in your cycle? What support does your system need to come into harmony with this stage of life?”

TCM doesn’t pathologize people—it seeks to understand their timing, their nature, and how best to support their unfolding.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) sees that, we, humans are part of nature. We are influenced by not only the social environment, but natural climate. And we also carry such weather within us.

External factors, things related to seasons and natural environment from wind, cold, hot, humidity driness can affect how your body functions and the state of mind and emotions. Cold person, warm hart, down to earth… all are exactly what it means, and TCM uses such “medically”. And Seasonal changes affect our mental/emotional state. Each season is not isolated from others, one lead to the next, and next, and circle back. If you have conditions that are affected seasonally, it is best to evaluate the year-around health and practice, so that you get into a “challenging” season more prepared.

Internal factors—like eating habits, chronic stress, emotional strain, or overworking—can weaken the major organs we talked about earlier. Not so supportive eating habit taxes digestive system, and it leads to weak Qi and blood (as mentioned above HERE), and it leads to emotional sensitivity or emotionally “leaky” as emotions. This is why how you live—what you eat, how you move, rest, and relate to stress—matters deeply.

The good news? That means you have a lot of power to support your mental/emotional health simply by making gentle, consistent shifts in daily life. It’s truly empowering.

External And Internal Factors

Qi, Blood, and Body Fluids: Your Inner Resources

When you're physically or emotionally drained, it's often because your Qi, Blood, and Body Fluids—your foundational inner resources—are running low.

These aren’t just TCM terms; they’re the vital forces that help you feel steady, clear, and capable.

They anchor that deep inner sense of “I’ve got this.”

But stress, trauma, and long-term depletion consume these resources. You might feel fragile, empty, or stuck in survival mode.
Stress dries out the Body Fluids, leaving you parched—like you’ve lost the “juice” of life.
Lack of sleep and weak digestion mean your body produces less Qi and Blood, while overwork and worry burn through what’s left—and so the cycle continues.

Healing begins by rebuilding what’s been worn thin.

Read a little more about Qi, Blood, and Body Fluids HERE.

Mental & Emotional Health Conditions

When our inner systems fall out of rhythm—whether from stagnation, deficiency, or overload—our mental and emotional well-being often reflects the strain.

In TCM, symptoms are not labels. Each mood, emotional pattern, or mental state points to a deeper imbalance, a place that needs care, nourishment, or release. We're currently developing pages dedicated to the following themes:

  • Persistent waves that affect the day-to-day:

    • Anxiety, Nervousness

    • Worry, Overthinking

    • Sadness, Melancholy

    • Irritability, Anger

    • Despair, Fear, Fright

    • Timidity, Indecisiveness

    • Insecurity

    • Compulsive or Obsessive Behaviours

    • Panic Attacks etc.

  • Relational patterns, boundary ruptures, and the ache of human connection:

    • Loss and Grief

    • Shame, Guilt

    • Trauma, PTSD, C-PTSD

    • Addiction

    • Compassion Fatigue

    • Family Dynamics

    • Difficulty Saying “No”

    • Passive Aggressive Patterns

    • Fear of Being Alone, Isolation

    • Relationship & Trust Issues

    • Separation & Adaptation

  • When the heart searches for meaning, identity, and place in the world:

    • Lack of Direction or Meaning

    • Self-Esteem, Self-Worth, Self-Blame

    • Self-Hatred, Lack of Self-Compassion

    • Lack of Motivation or Confidence

    • Feeling “Not Enough”

    • Identity, Gender & Sexuality

    • Lost in Life

    • Brain Fog

    • Self-Image & Personality

    • Loneliness

    • Suicidal Thoughts or Self-Harm

    • ADHD / AuDHD

    • Anxiety Disorders

    • Bipolar Disorder

    • Depression

    • Dysmorphia

    • Eating Disorders

    • Fear / Phobia

    • Insomnia

    • PMDD

We're working on a dedicated conditions page. Have something you'd like us to include? Feel free to submit Anonymous Website Content Request or sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on new resources!

Tendering Your Emotional Garden With Self-Care

When you aren’t feeling yourself, self-care isn’t something you’d put at the top of the priority.

But this means you have plenty of opportunity to support your healing.

While individual conditions and individual background (the patterns LINL) are different, there are some foundational practices support most people by grounding and bringing back balance to the body and mind:

  • Breathing practices: Slow, deep breathing supports movement of Qi and blood. See if something changes before and after the breathing.

  • 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise: For grounding. Great for anxiety but helpful in general. Engage with 5 senses means to engage with five TCM organs, which are all about “NOW”. When triggered or ruminating, your mind time and space travel to the past, future, or parallel world. This exercise bring you back to the NOW and connect to the body.

    • Eyes: Notice/identify 5 things you can see

    • Skin: Notice/identify 4 things you can touch

    • Ears: notice/identify 3 things you can hear

    • Nose: Notice/identify 2 things you can smell, and

    • Mouth: Notice/identify 1 thing you can taste

  • Emotional processing: Through journaling, talking, movement, or simply naming what you feel.

  • Regular sleep: for some, sleep itself is a challenge, but find things that help bring the regular sleep schedule. Well rested = more grounded

  • Regular meals: body enjoys predictability and feel safety in it. Bonus if you chew a lot before swallowing.

  • Getting the sun upon waking up: this helps your body absorb gentle warm energy to kick start the day even you are feeling down

  • Resting and noticing: when you aren’t up for doing things, resting can be a healing tool. Simply pay attention to your narratives, bodily sensations, and anything that arise. No need to change or engage (especially the narrative), but just notice and find the patterns.

The Bigger Picture: Digestion, Sleep,  Hormonal Health & More

By now, you’ve likely felt it—your mental and emotional state isn’t something separate. It doesn’t live in a vacuum. It’s deeply woven into every part of your being—head to toe, inside and out—shaped by both your internal landscape and the world around you.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we look at the full picture. We don’t treat a symptom alone—we tend the whole garden. Here are a few key areas we often explore when supporting emotional and mental wellbeing:

  • Digestion: Processing Food and Feelings
    In TCM, digestion is more than turning food into fuel. It’s the centre of vitality—where nourishment transforms into clarity, energy, and emotional steadiness. When digestion is sluggish or imbalanced, it affects more than your stomach. You may feel foggy, reactive, heavy, or emotionally stuck. Just as we digest food, we also digest experiences. If that process stalls, emotions can backlog, and clarity dims. Supporting digestion helps you process not only your meals, but your day, your past, and your present—with more ease and steadiness.

  • Sleep: The Spirit’s Return to Rest
    Sleep is sacred. In TCM, it’s the time when your Shen (spirit) returns to the Heart, and your body resets. Good rest supports hormonal balance, clears emotional residue, and replenishes your Qi. Sleep disturbances ripple through both body and mind—lowering energy, heightening emotional reactivity, and throwing off your inner rhythm. That’s why we support your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, focusing on harmonizing the Heart and Liver—key organs for emotional processing. A regular sleep rhythm is one of the simplest, most powerful acts of care.

  • Pelvic & Hormonal Health: Cycles and Transitions
    For those who menstruate, the monthly cycle is a mirror—a rhythm of emotional tides and physical changes. In TCM, we pay close attention to this rhythm. We want periods to arrive on time, with ease—free of pain, mood swings, or chaos. A smooth cycle reflects healthy flow: of blood, hormones, and emotions. And during the transition into menopause, we aim not for confusion, but for clarity. This is a time of wisdom and inner leadership—not loss. When hormones are in harmony, emotions often follow.

Mental and emotional health isn’t just a state of mind—it’s a reflection of your entire being.

TCM Ways Of Supporting Mental/Emotional Health

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is all about achieving balance and harmony within your body—and this naturally extends to your mental/emotional health. TCM doesn’t just focus on symptoms or diagnosis; it considers your entire being: digestion, emotions, sleep, and lifestyle—all of which play key roles in maintaining a balanced rhythm throughout your life. TCM looks at “patterns” (what is happening behind the scene), so the treatment plans might look different from person to person.

Here are some of the TCM treatment options that support mental/emotional health. Care is delivered both online and in-person so you can get support no matter where you are:

Lifestyle Adjustments: 
Your lifestyle is your daily mileage on the healing path—it matters deeply in TCM. Making small, intentional changes can harmonize your body’s internal systems with natural rhythms. Whether you're seeking more emotional lightness or mental clarity, we explore everything from sleep hygiene and work habits to the impact of digital stimulation—all through the TCM lens. There’s always something you can do!

Diet & Nourishment:
Food feeds not just your body—but your heart, spirit, and rhythm of life. In TCM, diet is a foundation for emotional and mental health. It’s not only what you eat, but how you eat—warm, present, and in rhythm with your body.A nourishing diet supports digestion, builds blood, and strengthens the organs that influence your mood and clarity. And yes, it can still be delicious. This isn’t about restriction—it’s about alignment.

Herbal Medicine:
Herbal Medicine is your daily dose of care. Herbs are essential tools for addressing imbalances in the body. In TCM, herbal medicine is often used to support mental/emotional health, and bring the body back into harmony. Custom prescriptions are available, even through online sessions.

Acupuncture:
Think of acupuncture as an ancient version of OS updates. It helps re-regulate the body and nervous system so that your mind and body can work in sync.

You might also find these pages helpful as a starting point:

Massage Therapy for Mental/Emotional Health

Massage therapy is one of the most accessible, embodied tools we have. It supports tissue health, eases muscular tension, and soothes the nervous system.

At Tsumugi, we offer both general massage therapy and targeted treatments. Each session is tailored and may include:

Learn more about our massage therapy offerings HERE.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • In TCM, emotional and mental health are not separate from the body—they are deeply intertwined with digestion, sleep, hormonal cycles, and the flow of Qi (vital energy). Rather than isolating symptoms, we look at the whole picture to restore balance and harmony.

  • Yes!

    Acupuncture is often used to calm the nervous system, regulate mood, and support emotional resilience. It helps restore the smooth flow of Qi, soothe the Liver (associated with stress and frustration), and nourish the Heart, which holds the spirit.

  • Breathing practices, the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise, regular meals and sleep, morning sunlight, and simple emotional processing like journaling or mindful rest can all support emotional balance. These practices align with TCM’s focus on restoring flow and internal rhythm.

  • Digestion is seen as the root of vitality. If the digestive system is weak or imbalanced, it can lead to emotional stagnation, foggy thinking, and reactivity.

    Supporting digestion helps us better “digest” emotions and life experiences.

  • In TCM, sleep is a time for the spirit to rest and recharge. Disrupted sleep can throw off emotional balance, while hormonal imbalances—especially around menstruation or menopause—can also influence mood. We support these systems to restore inner harmony.

Thank you for reading all the way through.

Trust the timing that brought you here.

If something resonated—or quietly stirred inside—know that you're welcome to reach out when the moment feels right. We are here when you're ready.