The liver also has a lot to do with stress and anger. Physically, an imbalanced liver can create tight tendons, necks and shoulders, and emotionally it can lead to a tightness of the spirit. The key emotions of the liver are anger and frustration.
Anger is the emotion of the liver and the gallbladder, organs associated with the wood element. Emotions like rage, fury or aggravation can indicate that this energy is in excess, and when we experience these emotions consistently, our liver can get damaged.
Emotional information is stored through “packages” in our organs, tissues, skin, and muscles. These “packages” allow the emotional information to stay in our body parts until we can “release” it. Negative emotions in particular have a long-lasting effect on the body.
According to TCM theory, anger is related to the Liver and the wood element. The wood element is all about growth and expansive movement, and the Liver directs this internally, both physically and emotionally. Anger is the natural response to any interruption in the Liver's mission to move and grow.
Anger was related to the liver, happiness to the heart, thoughtfulness to the heart and spleen, sadness to the heart and lungs, fear to the kidneys, heart, liver, and gallbladder, surprise to the heart and the gallbladder, and anxiety to the heart and the lungs.
Minding our thoughts and our diets represents the key to a healthy liver. Here are some suggestions for releasing anger and resentment: Physical exercise, such as cardio, running or kickboxing. Shouting in a safe environment, such as a forest or closed room or closed car.
Guilt, Fishkin says, is associated with activity in the prefrontal cortex, the logical-thinking part of the brain. Guilt can also trigger activity in the limbic system. (That's why it can feel so anxiety-provoking.)
Liver stress sign #6 Mood swings
Emotions like anger, impatience, irritability and depression are common symptoms when the liver is in distress. Worse, it can affect your decision-making abilities and cause brain fog. It may even result in aggression and nasty outburst.
Exercise helps your body burn off adrenaline, release endorphins, calm your nervous system, and relieve stress. While any physical movement can help get your energy moving, some forms of exercise are especially helpful for trauma.
Tight Muscles – Anxiety will run tension through the body and impact different muscles. People feel the tightness in other areas. Some will feel it in their neck, jaw, chest, or the stomach. There is no specific area – wherever the brain sends the nerve signals.
Three brain structures appear most closely linked with emotions: the amygdala, the insula or insular cortex, and a structure in the midbrain called the periaqueductal gray. A paired, almond-shaped structure deep within the brain, the amygdala integrates emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation.
Stress stimulates the sympathetic‐adrenal‐medullary (SAM) system to secrete the two catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine. Many studies have reported that catecholamines are involved in cytotoxicity and tissue damage, including in the liver.
Traditionally, it has been suggested that the principal effect of stress on the liver is related solely to changes in hepatic blood flow (12). Specifically, this hypothesis suggested that emotional stress leads to vasospasm and centrilobular hypoxia and ultimately to liver damage.
The liver is the organ that is most affected by emotional stress. In Chinese medicine, each organ has an emotional component which is just as important as the physical component. When the liver is not functioning properly inflammation sets in because toxins accumulate in the body.
You will experience physical signs your liver is healing, such as healthier-looking skin and eyes, increased energy levels, and reduced stomach pain and swelling. Other signs your liver is healing include: Improved amino-acid regulation – Your liver processes proteins and amino acids that your body cannot store.
Like other fear responses, the Challenge Response releases stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) in order to get us going. But it also releases oxytocin, which soothes us and motivates us to connect with others, and DHEA, which helps the brain learn from the situation (5).
Shame brings with it a subjective sense of time slowing down which serves to magnify anything that occurs during a state of shame. It also is accompanied by intensified feedback from all perceptual modalities, particularly autonomic reactions such as blushing, sweating, and increased heart rate.
Excessive irrational guilt has been linked to mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, dysphoria (feelings of constant dissatisfaction) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)2.
Ever since people's responses to overwhelming experiences have been systematically explored, researchers have noted that a trauma is stored in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response.
The hips are an important storage vessel of emotional stress because of the psoas' link to the adrenal glands and the location of the sacral chakra.
Neck Tension = Fear and Repressed Self-Expression
Fear and anxiety are also frequently stored in this area, particularly as a physical response to danger (as the neck is a vulnerable area) or strange environments. Neck muscle tension is also related to trust issues.
The adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. The brain shunts blood away from the gut and towards the muscles, in preparation for physical exertion. Heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increase, the body temperature rises and the skin perspires.