This massaging technique was developed following Traditional Chinese Medicine’s principles that assert that emotional blockages are physically hosted in our body.
This means that how we feel provokes physical pain, so this treatment intends to free our internal organs from pain and heal us.
Even though there may be many people feeling suspicious about this approach, it is largely known that we feel “butterflies” in our stomach when we fall in love, or that we get muscular contractions produced by worries and stress.
This same belief is common in China. So, understanding physical pain as the result of emotional trouble is not actually such a crazy thought, is it?
What is Chi Nei Tsang?
Thousands of years ago, the Taoists realized that emotions affect the organs, and saw that one of the main causes of the disease is emotions which get stuck in the body.
We may feel emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, or jealousy and don’t know how to let them go. Each of these emotions is correlated to a specific organ and may interrupt their normal functioning.
Actually, Chi Nei Tsang means “working the energy of the internal organs” or “internal organs chi transformation.”
Even though emotions can not be classified according to moral judgment – because we don’t choose the way we feel – we do choose the way we manage our emotions.
If we cannot overcome anger, odds are it will turn into sustained rage. This can create pathologies such as chronic pain and constipation, menstrual dysfunction, or migraines.
Chi Nei Tsang claims that this is our body telling us exactly how we feel because we seem to be incapable of noticing it in some other healthier way.
Chi Nei Tsang unlocks ingrained emotions
Chi Nei Tsang is a Taoist technique meant for unlocking ingrained emotions in every organ of the human body.
This method starts in the abdomen because the digestive system is believed to be an emotional regulator. This is why we usually talk about “digesting” our emotions!
An emotionally blocked intestine does not process food well. In fact, it is proven that many of the neurotransmitters responsible for happiness and wellness are produced in the intestine.
So, a healthy intestine will better perform this function and contribute to optimal emotional health.
How do emotions affect our bodies?
According to Tao and traditional Chinese medicine, each organ is especially sensitive to certain emotions and is therefore affected by some and nurtured by others.
At the same time, a weakened organ can generate specific unpleasant emotions. On the contrary, a healthy organ endows us with specific positive feelings.
Let’s see how Chi Nei Tsang works on each organ!
Heart
In the traditional Chinese system, the functions of the heart are paired with the small intestine. They are affected by emotions such as impatience, excessive joy or euphoria, cruelty, and hatred.
To nurture both organs, they must be filled with love, compassion, and measured joy.
Lungs
Paired with the large intestine, the lungs are very sensitive to sadness, grief and depression. On the other hand, strong lungs respond to courage, determination and the joy of living.
Kidney and bladder
When weak, they make the person feel fearful and excessively shy.
Panic and sustained fear weaken both kidneys and bladder. Instead, courage, silence and gentleness nurture them.
Liver and gallbladder
Imbalanced, the liver and gallbladder can make us tend to anger, rage, envy and resentment.
If these emotions are not released, they take hold of these internal organs and congest them. When these organs are balanced, they favor generosity, justice, creativity and fairness.
Spleen and stomach
If these internal organs are well balanced, they give us confidence in life and the feeling that everything is fine.
When healthy, they give us a good memory and capacity for studying and understanding. On the contrary, when they are sick, they generate concern and obsessive thoughts.
These organs, in addition, regulate digestion. This is why a life full of worries affects their functioning and the body’s ability to digest emotions, which become more ingrained and create more blockages.
This is called emotional digestion.
How does Chi Nei Tsang unlock our bodies?
By massaging each painful area in the abdomen with Chi Nei Tsang techniques, the therapist works with our vital energy, looking for emotional obstacles and unlocking them to free us from the pain.
It is essential that the therapist practices Chi Kung, which means knowing how to encourage and manage the ‘Chi’ (our vital energy).
This massage technique can be a little uncomfortable at the beginning, but as the treatment goes on, accompanied by conscious breathing and relaxation, each knot starts to loosen.
It is then that we can feel how our body’s energy strongly flows and nourishes the physiological processes that were previously stagnant.
Learnings about Chi Nei Tsang
Chi Nei Tsang is a powerful Chinese technique that helps release emotional blockages through abdominal massage. By touching specific parts of the belly, the therapist can address different internal organs.
If you can overcome the initial discomfort, the benefits of this massage are not limited to the physical body but extend as far as healing emotional unbalance and improving general well-being.
