Chinese Medicine offers a gentle and comprehensive approach to relieve stress, harmonize emotions, and restore inner balance. At my wellness massage studio in Montpellier, I use these techniques to release tension, encourage letting go, and regain emotional equilibrium.
Stress and Anxiety according to Chinese Medicine
Anxiety often appears as a feeling of inner discomfort, usually triggered by occasional stress episodes that can become chronic over time. This anxious state may be accompanied by palpitations, mental restlessness, shortness of breath, a fast heartbeat, sleep disturbances, chest tension, or even digestive and respiratory issues.
Beyond therapeutic treatments, receiving a massage with an energy-based approach helps both body and mind to rebalance, restoring well-being and physical and mental relaxation in everyday life.
The energetic functions of the organs in traditional Chinese medicine
In Chinese medicine, each organ (Zang Fu) has energetic functions that contribute to psychological well-being and influence different aspects of the mind (Shen).
The psychological functions of the organs in traditional Chinese medicine
- Lung : helps to experience, process, and release emotions, particularly sadness, melancholy, and those associated with grief.
- Large Intestine : helps release attachment to an emotion or a situation.
- Stomach : helps digest our ideas and thoughts.
- Spleen : supports the integration of information and the generation of ideas or projects.
- Heart : helps experience joy and promotes the development of intimate relationships.
- Small Intestine : contributes to discernment, helping to distinguish what is beneficial or not for oneself and others.
- Bladder : supports self-esteem and the ability to overcome insecurities.
- Kidney : helps integrate fears, whether rational or irrational.
- Pericardium : protects the heart from excessive emotions.
- Triple Heater : facilitates the integration and development of social relationships.
- Gallbladder : supports decision-making and the courage to express and carry out one’s projects.
- Liver : helps integrate anger and frustration, and nourishes ambition.
The emotional consequences of a dysfunction
- Lung : difficulty processing and releasing emotions, feeling powerless in the face of sadness or grief.
- Large Intestine : difficulty letting go of a situation, an emotion, or an attachment.
- Stomach : inability to put thoughts or ideas into action.
- Spleen : difficultés à avoir les idées claires et à générer des projets.
- Heart : inability to process sadness (heartache) and express emotions.
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Small Intestine : difficulty making beneficial decisions for oneself and distinguishing the essential from the superfluous.
- Bladder : low self-esteem and lack of self-love.
- Kidney : paranoia, phobias, a general feeling of helplessness or “nothing is going right”.
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Pericardium : difficulty letting others into one’s life or protecting oneself from emotionally unstable people.
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Triple Heater : inability to develop social relationships and collaborate with others.
- Gallbladder : difficulty making decisions and following through with them.
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Liver: feeling of frustration, irritability, and lack of ambition or vision.
Stress and anxiety treatment through wellness massages in montpellier
Anxiety reflects an imbalance of the heart and Shen (the spirit), often linked to the spleen and liver. This imbalance can result from an excess, such as liver qi stagnation or heart fire, or from a deficiency, such as spleen-heart qi or blood deficiency, heart-kidney yin deficiency, or weak lung qi.
According to traditional chinese medicine principles, it is essential to distinguish between states of deficiency (lack) and excess. In all cases, massage techniques aim to calm the Shen and promote the free flow of qi and blood, allowing the body’s energy fluids to regain their natural movement and helping you feel more stable and grounded.
At my wellness space in Montpellier, I practice Tuina and Chi Nei Tsang massages to effectively support stress and anxiety management.
Emotional Disorders and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Emotions are temporary affective states that, depending on their intensity and duration, can have more or less significant effects on the body and mind.
What is an emotion ?
Emotions are diverse manifestations of objective realities: they result from an interaction between the external environment and an individual’s internal world, involving physical, psychological, and neurological sensations. When we experience an emotion, what we truly feel are fluctuations in the movements and qualities of Qi.
Emotions are closely linked to the internal organs: they rely on the vital energy of the organs to manifest, directly affecting organ function and vice versa.
Emotional imbalances can also lead to stagnation: Qi stagnation may cause blood stagnation, which in turn can lead to digestive blockages and various gastrointestinal issues.
Finally, emotional activity affects the balance of Yin and Yang and has a significant influence on the development of health conditions, meaning it can either improve or worsen illness.
All emotions affect the heart’s energetic system, and clinical experience also shows that it is often the heart that is impacted, along with the liver and spleen.
The 8 emotions and their effects on the organs in traditional Chinese medicine
In Chinese Medicine, emotions play a central role in the health of the entire body. Each organ is not limited to its physiological functions: it is also associated with an emotional dimension. An intense or prolonged emotion can disrupt the body’s balance, causing both physical and psychological effects that create tension needing release.
Emotions are considered harmful to the individual only when they are too sudden, too intense, too prolonged, or completely repressed, to the point of affecting organ functions or disrupting the natural upward and downward movement of Qi.
Chinese massage becomes particularly meaningful in this context, serving as a relaxing massage for the emotions, regardless of their nature.
Anger
Anger is the emotion directly associated with the liver. When it is excessive or poorly expressed, it can damage this organ and cause an abnormal upward movement of Qi.
The liver’s energetic functions, responsible for draining and dispersing, then become excessive. Liver Qi may rise against the natural flow, carrying blood with it, and manifest as dizziness, headaches, facial redness, tinnitus, or even fainting.
This upward movement of liver Qi can also spread horizontally and affect the spleen (causing abdominal bloating, diarrhea with undigested food) and the stomach (hiccups, vomiting).
Since the liver and kidney share the same energy source (through the generating and transforming relationships linking Essence and Blood), intense anger can also affect the kidneys, leading to general weakness, fear, reduced memory, and spinal fragility.
Sadness and Grief
Sadness and grief are the emotions associated with the lungs. When excessive or prolonged, they deplete vital energy and cause it to descend excessively.
This consumption of lung Qi can manifest as fatigue, discouragement, respiratory problems, chest tightness, physical and emotional heaviness, laziness, lack of strength, shortness of breath, and a weak voice. Over time, and without the expert care of a wellness massage therapist in Montpellier, other organs may also be affected, including the heart, liver, and spleen.
Worry and Rumination
Worry, rumination, or excessive negative thinking are the emotions associated with the spleen. When these emotions become excessive, they block and knot Qi in the center of the body, causing stagnation and weakening both the spleen and the heart’s Shen (spirit).
This disruption slows the stomach’s ability to transform and assimilate food, leading to abdominal bloating and heaviness, loose stools, muscle loss, and a general feeling of fatigue.
Rumination also consumes heart blood, which can weaken it and manifest as palpitations, insomnia, poor memory, vivid dreams, or even nightmares.
Fear and Fright
Fear is the emotion associated with the kidneys. When it becomes excessive, it harms the kidneys and causes Qi to descend too much, preventing it from rising properly.
This imbalance affects the communication between the heart’s Fire, which descends, and the kidney’s Water, which rises, leading to chest tightness, abdominal bloating, nervousness, difficulty falling asleep, cold limbs, and elimination issues (incontinence of stool or urine).
Fright is the emotion associated with the heart and gallbladder. It harms the heart and disperses Qi, disrupting the energy flow and disturbing the harmony between Qi and Blood. This can manifest as palpitations, insomnia, nervousness, shortness of breath, and disturbances of the Shen (spirit).
It also affects the gallbladder’s Qi, potentially causing mental confusion or more severe issues, such as certain congenital neurological manifestations.
Fear and fright are not the same: fear is experienced consciously, while fright acts unconsciously.
Joy
Excessive joy can disperse and slow the heart’s Qi. People affected often experience difficulties with concentration and coherence in speech. This imbalance can also manifest as palpitations, feelings of euphoria, or uncontrollable agitation.
The slowing of Qi results in insufficient release of emotional tension and a disordered discharge of heart Qi, leading to a mind that feels “out of place.” This may present as lack of strength, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, palpitations, violent agitation, or incessant laughter and crying.
Body Massage as a Treatment for Emotional Disorders
Each of my wellness massage sessions in Montpellier begins with a full energy assessment based on the fundamental principles of traditional Chinese medicine. This personalized approach ensures that you receive a massage fully tailored to your needs, addressing your emotional concerns through customized wellness treatment protocols.
The energy assessment is conducted according to several complementary principles:
The color of the face, the condition of the tongue (shape, color, coating), posture, behavior, and overall expression help detect energetic imbalances.
Lifestyle habits, sleep quality, digestion, emotional state, and physical symptoms.
Chinese pulse diagnosis, as well as palpation of the abdomen or specific areas.
I place great importance on understanding the root causes of your imbalances. Understanding these causes is essential for conducting an accurate energy assessment and providing an effective relaxation massage aimed at restoring harmony and long-lasting health.
Tuina Massage
This massage technique allows me to address emotional disorders in a personalized way, with particular focus on the heart’s energetic system. I use specific practices to calm the Shen (spirit), harmonize Qi, and release energy blockages related to stress, anxiety, or emotional disturbances, helping you restore a sense of relaxation and inner calm.
Chi Nei Tsang Massage
This is a high-intensity visceral massage that helps regulate and release blocked emotions. It improves blood and lymphatic circulation, stimulates internal organs, and eliminates toxins, while supporting digestion and waste elimination. This approach guides the body toward overall harmony by restoring energetic balance and calming the mind.
Foot reflexology
This is a deeply relaxing technique that also serves as an effective anti-stress approach to harmonize your energy and support your vitality. By stimulating reflex zones through a foot massage, it works on the entire body, rebalancing organ functions and providing a lasting sense of well-being.
Complementary techniques to wellness massage in Montpellier
Cupping therapy, moxibustion, guasha, and Chinese dietary therapy are complementary approaches that I can incorporate into your care plan, at no extra cost, to optimize your energy balance and overall well-being.
An Experienced Practitioner to discover the Benefits of Wellness Massage
I guide you with presence and care through hands-on treatments.
Having received advanced academic training at the Chuzhen Institute of Chinese Medicine in Paris and completed a clinical internship in a hospital in China, I joyfully and wholeheartedly support you on your journey toward emotional well-being and lasting harmony of body and mind.
Chinese massages do not provide a medical diagnosis and are not a substitute for physiotherapy or medical care provided by a treating physician, specialist, or any other qualified healthcare professional.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is recognized by the WHO, alongside naturopathy and Ayurvedic medicine.
