[New Book] Bodily Rhythms Shape Emotions: "Emotional Clockwork"

The author, a psychiatrist specializing in mental health, argues that emotions are more strongly influenced by bodily organs than by thoughts or the mind. For example, inflammation in the gut can affect the brain through the gut-brain axis, leading to fatigue or lethargy, while irregular heart rhythms send anxiety signals to emotional circuits. The author explains that the main causes of irritability, anxiety, and depression stem from a lack of harmony in biological rhythms. Referring to the bodily organs where emotions originate as the "emotional clockwork," the author states that emotions arise from the rhythms created by ten organs-such as the gut, heart, skin, spine, pineal gland, amygdala, hippocampus, gonads, brainstem, and insular cortex-and the complex systems built around them. Notably, the author advises checking the emotional clockwork before trying to cultivate a positive outlook or mindset in order to manage fluctuating emotions. Concrete solutions for emotional regulation are also presented, such as exposing your face to sunlight every morning and gently shaking your head to create vibrations in the brainstem.

Emotional Clockwork | Written by Kang Dohyung | Sam & Parkers | 256 pages | 18,800 KRW