The Taoist sages look at one's own energy system as a single, holistic entity. For example, a young and healthy person receives one hundred percent of the energy she/he needs for the day from breathing, eating, sleeping and moving, and uses about sixty to seventy percent of it for his daily life. You could think of this one hundred percent as a bank account. But this energy balance becomes increasingly unfavourable with age.
The elderly person absorbs less and less energy as they get worn out, stressed, tired, etc., although the body uses the same amount. So they gradually fall into a negative energy balance because they have to draw the energy they need from their vital organs - kidneys, liver, spleen, lungs, heart and pancreas, then from their endocrine glands and finally from their brain. Seen in this light, the ailments of growing old take on a whole new dimension.
Jing Chi is the most subtle of all the energies a person has at birth. It is on the Jing, or source Chi, that all other forms of Chi in the body depend. Jing Chi is transformed into Chi through interaction with the organs. Maintaining and nurturing Jing Chi is the foundation of the Taoist path, and is stored primarily in the kidneys, sperm and eggs.
Imbalances in our body's energy, Chi (Qi), can result from unrestrained emotions, improper diet or excessive lifestyle, and lead to health problems. As a result of these imbalances, dullness and listlessness may occur, initially temporarily. More obvious symptoms such as nervousness, irritability, listlessness and insomnia appear in more advanced stages. We find the archetypal patterns of the traditional 5 Elements doctrine of Classical Chinese Medicine in the deeper layers of these disturbing fields.
From this perspective, emotions do not originate in the brain but in the organs. Each of the five main organs represents an elemental consciousness, each with its own character and temperament.
There are many methods and ways to prevent these imbalances from becoming too dominant from a Taoist perspective. Changes here are particularly promising because we are in constant interrelation with our environment. External conditions can be slowly changed with an awakening awareness of these relationships.
Grand Master Mantak Chia's '5 Healing Arts' provide us with various methods of self-healing.