6 Ways to Clear Trapped Emotions (How Emotions Affect Our Health)
Have you ever had a gut feeling?
That physical sensation in your body that is trying to communicate with you?
When you have that visceral reaction to something or someone.
These are ways our body communicates with us.
It shows the connection between the body and the emotions.
More specifically the emotions & organs.
We say things like;
- That makes me want to throw up,
- That gave me goosebumps,
- They wear their heart on their sleeve, etc.
When we speak we connect the dots between our emotions and our body. But somehow we lose sight of the fact that our emotions can create symptoms in our body.
I have a friend that has right shoulder pain.
She was talking to me about it and mentioned she needs to get back into doing her exercises from physio.
As we were talking about her pain, I mentioned that the right shoulder was associated with the liver. The liver is related to feelings of anger, frustration, resentment, etc.
She started laughing.
She laughed because of how much those emotions resonated with her. She knew that she has underlying anger that for some reason is always with her.
She isn't really sure why or where it came from.
Most often these emotions are from past events or situations. We experience these things and the body decides to hold onto them.
"The inside of the body retains the invisible memory of scars, pain and stress". - J.P Barral
A lot of people get frustrated with a nagging injury or pain in their body.
I have started to become very aware of when clients come to me and may have an emotional link to their pain or injury.
You can hear it in the way they speak and the energy the bring to the treatment.
Most people though, are unaware of the connection between our body & mind and our emotions.
In our society, western medicine treats them as separate entities when in reality they influence each other.
If you look up the definition of emotion it states that it is:
"an intense or painful psychological reaction that powerfully affects numerous organs".
So the dictionary is aware of this. Why aren't we?
Why don't more practitioners consider how our emotions connect to our body & organs?
If more doctors & practitioners would ask the patients specific questions about emotions. It may lead them to a dysfunction of an organ.
These questions would also lead us to finding the root cause of that dysfunction.
Like anger with the liver in my previous example.
Why Do Our Emotions Get Trapped in our Body?
We pass on emotions from our Brain to our other organs when we don't have the mental capacity to process it.
Jean-Pierre Barral states
“Psychosomatic phenomena occur when emotional residue pours into our organs. As long as this process remains within acceptable boundaries and doesn’t put our lives in danger, it is a positive phenomenon that helps us maintain our mental health”.
He also relates it to the game 'hot potato'.
We experience a painful or intense situation and it gets 'too hot' so we pass it on to an organ to process later. This is how we manage our emotions short term.
Our body does this to adapt and stay alive. In the long run though, this can contribute to health concerns if it goes unresolved.
Often times people won't believe that our emotions can get trapped and influence our physical health.
But think of anytime you've had to stand up and present in class or went through a break up. Did you feel physical sensations when those things happened?
This also happens in positive situations when we get excited about achieving or winning something. There is a visceral reaction happening in the body along with the emotion.
This form of healing the body only seems weird to people because society has led us to believe that it's not possible.
Emotions can get stuck in any area of the body.
Dr. Candace Pert has done studies that show the cellular changes made on the body with emotions.
"As our feelings change, this mixture of peptides travels throughout your body and your brain. And they're literally changing the chemistry of every cell in your body". - Candace Pert
If our emotions influence the body this much, we need to learn how to manage situations & release trapped emotions. It is very important for our health.
6 Ways to Clear Trapped Emotions
1. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
EFT involves tapping acupressure points in the upper body while stating affirmations to help clear negative thoughts or emotions. There are programs you can follow or you can create your own affirmations.
2. The Body Code
The body code is a way of assessing the body for ailments using muscle testing. Then treating the body by swiping a governing meridian. This process can help clear emotions as well as other problems you may be experiencing. For more information I suggest reading the book "The Body Code" by Dr. Bradley Nelson.
3. Neuro Emotional Technique (NET)
NET, similar to The Body Code, also uses muscle testing & other forms to test and clear emotions. This uses a combined technique approach to finding what is contributing to your pain or injury.
4. Osteopathic Treatment
Manual Osteopathic Treatment can help to release emotions by freeing up tissues in the body. The ability to treat viscera or organs in our techniques can help remove emotions & free up the tissues surrounding.
5. Somatic Exercises
Somatic exercises are movements performed with a focus on how you're feeling inward. There are many different forms of somatic exercise but the focus is always to bring awareness on what's happening internally.
6. Breath work
Similar to somatic exercise, there are a lot of different breathing techniques you can use to release emotions. Longer guided breath work sessions are usually beneficial when trying to release emotions.
"Getting rid of your old emotional baggage may just bring you a new sense of balance, a new inner calm, and a profound healing where nothing else has before." - Dr. Bradley Nelson
The more specific you can get to what is truly causing a problem, the more you can get rid of it for good.
Clearing trapped emotions can remove blocks physically in our bodies and in our life.
When we can heal our emotions, we heal our mind, body & spirit. This allows for better choices & a better life.
Clearing emotions can be simple & less invasion than our current medical interventions. However, please make sure you're consulting a professional of some sort if your taking any medications.
"Self-regulation depends on having a friendly relationship with your body. Without it you have to rely on external regulation - from medication, drugs like alcohol, constant reassurance, or compulsive compliance with the wished of others." - Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D.
Getting to the root cause of a problem will always give you the best result.
Emotions are often overlooked as the root cause for healing but can have great effects on the body when resolved.
I hope you found this helpful in some way.
Have a wonderful weekend.
All the best on your journey.
- Jo
If you're needing support along your health journey, here's how you can work with me.
1:1 Manual Osteopathic Treatment (in person): We will go through an assessment and treatment based on your needs & goals
