Negative Emotions and your Physical Wellbeing

Whatever you resist will persist, this is an important lesson to learn when it comes to holding on to negative emotions. Most people believe that they can be free of negative emotions by finding ways to suppress them, or resist them, in some way. The reality is that emotions are rooted in the body, not the mind and no matter how much medication or counselling you undergo, it will not be possible to suppress the emotions or easy to get rid of them through talking therapies.

Just because we cannot see the mind-body connection does not mean it doesn’t exist.

To put it simply, you cannot divorce your health from your emotions. Every feeling you have, whether positive or negative affects some part of your body. Negative emotions and stress can cause the deterioration of your physical health and this can be worsened by poor lifestyle choices such as not exercising or eating right.

Eating healthy foods and taking healthy lifestyle options can help to control stress levels and help with overall mind and body well-being. Although, even if you are following a super healthy diet and fitness plan, negative emotions can take their toll on your body.

Stress and negative emotions held within the body trigger your body’s natural response to a perceived threat, which in turn can have a significant impact on your immune function, brain chemistry, blood sugar levels, hormonal balance and other aspects of your health.

Many in the primarily left-brained field of science are still reluctant to embrace the mind-body paradigm however, and one of the factors holding them back is the fact that you cannot see or measure emotions inside your body.  Dr. Candace Pert was a leading proponent of the unity of mind and body, and the ability of emotions to affect health.  During an interview in 1993 when Bill Moyers, asked her, “Are you saying that the mind talks to the body, so to speak, through these neuropeptides?” she answered, “Why are you making the mind outside of the body?” Her pioneering research into how emotions are stored within the cellular memory of the body paved the way for a better understanding and continued research and recognition of the mind-body connection.

Suppressing Emotions is Harmful to your Physical Body

Suppressing emotions is very harmful to your body as it tampers with the harmonious flow of energy and creates blocks of resistance within you. The human mind is intuitively wired to evade anything that feels bad in the body, this is the concept of fight or flight and our flight instinct is often very strong when it comes to toxic or negative emotions.

In order to release negative emotions from your body you need to firstly be open to letting go. Releasing negative emotions is a life changing experience and you need to be willing to go through the purging process even though the emotional and physical side effects may be uncomfortable while the emotional detox is taking place.

There are four key ways to release negative emotions from the body:

1. Deep Bodywork to evoke emotions and to relax the body:
   Bodywork relaxes the muscles by loosening the muscles to release physical toxins stored in the layer of muscles and tissues. Blocked lymph fluid and other toxins are loosened to be flushed out of the body.
   Also bodywork creates the physical platform of free flowing energy channels for the body’s energetic systems allowing the release of negative emotions and removing energetic blockages.
   Bodywork opens up the body’s cells to release negative energy and allow positive energy to take residence.
2. Deep breathing to release evoked emotions:
   Breathing circulates air and heat energy which also removes the released negative energy through bodywork and therefore during exhalation releases negative energy and during inhalation brings in positive energy.
3. Sounds to disperse emotions through expressions :
   The negative energy is released in the form of sound through expression of emotions that arise during the bodywork. These emotions are mental triggers that could evoke memories that have been stacked away a very long time ago.
4. Body movements to disperse stagnant negative emotions and to make way for the positive emotions to flow freely:
   Subtle body movements are encouraged during the bodywork to release trapped negative emotions.
   The release of negative emotions on a constant basis makes you resilient to stress, physically healthy and gives you a balanced mind-body connection. A body free of negative emotions is connected to the inner self constantly navigating the individual towards a positive life.

If you would like to contact Mal Weeraratne, the author of ‘Emotional Detox through Bodywork‘  personally, then click here.