The conventional theory of medicine is that your health is a very straightforward of genetic traits, exposure to infection, gender and lifestyle. However, in most cases your emotional experience is a greater factor in your health and wellbeing than any of those. This statement is not simply some unfounded mumbo jumbo but a statement that has scientific backing. There is now growing support from the scientific and medical community to support the theory that there is a strong correlation between emotional experiences and a host of diseases and health conditions, ranging from sexual disfunction, depression to heart disease.
To say that no one can truly enjoy good physical health without addressing their emotional health may seem a rather far fetched idea to some readers, but as Alice Miller expressed in the title of her book, ‘The Body Never Lies’ – and it must be said that there is the theory that the body can hold on to negative emotions and store them in the cellular level, thus experiencing emotional past negative events as physical pain. Dr Candace Pert, in her groundbreaking book, ‘Molecules of Emotion‘ explains the unity of mind and body and the ability of emotions to affect health.
Our language is littered with expressions that point to emotions affecting the body; for example – have you ever heard someone say that tension and stress gives me a knot in my stomach? Or that in response to sadness, someone feels all choked up? And of course – a difficult person is a pain in the neck!
More seriously, a recent study showed that sudden emotional shock can cause heart attacks even in healthy people. Now, we’ve all heard the phrase “dying of a broken heart”, but the phrase is more than just words for Broken Heart Syndrome, also called stress induced cardiomyopathy or takotsubo cardiomyopathy, and can strike even if you’re healthy. Women are more susceptible than men to experiencing the sudden, intense chest pain – the reaction to a surge of stress hormones – caused by an emotional past negative events such as death, rejection, unfortunate events or something similar, divorce or separation anxiety. As the medical and scientific researchers look more into the affects of the emotions on the physical body, it seems they are confirming what the ancient holistic therapies have known for centuries.
In his book ‘Emotional Detox through Bodywork’, Mal Weeraratne explains that ’emotions may feel like they’re governed by the heart or head, but there’s a great deal of research that suggests emotions are rooted with our physical selves; that is, emotions are stored in every cell in our body’s cellular memory.’ Mal Weeraratne is an experienced Tantric Body worker who has treated over 3,000 women from around the world with his deep bodywork, advocates that, ‘deeply disturbing or distressing experiences are embedded deep within our bodies, which can only be released by undertaking deep healing bodywork such as Tantric Journey.’
It seems that science is just catching up with ancient wisdom, but it is certain that it is important to pay attention to our emotional wellbeing in order to maintain our physical health.
