It’s no secret that emotions are tied to health, happiness and even financial success. The emotional state of our body is important to understand, allow and connect with on a deep and meaningful level. A book title really sums up the truth of the matter. The incredibly insightful book “Feelings buried alive never die” sums up the reality of emotions. When they’re buried, they do not die. They fester.
Every human being faces emotionally turbulent times in life. It’s not going to go away either. We’re going to face new emotionally challenging times. Death of a loved one. Divorce. Illness. The list goes on and on. The experiences we have in life move our emotions up, down, around and around. One of the most important things I have learned in my life is not to suppress emotions but instead to allow them.
Whatever they are, allow them. Emotions are meant to be felt and expressed. If they are suppressed (pushed down) or resisted in any way they come back ten times stronger because those emotional seeds are planted in the body, and they grow.
How Would You Define Emotions?
I love this way of looking at emotions myself. Emotions are E-motion. The way to remember them is that they are “Energy in motion” and that E-motion has to be moving. The moment an E-motion becomes an emotion without the motion (movement) of it is the moment that emotion has become lodged. The moment that emotion has become lodged in the body, and it will not die on it’s own as the book feelings buried alive never die details further.
If this energy is in motion, and it’s meant to be in motion – Why do we suppress our emotions?
Why do we interfere with how we feel and the emotions that we experience? There could be many answers to this question. One could be judgement. We don’t want to be judged for feeling angry. Feeling sad. Feeling lonely. Feeling hurt. We don’t want additional negative emotions to pile on us.
We could also not understand where this feeling or emotion is coming from so instead of feeling it, expressing it and letting that energy flow through we have this suppression or resistance reaction. A lot of this can come from expectations. “We’re supposed to be happy” – “We are supposed to feel good” and anything that doesn’t align with “I’m fine” or “I’m alright” doesn’t fit into that narrative. Then there is something wrong with us.
The Purpose Of Emotions in Our Health
Often times we don’t see or forget that emotions are directly connected to our health and wellbeing. It is unfortunate because there is a very real and very strong connection. Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Amazonian medicine and many other forms of medicine from all over the world address this as truth. We cannot expect to express our highest state of health, happiness and wellbeing with unhealthy and dormant emotions stagnant in the body.
Specific emotions benefit the body in specific ways. Other emotions challenge the body in specific ways. It’s important to understand that emotions are a normal part of life and to understand how they work and how they effect us is important. We need emotional intelligence in order to better handle our emotions and to truly benefit from them, both negative and positive.
What’s important to learn is that if you reestablish a positive relationship with your emotions and emotional system so you can build more emotional resilience and flexibility, along with emotional intelligence. Emotions are here to serve and strengthen us! Building compassion and empathy.
All Emotions Move into Love Or Fear (The Two Emotions)
How Emotions Influence Our Health:
Fear:
Fear is one of the two core emotions at the heart of it. Emotions such as anger, pride, shame and more are under the umbrella of fear. Fear and it’s related emotions directly weaken the health and vitality of the body. Fear itself (as a core emotion) influences the kidneys in a negative manner according to TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). Anger is associated with the liver, and think about it. Ever heard the phrase angry drunk? It seems suiting. In TCM sadness and grief are associated with the lungs. Worry is associated with the spleen. It is clear that emotions that are rooted in fear weaken and cause struggle in these parts of the body.
Love:
Love is what we desire to live in more often. Whether we’re in love or not, love feels good. It feels right. It feels like a healthy home for the heart, and it is! I believe that we all desire more love. We all desire more love because love is growth. Love is evolution. Love is progress. Love is associated with peace, happiness, serenity, optimism, acceptance, understanding and allowance. Love lends more joy to the body and joy is associated with the heart. What I find most interesting is that the #1 cause of death in the United States is heart disease. Could a large cause of this simply be lack of? A deficiency of love in the heart? A deficiency of positive emotions that heal the heart. Something to consider.
Emotions Quite Literally Improve Or Decrease Circulation (Chi) in The Body
Gratitude is a Key Emotion To Maintaining Emotional Health
A podcast episode you may enjoy around these topics a bit more is “A life worth breathing” author and Yoga teacher Max Strom. I interviewed him over 7 years ago on the Healthy Wild And Free podcast. You can listen in by clicking here on Itunes. Enjoy the episode! I also highly recommend the book “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” By: Karol Truman is worth a read, click here to pick it up!
