When The Dam Breaks

That feeling we get when something stressful happens. Fists clench. Muscles tighten. Breath quickens. The same thing happens when we experience a traumatic event that affects us deeply, but in a more prolonged way.

If we are managing our stress well, we are usually able to bounce back after events like this fairly smoothly. Our breath returns to normal, our muscles relax, and we get on with our day. However, sometimes, the "threat" is gone physically, but we remain tense and uptight; our body awaiting the next disaster.

Often, our stressful event is not a traumatic in itself, but we can react in a way that makes it so. What happens over time to the body when this is allowed to occur on a regular basis? What happens to our emotional body when this is chronically occurring, day after day, year after year?

I'm seeing more and more that chronic stress is at the root of most of our ills.

Everything starts with a thought. Our body responds as if the event were actually occurring. We can see proof of this when we think of a dire future, and feel our gut tighten up and sweat begin to form on our brow.

What also occurs downstream in the body is quite astounding.

The body in its wisdom, adjusts many functions to help you deal with the stressor. It may increase your heart rate, to get you prepared to run if you need to. It may tense your muscles, to prepare you for the fight to come. It will turn down its thermostat, and downregulate thyroid production, because why would you want to be burning all that fuel when you might need to run for your life?

As a side-note you likely are not running for your life but I use this example to illustrate how the body perceives your reactions to events.

With stress that is allowed to go on for long periods of time, other bodily functions will get more involved. For example, your body may increase its production of a protein that bind to sex hormones. Because why would you want to get pregnant at a time like this? It's not safe! Your digestive secretions, especially stomach acid, will also grind to a halt. Your immune system and all its microbial allies, will take a back seat to cortisol, which really becomes the master hormone in charge.

The body prioritizes survival above all else.

Lets take another scenario, one that has been a huge factor in my own life. An event occurs, that you perceive as traumatic, and in that moment, you cannot respond appropriately, whether its due to the environment you are in, or people you are with. Whatever the reason, the rage, fear, anger, or grief you feel is not fully able to be expressed. So you put a stopper on it. What happens to that emotion? Does it just disappear? Do you just go on with your life, "get over it?".

I often like using the example of young children when I talk about emotions. They seem to get it right in this area without too much forethought. They feel something, they express it right away, sometimes loudly.

While this is not always the most pleasant thing to witness, what we can see if that often, 2 minutes later, they are happily playing with their blocks again. What has happened is that they felt something, expressed it fully, and then let it pass and got on with their day. Pretty healthy if you ask me.

As adults, we don't have the same luxuries. We have learned to "be quiet", to be not "so emotional", or "behave ourselves" , all in the name of societal expectations. What has this done to our emotional bodies?

Many years ago, when I was practicing energy medicine, we would look at the body in layers; emotional, mental, and spiritual layers. The emotional layer is where we hold our memories and all that is connected to them, whether its fear, sadness, anger, or happiness. I never fully comprehended that concept but I did experience it many times.

Recently, I had a chronic nagging physical ache turn very painful and immobilizing in a short span of time. No amount of massaging, resting, stretching, or topical and internal treatments seemed to help.

What did help, took me by surprise and reminded me of what I had forgotten: emotional pain that you do not allow and feel and let go of eventually does not go anywhere; it can just get buried deeper into our bodies until we can experience it safely or it is 'triggered out' by some means. We can find ourselves "over-reacting" to something seemingly mundane, which perhaps served as a trigger for the unacknowledged emotions we may be carrying.

For me, it occurred during a meditative practice, where the tension inside me suddenly finally let go and with that, the emotion trapped inside me, and by the following morning, the pain as well. Ultimately, I had to make the decision to let it go.

As I mentioned, there is a cascading series of physical events that occurs when we experience chronic stress, which can over time, if not addressed, begin to manifest in more obvious ways that can interfere with our day to day functioning.

I have learned that there can be much more to this story then what we think, in terms of our chronic health issues.

I view the body in a holistic way. We are not just our physical selves, just as we are not just our minds, or our intellect. Our body itself is more complicated then we think! Its not just a matter of putting in good food, good water and taking a walk everyday.

We have to attend to all our needs, and that means honoring and respecting our emotions.

It doesn't mean we need to become fixated on our sadness, anger, grief , or even our happiness. It just means we acknowledge all that shows up , and listen, make time for emotions that may have been bottled up for a while , and then let them have expression, in a safe space.

Sometimes we may need the help and support of a therapist to do this, especially if we are experiencing more severe conditions such as PTSD.

For myself, I had bottled up my emotions too long and they began to manifest in a physical way. I had done enough self inquiry and emotional "work" to be able to manage this on my own safely.

Of course, all physical pain is not just stuck emotions. But they can be a missing piece of the puzzle of why your healing is not progressing as quickly as you would like. .

Maybe time to start a meditation practice?

Be well,

Silvia

If you are ready to address your chronic conditions holistically and understand the underlying emotional contributors to your symptoms, I would be honored to assist you.

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