As humans, we experience a constant flow of emotions—sometimes shifting from joy to frustration or calm to anger within minutes. But why does this happen?
Biologically, these emotional shifts are our body’s natural responses to stimuli. Energetically, they’re our body’s way of trying to communicate something to us. When you feel a sudden rush of anxiety or a burst of happiness, it’s not just a mental event—it’s a physical one. Our body reacts to the world around us in ways we often don’t recognize, and our minds, in turn, start making assumptions or judgments based on the sensations we feel.
For example, think about a time when you felt an intense emotion—maybe it was frustration while stuck in traffic, or sadness after a difficult conversation. Mentally, you might have thought, “This situation is unfair,” or “I can’t handle this.” But physically, you probably felt something too—a tightness in your chest, a knot in your stomach, or a weight on your shoulders.
The mistake we often make is trapping the emotion in the mind. Instead of letting it exist and move through our bodies, we mentally analyze it, judge it, or distract ourselves from it. But here’s the truth: emotions are meant to be felt in the body, not solved in the mind.
If we learn to listen, we can begin to understand that these emotional shifts are more than fleeting reactions—they’re deeply insightful messages from our bodies. When we allow them to exist fully in the body, they can flow through us and pass. But when we suppress or avoid them, they linger and manifest in uncomfortable or destructive ways.
By learning this language, we can begin to find balance and harmony within ourselves.
The Rise of Emotional Awareness
In recent years, there’s been a growing focus on mental health, which has brought us closer to understanding how mental patterns influence our thoughts and behaviors. This journey toward mental serenity is important, but it’s incomplete without acknowledging the role of our emotions beyond the mental sphere.
We’ve learned to talk about our feelings, express them verbally, and even label them as “sad,” “angry,” or “anxious.” However, we still struggle to articulate the complexity of what we’re experiencing. When we can’t find the words to explain our emotions, we tend to suppress them—it’s easier to ignore what we don’t fully understand.
We often think of emotions as “mental” experiences, but the truth is, emotions are physical. They don’t just live in the mind—they live in our bodies, in the tension we carry in our muscles, the tightness in our jaws, the flutter in our stomachs. And when we ignore them, we end up stuck in emotional patterns that can hinder our growth, damage our relationships, and disconnect us from our true selves.
When we trap our emotions in the mind, we create mental loops of fear, shame, and resistance. This is often where we feel overwhelmed, stuck, or even lost. To break free from this cycle, we must start paying attention to the body’s signals. Learning to connect with our emotions through the physical body isn’t just about feeling them—it’s about using our body as a tool for liberation.
The Role of the Body in Emotional Expression
Our bodies are instinctual and intuitive. They have an innate ability to sense truths that our minds may not fully understand. When we get a gut feeling or a sudden surge of emotion, it’s the body’s way of communicating something deeper.
Many of our emotional responses are rooted in past experiences. Our habitual emotional patterns are often programmed over years, as our bodies learn to react to certain stimuli for our safety or well-being.
For example, growing up with severe social anxiety, my body would react with physical symptoms—sweaty hands, heat rising in my neck and face, a racing heart—whenever I felt unsafe in social situations. My body was trying to protect me, telling me to get away. These responses were learned from past experiences where I felt outcast or embarrassed. Over time, my body’s fear-based response became ingrained.
Similarly, when we feel sadness, fear, or anger, our immediate reaction is often to suppress or avoid them, hoping to return to a “better” emotional state. But in doing so, we overlook the important messages our bodies are trying to communicate. Instead of listening and learning, we reject these emotions, believing they are harmful or undesirable.
Understanding Our Emotions
To break the cycle of suppressing emotions, we must first learn to recognize them. Just as we can feel the pain of a scraped knee and label it “hurt,” we can learn to identify emotions as they arise. The key is recognizing the bodily sensations associated with emotions.
For example, sadness might feel like a weight in your chest or a dull ache in your stomach. Anger might feel like tightness in your jaw or heat rising to your face. Once you recognize these physical sensations, you can begin to understand what your body is trying to communicate.
Ask yourself:
- What am I experiencing right now?
- What does this emotion feel like in my body?
- Do I know what triggered this emotion?
- What underlying need is this emotion pointing me toward?
Once we start to identify emotions earlier, we can begin to respond to them in healthier ways.
Often, the answer is not a specific object or distraction, but something deeper—safety, peace, love, or comfort.
How to Honor and Release Your Emotions
Honoring your emotions is essential for emotional well-being. In our society, emotions are often perceived as weakness or vulnerability—something that exposes us as “soft.” But emotions are not weaknesses; they are signals. They offer insights into what’s happening within us and are an expression of emotional intelligence, showing that we are in touch with our truth.
Connecting with our emotions can be challenging at times. But when you experience intense feelings, it’s important to resist the urge to distract yourself or avoid them. Instead, take a deep breath and check in with your body. Ask yourself: Where do I feel this emotion? What does it feel like physically? By tuning into your body, you allow yourself to fully experience the emotion. This awareness helps release its grip on you.
For example, if you feel sadness, your body can transmute that energy into tears. Crying helps to move the emotion through and out of your system. Similarly, other forms of emotional expression—whether through movement, talking, or simply sitting with the feeling—help to release the emotional energy from the body.
Even on days when you feel an emotion without an obvious reason, honor it. Instead of pushing it away or forcing yourself to act as if nothing is wrong, ask: What do I need right now to move through this? Offering yourself kindness and compassion in these moments is an act of self-acceptance.
Understanding how emotions are felt, processed, and expressed in the body can transform how we experience the world. By learning to listen to the wisdom of your body, you can break free from patterns of mental distraction, emotional suppression, and numbness. This process isn’t just about managing emotions; it’s about honoring them as powerful teachers that guide us back to our true selves.
Emotions are Temporary
There is a societal tendency to seek constant happiness and avoid “negative” emotions. We celebrate joy because it’s easily understood—when we’re happy, it means all is well.
But when emotions like sadness, anger, or frustration arise, they can feel uncomfortable, and our minds race to escape them. In this rush to feel “better,” we might resort to avoidance, suppression, or distraction. We do whatever we can to avoid feeling bad—whether that’s distracting ourselves with work, social media, or numbing out with food or alcohol.
This avoidance only leads to a greater disconnection from our bodies and emotions.
Unprocessed emotions can have a significant impact on your physical health. Science has shown that emotional suppression or unresolved emotional stress can contribute to a variety of physical ailments such as tension and pain, and can potentially contribute to illness. For example, unresolved anger can manifest as tightness in the chest or even chronic back pain. Anxiety can lead to digestive problems or tightness in the stomach.
The key is to understand that you are not your emotions. Emotions are temporary—like waves in the ocean—they come, crest, and then recede. The key to navigating these emotions is not to repress or hold onto them but to let them move through you.
A transformative realization for me was understanding that emotions are fleeting. With my zodiac sign being Cancer, I feel deeply—sometimes intensely. When I feel sadness, there’s a physical heaviness in my chest. When I’m angry, my body heats up like it’s on fire. When I’m happy, I feel light as a feather.
At times when it feels like I’m trapped in an overwhelming emotion—whether sadness, anger, or anxiety—I remember: this too shall pass.
The moment you stop avoiding, numbing, or distracting yourself from that feeling, you’ll start to notice something powerful: the emotion begins to dissipate. It moves through you, leaving you with a sense of release and clarity. You realize that emotions are not permanent states—they are temporary experiences that don’t define you. You are not your sadness, your anger, or your fear. You are the space in which these emotions arise.
The Power of Shifting Perspective
Honestly, the lowest points in my life have been the most impactful and pivotal in my self-growth. By honoring and releasing those lows, I was able to identify what wasn’t working for me anymore—behaviors, environment, mindset—and began to shift them
Through shifting my perspective on “negative” emotions, in moments of deep feeling, I often have the thought, “This is part of the human experience. This is beautiful.” It’s a reminder that our emotions, though complex, are integral to our life’s journey. The beauty of emotions lies in their impermanence and our ability to feel in the first place.
Now, I welcome “negative” emotions knowing something beautiful lies on the other side. I choose to use my emotional experiences as an opportunity to learn more about myself and take action to live my dream life.
The true purpose of emotions is to bring us closer to our truth—to align us with what feels right and guide us away from what doesn’t. Each emotion, whether joyful or painful, carries valuable information. By embracing our emotions—every single one—we connect more deeply to our true selves.
Through sadness, we learn what it means to be human. Through anger, we learn what to protect. Through happiness, we learn what brings us peace. Through love, we connect with what truly matters.
As human beings, it’s a gift to experience the world through our senses—to see, touch, hear, and taste—but most of all, to feel.
