Emotions causing you physical pain? They were for me. It all began about five or so weeks ago when I started getting pain in my left psoas . At first it was just a twinge, then a deep ache, then a twisting pain that had my leg being pulled up into my hip. It was excruciating and kept getting worse and worse. Then my whole left side, up my shoulder blade, neck, head started joining in and my whole left side felt like it was being pulled into my torso. I swear I was at least two inches shorter on that side. By this time almost four weeks has gone by and I can hardly walk or function. In all honesty I was trying to ignore it and of course the more I did that the more pain I was in. It took until I went to get out of bed one morning last week and pretty much fell to the floor and couldn’t use my leg before I resigned myself to the fact I had to listen to what my pain needed me to tell me. Deep down I knew what it was.
From past experience I knew very well that it was grief that sits in the psoas. My body had decided I was going to have to face it and so in that moment I let go and kind of dragged, limped my way over to my yoga mat and my “massager” (a tennis ball in a sock). I laid quietly on my back for a while just checking in; feeling and listening to my body and the pain; both emotional and physical. After some deep breathing and meditation I rolled over onto my stomach and started rolling my psoas gently over the massager. I worked my way slowly towards the exact spot that felt like the muscle was wound up like a fist. Literally the second I hit that muscle I started sobbing uncontrollably and it went on and on. As I lay there just sobbing an image of my dear furball Tobias came to mind.
Fifteen years ago I had scooped him into my arms from a friend’s front lawn minutes before he was about to be rounded up with rest of the feral kittens and put down. He was six weeks old and fit into the palm of my hand. He literally curled up on my chest on my heart and from that day forward he claimed me as his. On February 21, 2015 he passed over the rainbow bridge. Two days before our big move to the Pacific Northwest to be closer to my family. I was in shock, devastated, said a quick goodbye, had a quick cry and kept on packing and getting ready to leave. I didn’t give myself time or space to celebrate his life and grieve his loss. I kept telling myself all these months that tomorrow I would take the time I needed to move through that pain. And every time since when it started to bubble up I pushed it down again and again.
And so it finally decided it wasn’t going to be pushed down any further. Which left me sobbing on my yoga mat that morning for several hours and on and off for the rest of that day and the next. During this time I also used my own version of EFT to help release the grief energy. And at the end of those two days, the pain was gone, the knot was gone and I felt lighter than I had in a very long time and at peace.
You might be wondering why I am sharing this story with you. Because it’s a great example of what happens when we don’t feel our emotions and allow them to move through us and keep pushing them down further and further. And because I don’t wish for anyone to get to that point of pain on any level or develop an illness, before releasing it. When we can stay present with ourselves, give expression to our feelings, feel them at our core we give them room to keep going and not get stuck. When they get stuck is when they can cause serious pain in our physical body. Every emotion we have affects some part of our body. Even if you are eating well, exercising and “doing everything right” if you are detached from your emotional self or keep stuffing down your emotions, it can manifest as physical pain and illness.
Mind Body Connection
Have you ever noticed certain emotions are associated with pain in specific parts of your body. For example the expression “died of a broken heart” didn’t just come out of thin air. Did you know that when you experience extreme grief your chance of experiencing a heart attack increases 21 times. The chart below from Centripedal Force Studio highlights some of the body areas and what emotions are connected to them. Take a moment to look it over; do you see yourself anywhere in this chart? If so then you’ll want to keep reading to discover a valuable tool to help you move through your stored emotions and onto freedom from pain.
(The information for this chart was gathered from Louise Hay’s “Heal Your Body A-Z” which is wonderful little book and I highly recommend it.)
The way our body moves is a reflection of one’s inner world. Do you experience pain, inflammation? What is your body trying to tell you? Have you listened lately? You can observe the effects of your emotions and “see” how they affect your health. For example, if you are worried about a particular thing and keep dwelling on it, after awhile do you get a headache? Does your stomach feel in knots or do you experience nausea? heart palpitations? difficulty breathing? These are just some of things you could notice when feeling very stressed. Have you tried using breath work and breathing techniques while experiencing stress and noticed a relaxation and calmness coming over you as you do so? One of the most popular ways to clear harmful emotions from the body is EFT or Tapping as many know it by, which I mentioned using above. It is especially helpful when you have been storing emotions, they need a way out and you wish to free your body before you end up in debilitating pain in a puddle on the floor.
What Is EFT?
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. It uses the same meridians as Chinese acupuncture and can be likened to physiological acupressure. It encompasses tapping the energy meridians to release stored energy and using positive affirmations to clear the emotional block. EFT can help:
- Remove Negative Emotions
- Reduce Food Cravings
- Reduce or Eliminate Pain
- Implement Positive Goals
If you are interested in learning more about how to do EFT for yourself I recommend readingthis article by Dr. Mercola.
In my one:one coaching together we look for the obvious and not so obvious contributors to body pain, stiffness, inflammation and other health issues. I could have really used a coach or guide to support me and walk me through the choices and tools that were available to help me release my pain before it took me down and had such a stressful impact on my body. Sometimes when we are in the thick of things even if we know how to support ourselves we don’t always remember that in the moment. I would love to be your coach and support you to move past your roadblocks standing in the way of you being pain free, strong and balanced in your body. I know what it feels like to be in that kind of debilitating pain and I don’t wish for anyone to experience that. Together let’s work to ensure you have a blueprint for staying healthy in your whole body so you can Live Vibrantly!; life beyond the ordinary.
Live Vibrantly!
If you are curious to know more about how what we think and feel affects our bodies on physical level then I invite you to check out my book “Live Vibrantly! 10 Steps to Maintain Youthfulness, Increase Energy and Restore Your Health” where I go deeper and into more detail. Get your copy and your bonuses here!
