THE CHEMISTRY OF FEELINGS & WHY EMOTIONAL BLOCKAGES HAPPEN IN OUR BODIES?

          As discussed in my earlier blog post "Feelings ... to Express or to Suppress?",  feelings are healthy if they are expressed, be it feeling of anger, fear, confusion, boredom, loneliness or sadness etc. But feelings  become negative and result in emotional blockages if they are not expressed and lived.

      If a person has a trait, a tendency, a habit of controlling and suppressing the feelings, then feelings become negative AND they are stored in the body tissues and such negative emotions cause many diseases such as depression, acidity, anxiety and so on. Also such emotional tendencies manifest as unexpected, forceful events like accidents, traumas etc. As per the famous book by Rhonda Byrnes - the secret - it is our energy field that attracts outer situations in our life. In other words, whatever energies We hold in our energy bodies, similar situations will be attracted in our lives.

       If We hold negative energies ( I AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH, THIS IS A CRUEL WORLD, IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE MONEY HERE), such emotions and deep held thoughts will become self fulfilling prophecies. EXPRESSING the feelings, emotions or one’s deep thoughts will lead us to health and healing and therefore it is important to release and clear such emotional blockages.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN NEGATIVE FEELINGS ARE STORED IN OUR BODIES

      We attract similar energies, we are magnets and we keep on attracting whatever energies we carry in our bodies. Therefore, if there are energies of pain, suffering, rage, hatred etc in our bodies, we will ATTRACT situations in our life of similar quality.

       I have wondered over a long period of time, as to whether we allow different feelings to flow, i.e. whether we experience positive as well as negative feelings, with equal ease. And the result of my long observation and questioning more than 100 people over a period of several years has led me to believe that people often block some feelings, specially  feelings associated with pain, suffering, sadness, loss, heaviness, depression, anger etc. My observation tells me that some people go on suppressing such feelings. And as a result such feelings are stored in our bodies and we keep carrying  on such negative emotions  throughout Our lifetimes.

       When feelings are not allowed to flow, they become stored in our bodies and they become stagnant and they decay. Feelings when stored become negative and destructive and many a war have been fought on our planet and millions been killed. For example, anger, if not expressed, becomes rage. I believe all mental diseases, to some degree, originate due to the fact we cannot handle the emotions of pain, sadness, loneliness etc and try to suppress them instead of living them.
         Emotions, whether  painful or joyful, both  need to be expressed and lived for one to be perfectly healthy. 

PIONEERING RESEARCH BY Prof JAMES W.PENNEBAKER

      The above paragraphs clearly demonstrate the importance of flow in the feelings. And Prof James W Pennebaker, University of Texas at Austin, has done pioneering research in this field. In fact, since 1977, He has been undertaking research work in this field and his research clearly points out to above fact that feelings should be expressed for us to be healthy. In his now famous book titled “Opening Up – the healing power of expressing emotions “- he states:
"The main discoveries of this project indicate that actively holding back or inhibiting our thoughts and feelings can be hard work. Over time, the work of inhibition gradually undermines bodies defenses. Like other stressors, inhibition can affect immune function, the action of the heart and vascular systems, and even the biochemical workings of the brain and nervous systems. In short, excessive holding back of thoughts, feelings and behaviors can place people at risk for both major and minor diseases.

    While inhibition is potentiallyharmful,confronting our deepest thoughts and feelings can have remarkable short and long term health benefits. Confession, whether by writing or talking, can neutralize many of the problems of inhibition. Furthermore, writing or talking about upsetting things can influence our basic values, our daily thinking patterns, and our feelings about ourselves. In short, there appears to be something akin to an urge to confess.

     Not disclosing our thoughts and feelings can be unhealthy. Divulging them can be healthy."

          I will be discussing more about effects of emotions held, stored in our body tissues in next post.