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Emotions and Our Bodies

2/15/2016

 
Emotions Impact Our Health

Our emotions play a major role in our health. Emotions don’t just happen in our head. They impact our whole body. Even our everyday language echoes this fact. How often do you hear someone say something like “I have a strong gut feeling,” or “That took my breath away,” or “It felt like my heart stopped,” or “He is always bellyaching about something.” Our language is full of examples of how we associate emotional stress with certain parts of our body.

Often when we experience strong emotions, we also experience pain or discomfort in other parts of the body – usually in an organ or body system that has a predisposed weakness. According to Dr. Jean-Pierre Barral, “Not only do organs react to emotions, but an organ’s reaction can determine a behavioral pattern.” Everyone has an area where their emotional stress manifests itself. For some, strong emotional stress might affect the stomach or the breathing. For another it might be in the heart or even on the skin. Emotion always expresses itself somewhere in the body.

One medical dictionary defines emotion as: “intense or painful psychological reaction that powerfully affects other organs.” Knowing this relationship between emotions and physical health helps us to understand that pain, weakness or even illnesses may be a direct product of our emotions. The brain records bodily pain and the emotions experienced with it at the same time. The two are permanently stored deep in our unconscious mind.

Emotional “Discharge”

The brain will often deal with a negative emotional message by “discharging” it to one or more areas of the body. For example, a person who has just experienced a romantic break up might also experience stomach pain. The emotional pain of the break up and the physical pain of the stomach become linked and stored in the unconscious part of the brain. Then as the person thinks about the break up, the stomach pain flairs. As time moves on, new experiences of stomach pain can trigger psychological discomfort – which may not even be consciously associated with the breakup. By treating and removing the stomach pain, and hopefully keeping it from returning, the link between the stomach pain and the break up is weakened or broken. This allows the person to focus on any necessary emotional healing without the distraction of the stomach discomfort.

An Example

This series of blog posts is intended to help you better understand what happens in each major body organ/system when emotional stress is directed there. For example, when emotional stress is directed to a person’s lungs and breathing, certain psychological behaviors are often evident. “Lung” people more often lack self-confidence, are fearful of confrontation, and may have a higher need for affection or reassurance. Sometimes physical pain and illness can be resolved when the emotional drivers behind it are identified and addressed. Interestingly, it is also sometimes possible to heal the emotional problem by treating the physical symptoms through visceral manipulation – that is through focused, healing touch!
The bottom line is that emotions and the systems that make up the physical body are linked and always impact each other. Understanding how emotions are linked to and impact specific organs will be the focus of the next several posts. 
​
To your health!
Gail Grieger

Your Brain!

2/5/2016

 
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This is the first in my series of how emotions can impact our bodies – especially our vital organs. Keeping the body healthy requires a holistic approach. We need to pay close attention to the physical, nutritional and psychological impacts our health.
 
Today I will focus on the brain – our central control system for the entire body. Some of the jobs of the brain: It rules our emotions, relationships, metabolism, hormones, and nerves and every other thing that happens in the boy. The brain orchestrates our bodily functions, such as digestion, and movement coordination. It sorts and stores information, processes our emotions and is always operating in the background whether we are aware of it or not. All of that and it weighs only about 2.8 pounds!
 
To keep your brain healthy, consider:
 
Physical: First, breathe deeply! Oxygen is important to brain health and a good deep breath can also help reduce stress and restore balance and calm. Do physical and mental exercise like reading, memorizing, puzzles and brain teasers. Challenge your brain by doing something new like learning to play an instrument or learning a new language. Most importantly, keep active! Regular exercise is important. So is getting out often and interacting with other people. Exercise increases oxygen levels and blood flow to the brain. Interacting with other people and getting some physical activity will both stimulate your brain in a variety of positive ways, often releasing chemicals and hormones that have a positive impact on brain health. Recent studies have shown that physically and mentally active people have a reduced risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
 
Nutrition/Diet: Your brain is a glucose hog! It uses more glucose than any other organ in your body – about 60% of all the carbohydrates taken in. To make sure that your brain gets the fuel that it needs, make sure you are getting a big dose of complex carbohydrates in your daily diet. All carbohydrates are broken down into glucose to produce the energy molecule known as ATP. The key is to eat the right kinds of carbs like those found in wholegrains like oat, muesli, brown rice and whole grain bread. BUT it is always best to eat natural foods (like black beans, carrots, berries, and pears – to name just a few!) rather than processed foods. Follow this link to see a list of healthy sources of carbohydrates at Common Sense Health. For more information on complex carbs, check out this page on Livestrong, too. 

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Psychological: There is no such thing as a sane mind without a healthy body! Taking care of your mental health also helps your brain health. Unchecked negative emotions can reek havoc on your brain and every other organ in your body! Recognizing and responding to unhealthy stressors will help keep them from causing psychological discomfort or illness. Some things you can do: Practice doing positive mental exercises like yoga and positive thinking. You can also learn relaxation techniques to maintain balance and calm or to actively respond and control stress help both the brain and the body. You can also seek help from a qualified massage therapist or acupuncturist who are trained in treating the stress points in the body. If the stress is uncontrollable or life altering, seeking the help of a psychologist or psychotherapist can often have a positive impact.

The key is to make sure that you are taking care of yourself, and your brain in all three of these critical areas. 
 
To your health!
Gail Grieger 

    Welcome to my Blog!

    Thanks for checking out my blog. I have had a life-long interest in all things related to health and wellness, which is part of the reason I became a massage therapist. I am constantly on a mission to increase my knowledge and I like to share what I learn with others. My hope is that these posts will be interesting and provide you with information and tips that can improve your health. If I can ever answer a question or if you think you might benefit from therapeutic massage, please give me a call or send me a note.

    Gail Grieger, CMT, CFH

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