When Emotions Get Stuck: Untangling the Mind-Body Knot

Ever wondered why you get those fluttery feelings in your stomach before a first date? Or why your heart feels like it’s about to leap out of your chest when you’re about to speak up in a meeting? 

These sensations are the result of the limbic system — or the brain’s emotional control center — triggering a series of physiological responses. When we're faced with intense emotions, the body reacts in a state of high stress, flooding us with cortisol and adrenaline.

Now, what do you think happens when we avoid or suppress our emotions? 

Well, they don’t just disappear. Instead, they go inward — into our bodies. 

It's a curious phenomenon, but one that makes perfect sense when you understand the mind-body connection. Our emotions are not just mental experiences, but physical ones as well. That's why conditions like chronic pain, digestive issues, and unexplained fatigue are so often linked to unresolved emotions. 

Research has found a strong link between anxiety and depression and conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, and even heart disease. Trauma, in particular, can be "trapped" in the body, manifesting as muscle tension, immune system dysfunction, and chronic fatigue.

Left unaddressed, our bottled-up emotions can continue to wreak havoc on our physical health. This creates a vicious cycle, as the pain in our body then feeds back into our emotional state, causing further distress.

The good news is that by developing the ability to recognize, understand, and productively manage our emotions, we can address these physical symptoms at their root cause. Practices like naming our emotions as we feel them can help us identify and process intense feelings, rather than allowing them to fester and express themselves as pain or discomfort in the body.

Our emotions, thoughts, and physical experiences are intricately linked. By honoring that connection, we unlock the door to better overall health. When we make space to feel and work through our "big feelings", we can find relief not just in our minds but in our bodies, too.