How Emotions Effect Our Body
- CFAA
- Mar 12
- 3 min read
Emotions create psychological response in our body, while you can try and hide your feelings or emotions; your body doesn't lie. It will communicate what it’s feeling inside through postures, the tightening or relaxing of muscles, facial expressions, nervous system arousal, heart beats, and breathing patterns. This is a perfectly normal part of being human. However, over time negative emotions can manifest in physical pain or ailments and even contribute to injury. When pain or uncomfortable symptoms from emotions, like anxiety or depression, become chronic, it creates a learned physiological response. More and more research is highlighting the link between mental health struggles and physical ailments. The vagus nerve is a two-way communicator between the brain and body (the mind-body connection). I recommend looking this up to find out just how important nervous system health is.
Here are some key emotions and their effects on the body:
1. Stress
Stress can trigger the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, leading to:
Increased heart rate
Elevated blood pressure
Weakened immune response
Muscle tension
2. Anxiety
Anxiety often results in physical symptoms including:
Shortness of breath
Digestive issues
Headaches
Fatigue
3. Depression
Depression can have various physical manifestations, such as:
Changes in appetite and weight
Chronic pain
Sleep disturbances
Fatigue
4. Happiness
Positive emotions like happiness can lead to beneficial effects, including:
Lower blood pressure
Improved immune function
Increased energy levels
Enhanced pain tolerance
5. Anger
Anger can have immediate physical effects, such as:
Increased heart rate
Elevated blood pressure
Muscle tension
Headaches
6. Fear
Fear activates the body's fight-or-flight response, which can result in:
Rapid heartbeat
Increased respiration
Heightened senses
Release of adrenaline
7. Love and Affection
Experiencing love can lead to positive physical outcomes, such as:
Lower stress levels
Improved heart health
Enhanced emotional resilience
Better overall well-being
Understanding the connection between emotions and physical health can help individuals manage their well-being more effectively.
Simple ways to strengthen your Nervous System
The most powerful tools to regulate your Nervous System (and relieve pain and stress) include:
EXERCISE: Your strength and capacity to withhold load may have significantly reduced over the last couple years so the emphasis is on GRADED exercise. If you find your body is more reactive, you may want to start with lower-grade exercise like walking, cycling, clinical pilates, yoga or hydrotherapy. From here, a progressive exercise program can be developed.
MASSAGE/MOBILISATION: Releasing tension in the body will directly release tension in the mind through the vagus nerve connection. As well as this, eliminating pain and stiffness will allow you to move freely, breathe freely and stop pain from using up your energy reserves.
BREATHWORK: We can hack our parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) through our breath.”1:2 breathing”, where you breathe out for twice as long as you breathe in, can facilitate the relaxation of your aroused Nervous System. It is also good to identify your pattern of breathing as this will determine which muscles have become more rigid and we can teach you how to make this more efficient.
MEDITATION: Whether you love it or hate it, meditation is the most effective way of taking control of our brains and thoughts—where both pain and emotion originate. Just like a massage can relax mental stress, learning to relax the thoughts in your mind will help you relax the autonomic bracing and tension in your body, again through the vagus nerve.
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