How Feelings Shape Physical Health

We recently explored the language of symptoms - how the body speaks to us when balance is lost. This week, we turn to another layer of that conversation: the way our emotions echo through the body and shape our health.

Emotions are not abstract or fleeting. They carry energy, vibration, and weight. When acknowledged and expressed, they can flow through us like waves, leaving clarity in their wake. But when pushed aside, buried, or denied, they don’t vanish. Instead, they imprint themselves into our physical being, often showing up as tension, discomfort, or dis-ease.

The Body Keeps the Echo

Think about the last time you felt anxious - perhaps your stomach tightened, your breath quickened, or your chest felt heavy. Or recall anger: did it sit like fire in your belly, or throb in your temples? These are not coincidences. The body becomes the canvas on which emotions paint their story.

Unresolved grief might linger in the lungs, unspoken words can knot in the throat, and chronic stress may live in the muscles of the shoulders and back. These emotional echoes are the body’s way of saying: “There’s something here that needs your attention.”

No Emotion is “Good” or “Bad”

We are often taught to suppress certain feelings - to “be strong,” to “stop crying,” to “calm down.” Yet emotions are not enemies; they are messengers.

• Anger can signal when our boundaries are crossed.

• Sadness invites us to release and let go.

• Fear encourages us to seek safety and grounding.

• Joy reminds us of what nourishes and uplifts us.

When we label emotions as negative, we cut ourselves off from their wisdom. By meeting them with presence and curiosity, we allow the energy to move, rather than stagnate.

Healing Through Acknowledgment

Acknowledging emotions doesn’t mean drowning in them. It means pausing long enough to listen. Journaling, breathwork, mindful movement, talking with a trusted friend, or simply sitting quietly with what you feel can create space for release.

When emotions are expressed, the body no longer needs to hold them so tightly. Shoulders soften, the breath deepens, digestion settles. In this way, emotional awareness becomes a profound act of self-healing.

The Dance of Body and Heart

Health is not only physical; it is also emotional and soulful. Just as food nourishes the body, emotional expression nourishes the heart. When body and heart work in harmony, the whole being thrives.

So now, I invite you to listen for your own emotional echoes. Notice where feelings arise in your body, and ask gently: What are you trying to tell me? In the listening, you may find that both body and spirit move closer to balance, ease, and vitality.

✨ Remember: every feeling has a purpose. By honouring the whispers of the heart as much as the signals of the body, we return to a more complete, compassionate form of healing.

 Yours in health and happiness

📚 Further Reading & Resources

If you’d like to dive deeper into understanding the body’s messages and the language of symptoms, these books and papers may guide your journey:

Books

The Body Keeps the Score:  Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma; Bessel van der Kolk, MD; 2014 - Classic, widely read, still very current

Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness is a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn, first published in 1990, revised in 2013 - which describes the mindfulness-based stress reduction program developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center's Stress Reduction Clinic

Papers

Mapping Emotional Feeling in the Body: A tripartite Framework for Understanding the Embodied Mind; Tatsuya Daikoku, Maiko Minatoya, Masaki Tanama 2025 - Very recent preprint - maps how emotions are felt in the body

The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: (Neuroscience & Biobehavioural Reviews) 2021 - Overview of neurobiology of positive emotions, implications for health