One of the beautiful gifts that holistic health gives us is an understanding that our body and our health are influenced in a more nuanced way than the Western medical model tends to recognize.

As an East Asian medicine practitioner, I have always understood the powerful relationship between the mind, the body and the spirit. You cannot influence one without the others.

That said, over the years I’ve been in practice, I have a profoundly deeper understanding and reverence for the emotional body as a part of the health picture.

The Western World Is Sick

In Western culture we have a rather unhealthy expectation for the role our emotions play in our daily life.

Men are not afforded the space to show emotion - unless it is anger because that is socially acceptable - but any other emotions make you “weak.”

For women, it is only socially acceptable to cry.

We are human. Humans have an intrinsic need to express emotions. When we bottle this energy it makes us sick and tired.

Emotions are Energy In Motion

Emotions are energy. Releasing them, whatever they are, is a form of “pressure release valve” for our system.

For many of us, we don’t feel safe on some level to express these emotions freely and so we suppress them.

As we bottle this energy that needs to be released, our system becomes tired (it takes a lot of energy to keep the cork on the bottle!) and it becomes stagnant.

When we fail to keep energy flowing freely it sits and has the opportunity to mastitize.

I have seen so much suffering from bottling emotions.

• Overly tight pelvic floor

• Period pain

• Period irregularity

• Digestive issues

• Breast cancer

• Headaches

• Issues swallowing

…and the list goes on.

Finding ways to honor our emotional body is a crucial part of healthy living.

What Can I Do?

Obviously, you can always come see a practitioner like me. Pelvic steaming, herbs and Acutonics are all powerful modalities for moving stuck energy and emotions in the system.

There is a lot you can do outside of a practitioner’s office, however.

Ways to express yourself:

• Journal - get your thoughts and feelings down on paper and OUT of your body.

• Cry - yes, cry. Allow yourself to feel whatever is upsetting you. The sooner you allow yourself to cry about it the faster that energy passes through your body and you can move forward.

• Punch a pillow/mattress - you don’t have to have a membership to a boxing gym. The anger you feel can be directed at a soft surface. Allow yourself to feel the rage with no judgment and give it a means to pass through your system. Your Liver Qi will thank you for it.

• Dance - put music on that lifts your spirits. Maybe you put music on that meets you in the emotional space you are in. Music and sound have a powerful effect on your body’s ability to process and release emotions that are no longer serving you.

• Take a walk - a leisurely walk, preferably in nature, will help your primal brain flip from “fight or flight” into “rest and digest.”

• Get outside - Our connection to nature is deep. 15-30 minutes of being outside in nature, if possible with your feet on the earth, will shift your vibration and your perspective.

Find the tool(s) that work for you. These may change depending on the emotion being triggered and the situation you find yourself in, but these are just some ways you can help yourself have fewer period problems and improved overall health.

If you are interested in Acutonics or using pelvic steaming as a means to release trauma and stuck emotions in the body, schedule an appointment to discuss your needs.