How Happy is... How Your Body Reveals How You Feel

Have you noticed that when you get anxious or nervous you get an upset stomach, find yourself with a headache or become accident-prone? Are you the sort of person that eats more when depressed or stops eating altogether? When you're really happy, balanced and unchallenged you probably notice that you have enormous amounts of energy and are way less likely to catch any virus that is going around. The unity of body and mind is reflected in your state of health and really does give you an indication of how you are coping with the challenges in your life.

If you have something physically wrong with you and you look back at what has been happening up to six months prior, you will probably find a connection as illnesses or accidents often come at times of change, such as moving home, a new marriage or getting a different job. The uncertainty and fear can easily upset your balance, and can leave you open to bacteria and viruses. At the same time, becoming ill gives you time to rest and adjust to the changes. It also puts things in to perspective, such as the importance of your health and relationships.

In the same way, if you injure your body you can easily pass it off as an accident, but you might also want to look below the surface and see if there is a deeper connection to what you are emotionally going through at the time. You might decide that there isn't, but often an injury usually happens because there is a need to look at something going on in your life. Even if you look at the simplest of every day occurrences i.e. tripping over the curb or getting your finger caught in a car door, you might notice that you were feeling a bit angry at the time and off balance. Here are a few parts of your body and the possible mind connection when you injure them.

Your back represents your support system and where you put feelings that have created pain and confusion that you don't want to look at. If you do have back pain ask yourself if feel supported by others who are close to you. If you've had it over a long period of time and it has become a chronic problem, you might want to look at where you haven't felt supported in your past. If this is the case, sorting out these old issues might really help your back heal and release some of the stuck energy held in your cells.

Your arms express your inner most feelings and expression. If you think of all the things you do with your arms including holding, hugging, pushing away, giving out or folding your arms to protect your heart from anyone coming near. Injuring your shoulder, elbow, wrist or hands can often be an indication of an emotional conflict and that you might be having problems reaching out to others.

Your neck gives you the ability to see on all sides, all aspects of your world. When it becomes stiff, it limits your movement and vision. A stiff neck can indicate that you are becoming narrow in your views or do not want to look back, or perhaps forward, depending on which way you are having difficulty turning it. (Usually the right is forward and the left is back, unless you are left-handed then it could be the other way round.) If you do injure your neck, you might want to ask yourself, what you don't want to look at?

Your legs. If you hurt your legs, whether it's your thighs, knees, ankles, feet or toes often there can be a conflict in the direction you are going in, or a fear of moving forward. You might notice that a twisted ankle, for example, can come at a time when you are about to start something new and there is a bit of fear or even at the end of an endeavor. If you have any doubt or resistance in your direction, then problems in the legs will have the ability to hold you back.

Your stomach is about digesting your reality, as well as obviously digesting your food! If your reality is indigestible then indigestion can follow, although, you could have just eaten too much as well!! However, if you have a pattern of stomach issues i.e. acid in the stomach, stomach ulcers, constipation etc, you might want to notice if you are feeling emotionally nourished and if your reality is in conflict with what you really want.

That's it for this week, I am now taking a month off as I have just given birth to a boy called Judah and we are moving house at the same time! However, I will be back and, in the meantime, if you look at my previous articles you will find many useful tips. If you do want to contact me, I would love to hear from you and will be picking up my e-mails at [e-mail].

Comments

[djiang]

Mind/body alignment really does matter. Eastern practices have always known this. Wouldn't it be great if politicians practiced this?
http://ohhhgirl.wordpress.com

[teresa43]

Geesh, guess I'm really screwed cause my body has pain everywhere!

sux to be me

[PatA]

my neck, back and the upper part of my chest hurts because i had a botched mastectomy.

[grailknight]

My back hurts because I have degenerative discs.

[midwesthousewife]

RIght. And my shoulder hurts because I tore it. My neck hurts sometimes because of the pillow being insufficient. My feet hurt because the foot's cushioning is thinning. You know--aging creates all sorts of aches and pains that have NOTHING to do with emotions! Bummer! I'd rather have the emotionally induced problems!

[dhconcerts]

I like the part about having a lot of energy when we're happy! I had a similar thought recently, coming at this idea (in reverse) from the result to the cause, "I must really be happy right now, because I'm singing more often and laughing every day."

[SamKnause]

It is a great act of heroism when we put others before ourselves. Chad you truly stand out in a crowd. How grand the world would be if it were filled with Chads. Thank you.

[kimmmmmmmmm]

get thee to the gym

[Niasia]

Oh my she hit it on the head whenever I get upset or really bugged out my stomach is horrible!

[Gladys1963]

Thank you for this informative article.

Congratulations, and welcome, Judah! Good luck with the move!

[cktirumalai]

Helpful thoughts on how the body is a sensitive barometer of other things in your life, the state of your mind, feelings, and relationships.

[ldavis24]

I have long known that I carry stress physically in my back. Just having gone for the first massage I have had in a long time (therapeutic, not just spa style), the therapist immediately was horrified at the state of my back, she said all she had to do was run her fingers down either side of my spine and she could feel knots all the way down.

I don't think you can necessarily pinpoint a certain part of your body and associate it with certain emotions. I put all the stresses I have into my back and otherwise have no pain chronically or brief (outside normal bumps and bruises).
My husband gets fierce migraines and faints on occasion when he is stressed out.

I think each person just channels daily stresses into one particular part of their body more than others and the physical manifestations of that stress can be chronic. I know my back pain is, those damn knots never really go away.

[gymbunnybee]

I'm sorry to hear about your back. Being a frequent massagee however, it always makes me chuckle when the therapist comments on 'omigod you're SO knotted up' - different therapists, same comment without fail. I think they're trained to say that knowing that we get a certain amount of satisfaction when we hear it.
Good luck however (I actually bought a conair neck massager just last night!)

[brandnewstuff]

My two cents- based on personal experience

One is to have normals aches and pains

Another from the injuries that where induce from violence or being a victim of violence
- or a car wreck-

attempted murder- there are many indications what cause aches-

- Being Insured and getting care when crital is vital to wellness-

the worse acts- being deprived of care and wellness creates more harm than good

There is a price for everything