Find Out Your Emotional Health from Your Belly

Emotions that we long to express can get stored in our bodies instead. The space where this most often happens is in our bellies. You may have experienced this yourself when feeling nervous, or scared. Rather than telling people, or even ourselves, the way we truly feel, we may stuff our true feelings deep inside of us, where they take up space until we are ready to let them go. Stuffing our feelings in our bellies may feel like the "safe" response, since we then don't really have to deal with our emotions. Yet, doing so can actually be detrimental to our emotional well-being and physical health.  

One way to connect with and release your emotions is to do a focused exercise with your stomach area. Take a moment to center yourself with some deep breathing, relaxing your body fully and turning off the chatter in your brain. Turning off the chatter can be tough, so I recommend redirecting your brain to the inside of your body.  Really becoming aware of what the emotion feels like in your stomach.  Does it have a color? Is it moving fast or slow? Is it spongy or hard?  The more descriptive you can be, the better. If chatter returns to your brain, re-focus it to your stomach and continue the description (as if you are describing to a Martian who has no idea how humas emotions feel).  Then, with your right hand on your stomach, ask yourself three times: "What is the truth of what I am feeling?  What do you want to tell me?" Listen for the answers. Repeat the exercise as many times as you would like, allowing yourself to drop deeper into your body each time.  Notice any physical response in the stomach area, whether you have a warm, relaxed feeling in the middle of your body or if you feel tight knots in response to any emotions that do come up. You may even want to write down any answers that come to you. Remember that the body doesn't lie. 

Releasing our pent up feelings from our bellies can prevent disease and allow us to live more authentic and expressive lives. We tend to stuff our feelings in our bellies when we are ashamed of them or not ready to express them. There is nothing wrong with having feelings, whatever they may be. It is part of our human experience.  You can help yourself by acknowledging the truth of your emotions so you can set yourself free.