Along with the emotional baggage it carries, extreme sadness can cause distinctive physical sensations in the chest: tight muscles, a pounding heart, rapid breathing, and even a churning stomach. As you can see on the body map, survey respondents pinpointed the chest as a major spot for the manifestation of sadness.
Most basic emotions were associated with sensations of elevated activity in the upper chest area, likely corresponding to changes in breathing and heart rate (1).
There is often a loss of muscle tone, a lowered or hunched posture, and looking away and/or downwards.
Sadness and grief
Sadness affects the Lungs,61 the Liver,62 and the Heart and may influence the functional relationship between these organs. Sadness and grief induces Heart and/or Liver Blood Deficiency and may also impact the functions of the Uterus.
Lung. The lungs bring oxygen into the body and remove carbon dioxide. In TCM, this organ is believed to be connected to grief and the following conditions: Emotions: Grief, sadness, and detachment.
Dr. Rice also explains that the adrenal glands help to regulate our internal stress response. “If someone has physical, mental, or any other personal stress in their life, their adrenal glands may not function appropriately,” he says.
Take time to slow down and be alone, get out into nature, make art, listen to music while you cook your favorite dinner, meditate to cleanse your mind and relax your body, take a bubble bath or a nap to restore.
The emotional patterns that are associated with breast dis-ease include anger, resentment, grief, bitterness, over-caring for others, the inability or refusal to care for or nourish yourself, an unwillingness to forgive, not feeling you can trust others, or lacking hope.
Stress can cause your muscles to tense up — and over time, that can lead to pain and soreness in virtually any part of the body. The most common stress-related aches and pains are in the neck, back, and shoulders.
Symptoms of emotional stress can be both physical, mental and behavioral. Physical symptoms include: Heaviness in your chest, increased heart rate or chest pain. Shoulder, neck or back pain; general body aches and pains.
The emotion of anger is associated with the choleric humor and can cause resentment and irritability. It is believed that this emotion is stored in the liver and gall bladder, which contain bile. Anger can cause headaches and hypertension which can in turn affect the stomach and the spleen.
Releasing physical and emotional tension
Stretching the hip muscles causes a release; pent-up emotions may resurface, suppressed memories may arise, unconscious tension still held onto from a traumatic event may bubble up. All of which may unleash a seemingly inexplicable barrage of tears.
'Those who experience sad nipple syndrome have noted that when their nipples are touched or aroused, either by themselves or another person, they experience feelings of sadness, dread, depression, anxiety or even nausea.
Stimulating, caressing or simply holding breasts sends nerve signals to the brain, which trigger the release of the 'cuddle hormone' called oxytocin, a neurochemical secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland in the brain.
The most common areas we tend to hold stress are in the neck, shoulders, hips, hands and feet. Planning one of your stretch sessions around these areas can help calm your mind and calm your body. When we experience stressful situations whether in a moment or over time, we tend to feel tension in the neck.
How to release trauma stored in the hips? Exercise – Whether or not there is an emotional connection to the tension in the hips, physical relief is often needed to alleviate the pain and discomfort. Light walking, yoga or swimming will get the muscles and joints moving and promote circulation and healing in the area.
About sadness
All these emotions can occur in response to a negative or unexpected situations, or life changes. Sadness often occurs at the same time as other feelings, such as anger, stress, guilt, grief, anxiety or hopelessness. Sometimes, the other feeling may be so strong that you don't realise you are sad.
People with clinical depression often have increased levels of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), an enzyme that breaks down key neurotransmitters, resulting in very low levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.
A drop in hormones can lead to a reduced level of serotonin, which can result in increased levels of sadness, anxiety, and irritability. A drop in testosterone levels may also affect mood and may cause: depression.
Serotonin is another hormone that affects mood, appetite and sleep. It is also a neurotransmitter, which means that it transmits messages between nerve cells. Fewer hours of sunlight means that less serotonin is produced. If you have SAD, your serotonin levels may be lower than average during the winter.
Lower Back = Guilt, Shame, and Unworthiness
Lower back issues often correlate with feelings of low self-worth and lack of self-acceptance. Feelings such as guilt, shame, and even sexual inadequacy or trauma can be stored here as well.
After practicing TRE® people often use the words 'grounded', 'relaxed' and 'calmer' to describe their feelings. After a period of several months people have reported relief from illnesses such as Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Eczema and IBS.
Anger was related to the liver, happiness to the heart, thoughtfulness to the heart and spleen, sadness to the heart and lungs, fear to the kidneys, heart, liver, and gallbladder, surprise to the heart and the gallbladder, and anxiety to the heart and the lungs.