What Does It Mean To Physically Experience Emotions?

[Poofycat]

I'm working my way through a workbook called "Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation". It's been really great so far, like being handed a users manual for myself. But I've been struggling with the two chapters related to relaxation and self care. The self care one in particular talks about the mind-body disconnect many people with dissociation deal with. How all or part of you has learned to not listen to your body, which was useful for surviving something horrible, but is now maladaptive because you can't tell when you're hungry or tired or in pain. Apparently this applies to emotions as well, which I guess I wasn't aware of. This quote here really got me:

"If you are afraid or ashamed of an emotion (or a particular thought), you likely have also learned to avoid the physical experiences of it as well."

I seriously have no idea what that means. What does it mean to physically experience an emotion?

 

[The Albatross]

Not really the stop all end all but the article has something that may assist? "For instance, research shows that anger causes one's heart rate to increase. On the other hand, affection causes one's heart rate to decrease. These signals illustrate anger's much harsher impact on the body." It's about emotions being intertwined with bodies...
Link: We Feel You: A Social Experiment on Mind + Body + Emotion

 

[Silver.]

I take it to mean things like when you are really angry, and taught to be afraid to express your anger, you bury it deep down, and during that anger, our body surges adrenaline and stress, which in turn, can wreak havoc on your body. A lot of people avoid looking into the physical problems they get as a result of stress (if this makes sense?)

I like this website:
This link has some good ways to make the connect (and then there are so many good links off of this page that might be helpful?)
http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/what-are-mind-body-therapies

this one talks about how thoughts and emotions impact health (same website)
http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu...otions/how-do-thoughts-emotions-impact-health

Perhaps this can help you along with the book you are using? If it doesn't, of course totally disregard this. I do think it is great you are taking initiative and working through this x

 

[desiderata310]

Maybe things like feeling shame for being sexually aroused? or being fearful of getting angry to the point that you over compensate and wind up carrying too much anger?

 

[watundah]

Physically experiencing an emotion to me can mean tension in my neck, chest or tightness in my throat if there is fear or sadness. Extreme elation can bring on euphoria. Sometimes bad feelings, stress, can cause a headache or a lot of shoulder tension. Definitely elevated heart rate or sweaty palms when anticipating..something good or bad.

 

[Poofycat]

Thanks for the info and links @The Albatross and @Silver. Pretty useful info and lots to think about.

@desiderata310 I definitely don't do anger and learning to express it at all, let along appropriately, is something I'm trying to figure out how to do.

Maybe I'm reading this a bit differently, but I'm interpreting this quote as in I don't know what it feels like, in my body, to experience an emotion. And them how do you identify it? Like, what does anger feel like physically? It kind of feels like excitement, right, so how do you tell them apart? What does shame feel like physically? And how do you tell it apart from guilt?

Maybe I'm making something out of nothing. I just feel like a robot all the time.

 

[Silver.]

When I am angry, tension races through me, my body gets sore, and I shake a lot...but this might not be how everyone reacts
explaining guilt is tricky, but I will try. Have you ever drank a lot of alcohol, and then the next day had a feeling you did something wrong, but don't know what you did, if anything? (like...got in an argument, drunk texted, broke something etc?),
guilt to me feels like that, like a lump in your gut.
shame is like this feeling of "I need to get out of here, escape, to hide", a bad feeling in your stomach, wanting to just crawl up into a ball and get away from the feeling
^^
not sure if this is helpful or if you can relate

 

[Suzetig]

I know what you're struggling with, I think, because it's taken me a while to know what a feeling physically felt like, if that makes sense. So I would feel something physically, panic and stop physically feeling - dissociation at its very best.

So, fear for me is a feeling of heaviness in my tummy, anxiety makes me feel like my theist is closing over, happiness feels warm and glowy in my body and stress is like being plugged into an electric socket - everything feels on edge. I'm not sure how anger is because I struggle to let myself feel angry, so it usually comes out in tearfulness.

The way I learned was sitting with my therapist describing what I felt physically and where and then using the feeling, what I had been talking about and what feelings were evoked in her, putting it all together and working out what that meant for me. Which is pretty much how children learn, by caregivers from an early age talking to them, naming feelings for them and helping them know that the feeling will pass.

It's challenging because at first the physical feelings can seem intolerable but it does get easier wit time.

 

[BlueOrange]

Sometimes, I'm scared and I don't know what I'm scared of. Then I realize I haven't eaten all day. I eat something, and the scared feeling turns out to have been hunger in disguise.

 

[EveHarrington]

Like right now-------I'm shaky meaning I've been triggered and a FB may be on the way. Trying to distract and hope it works! :-/

 

[Friday]

I seriously have no idea what that means. What does it mean to physically experience an emotion?

You know how you'll hear thigs described?

Effervescent happiness, glowing happiness
Burning rage, boiling rage, anger simmering
Broken hearted
Gutted, shredded, torn apart,
Drowning in sorrow
Wired with excitement,
Cold fear
Etc.?

Feelings feel. Like other things. Physically. Your heart feels like it's actually broken. Your blood feels like it boiling, or your entire body like its in a firestorm. Or like you've got icewater for blood. Or if you shut off the lights you'd literally be glowing, like light is pouring out of you. One of the quirky things is how close good feeling & bad feeling are. Fiery passion? Good. All fired up? Good. Burning rage? Bad. Burning shame? Bad. All burning sensations (and each of those hints? Passion, motivation, rage, & shame have other physical feeling attached; pooling desire, sparkling excitement, blinding rage, nauseating shame). Same for cold, electric, kinetic, etc. Each physical sensation has different emotions attached, and each emotion has different physical sensations attached.

Many are extremely simililar. Anxiety & Excitement crack me up / infuriate me the most. They. Are. So. Damn. Close. To. Each. Other. It's just this marginal degree of difference I just can't *quite* tip. Vexing. (Which is a static kind of electic irritation. Instinct anger almost immediately quenched, just to start over and over. Like someone zapping me with a buzzer or pet collar -stop that. Ow. Quit. Stop. OMFG. Stop.- as opposed to infuriated which is a lot more like being hit with a taser, or car battery).

 

[Gaining-clarity]

Every aspect of the human being is grounded in the physical. I went to the doctor about 6 years ago to get a prescription for medical leave due to anxiety and such, and he reminded me that it's important to take care of my physical health. I said, "yeah, and my mental health also." He responded, "your mental health is physical."

This is true. It happens in the brain. And my brain it's physical. I think that society at large has this idea that our mind/spirit/feelings is something separate from our bodies. But we are a package deal. If our body dies, everything to do with our being goes with it. Even the bible says this, "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing... their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished..." (Ecclesiastes 9:5,6). The dead don't know anything... no thoughts. Their love, hatred, envy are perished... no feelings.

For me, dissociating meant getting out of the body because the body was in pain and trauma. I tried to exist without my body. But that's not really possible. So I created a separation in my mind between what I called me and my body.

I would always say things like I feel fine, but my body is depressed. And I would move heavily and lethargically like a depressed person (that's emotion in the physical). And I would be tired like a depressed person (that's emotion that's physical). Yet "I" would be okay. But I wouldn't be okay. I would be behaving like a depressed person, only thinking I'm not depressed. I was disconnected.

I started to realize that emotions are physical. They happen in the body. And in order to really understand my emotions, I had to acknowledge my body and own the emotions it (I) was experiencing. I am not IN my body. I AM my body.

I think this is the idea of body memories. What happens to us happens to our bodies. This includes the brain. Our bodies remember because our brain remembers. Our brains are part of our body. Memories, while they have a perceptual, visual aspect, are physical. So are the emotions we experience now, and that we have experienced in the past.