How Suppressing Emotions Can Lead To Disease? (EFT Tapping for Suppressed Emotions)
EFT tapping for suppressed emotions
How are emotions and health related? What are suppressed emotions? How can suppressed emotions affect health? How does EFT Tapping technique help in healing diseases?
Has there ever been a time in your life when you may have heard of a loved one or a friend suffering from an illness? Or are you someone who is going through an illness? Maybe there is pain, a nagging migraine, diabetes or even something as scary as cancer.
You have consulted various doctors, taken all the medicines and treatments that you could, yet there is no difference. You pop pills and they give you relief for some time, but then what?
The illness seems to like your company so much that even after shooing it away with medicines, it keeps coming back to visit you!
Now, after trying so many remedies, you may have given up and accepted the illness as a part of your life.
Or you may be frustrated, "Why doesn't any treatment work for me? Will I have to spend my entire life with this disease?"
Well, let me explain to you what the problem is. All the solutions that you may have tried to cure your disease are external. They are outside of you.
Have you tried going inside of you? If nothing has worked for you so far, probably you should take a look within yourself.
Chances are that there may have been suppressed emotions, stress, or trauma at some point that is still stored within you. Our mind and body are interconnected and work in sync with each other. The mind has an effect on the body, and the body has an effect on the mind.
To understand this connection, let's learn some science!
WHAT ARE SUPPRESSED EMOTIONS?
We all experience a wide spectrum of emotions and have an even wider spectrum of expressing them. We laugh when we're happy, and cry when we're sad.
But apart from the most basic reactions to manageable emotions, we also have many emotions that make us uncomfortable or that we prefer not to deal with immediately.
Suppressing emotions is a method to regulate these uncomfortable or overwhelming thoughts. It involves pushing emotional thoughts from your mind.
We tend to avoid these emotions when we do not know how to deal with them or do not want to deal with them at that moment.
Though suppression can offer temporary relief, stewing on these emotions can be disastrous as storing them for longer periods of time can affect our behaviour and thought process as a whole.
EMOTIONS AND HEALTH
The science of Emotional Healing is mainly based on the work of three eminent scientists, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Bruce Lipton, and Dr. Candace Pert.
What they uncovered was that when emotions are suppressed, it can lead to cell receptors becoming blocked and DNA changing in a way that makes the body more prone to illness. Conversely, on feeling and acknowledging the negative emotions, the cell receptors can unblock and the body can heal naturally.
Dr Candace Pert in her research went on to show that the ‘mind’ is not confined to the brain. Instead, the mind is a flow of information between the cells, organs and systems of the body. This implies that the body is no longer separate from the mind and hence negative emotions can affect the body in turn. Vice versa the release of these negative emotions can help the body heal naturally.
It isn’t all about only what we eat or how we exercise, or even the supplements we take to maintain optimal health. It’s about how we manage our emotions. What are we ready to let go of and how does holding on to something traumatic affect us so adversely.
Isn’t it better then, to just let go of these emotions, rather than holding on to them?
I have found that an emotionally happy and vital body is much better than a body suffering from an illness or pain because these illnesses have a way of slowly creeping in and spreading to all areas of life, be it relationships, career, or even spirituality.
Negative past experiences and memories, and traumas make us more likely to develop a host of physical and physiological conditions, from depression and anxiety to heart attacks, cancer, obesity, and stroke. It has been proven by undeniable research that people with unresolved trauma get sicker and die younger.
The ways in which trauma affects the body are varied and complex, and physical dysfunction boils down to one common factor: Stress. When you think about an experience that produces negative emotions, such as a miserable childhood event, or a fight with a family member, you increase stress. There is an emotional response to the experience and you feel emotions like anger, fear, shame, resentment, or guilt.
Stress is more than just a mental state; it is an internal condition that challenges our state of physical, emotional, and mental balance.
When our brain perceives that we don’t have adequate resources to survive an obstacle or threat (which is the case when it comes to unresolved trauma), we experience a physiological stress response. Dr. Gabor Mate calls this the ‘stress-disease connection.'
"I suggest that the body and soul react to each other in sympathy. A change in the state of the soul would necessarily have an effect on the body and vice versa.”
- Aristotle 400 BC
When we are stressed, the body shifts its resources from maintaining a state of well-being and balance to protecting itself.
When we encounter a threat, either real or perceived, the amygdala, lights up. Amygdala is the brain’s fear centre. Once activated, this area of the brain then sends messages to the rest of the body that we are under attack, and the body goes into survival mode.
When stress becomes constant and persistent, it harms every system in our body. In cases of chronic stress, our adrenal glands release cortisol and other stress hormones, such as adrenaline, continuously.
Adrenaline increases our heart rate and elevates blood pressure while cortisol curbs functions of the immune system by altering its responses and also suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and other growth processes.
The overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones that follow can disrupt almost all your body's processes.
In this way, stress activates the body’s immune system, prompting it to become hypervigilant and primed to react to the mere suspicion of trouble. Once our immune system gets the signal that we’re living in a near-constant threat state, it repeatedly sends out chemicals that cause inflammation throughout the body.
These chemicals act as a kind of fire starter for a wide array of symptoms of imbalance and dysfunction, increasing our risk of developing autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, and other diseases ranging from heart disease to cancer.
If the immune system is constantly releasing its inflammatory chemicals, the body loses its ability to respond to an actual illness. Also, inflammation occurs all over the body and may even affect the brain.
Stress affects every system of the body, including the gut. No wonder gastrointestinal problems are one of the issues most commonly cited by people dealing with anxiety.
When we’re stressed or frightened or anxious, our body has trouble digesting food and can either hold on to it for too long, resulting in a constipation problem, or release it too quickly, resulting in irritable bowel syndrome or diarrhoea. Without a well-functioning digestive system, we become sicker in all areas of our body.
Polyvagal theory helps to understand how trauma lives in the body and continues to shape our world. The term polyvagal refers to the vagus nerve, which connects the brain and the gut.
The vagus nerve has many branches of sensory fibres that run throughout the rest of the body, from the brain stem to the heart, lungs, and genitals, you name it, connecting every major organ to the brain.
The location and function of these nerves help us understand why the body reacts so swiftly when we’re stressed: why our hearts race when we feel anxious and why feelings of panic make us feel short of breath.
Research conducted in 2016 found that stressful experiences during childhood can increase the release of inflammatory chemicals by your immune system.
This is associated with an increased risk of mental illness in adulthood. Researchers believe that this early release of chemicals may cause changes in the brain that increase a person’s risk of developing a mental illness later in life.
New to EFT? Learn how Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping heals.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (tapping) is clinically proven to lower stress, tension, anxiety, past trauma to enable health, happiness and vitality.
Here is an excerpt from the book Heal Your Body written by the world-renowned inspirational teacher and author, Louise Hay.
“A number of years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer of the vagina. With my background of being raped when I was 5 years old and being a battered child, it was no wonder that I’d manifested cancer in the vaginal area. Having already been a teacher of healing for several years, I was very aware that I was now being given a chance to practice on myself and prove what I’d been teaching others.
Like anyone who has just been told that they have cancer, I went into a total panic, yet I knew that mental healing worked. Being aware that cancer comes from a pattern of deep resentment that is held for a long time until it literally easy away at the body, I knew that I had a lot of mental work to do.
I realized that if I had the operation to get rid of the cancer but did not clear the mental pattern that created it, then doctors would just keep cutting Louise until there was no more Louis to cut. If I had the operation and cleared the mental pattern, that was causing the cancer, then the cancer wouldn’t return.
When cancer or any other illness returns, I don’t believe that it’s because the doctor didn’t “get it all out”, but rather, that the patient has made no mental changes and so just re-creates the same illness. I also knew that if I could clear the mental pattern that created the condition called cancer, I wouldn’t need the doctor. So I bargained for time. The doctor grudgingly gave me three months, at the same time warning me that my life was endangered by the delay.
I immediately began to work with my own teacher to clear old patterns of resentment. Up till that time, I hadn’t acknowledged that I harboured deep resentment. We’re often so blind to our own patterns. A lot of forgiveness work was in order. The other thing I did was to go to a good nutritionist and completely detoxify my body. So between the mental and physical cleansing, in six months I was able to get the medical profession to agree with what I already know: that I no longer had any form of cancer. I still keep the original lab report as a reminder of how negatively creative I could be.
Now when I hear about someone’s illness, no matter what dire their predicament seems to be, I know that if they’re willing to do the mental work of releasing and forgiving, almost anything can be healed. The word incurable, which is so frightening to so many people, really only means that the particular condition cannot be cured by “outer” methods and that the particular condition cannot be cured by “outer” methods and that we must go within to effect the healing. The condition came from nothing and will go back to nothing.”
In order to permanently eliminate a disease, we must first work to dissolve the mental and emotional causes. However, since we don’t often know what the cause is, we find it difficult to know how and where to begin.
The most common mental and emotional thought patterns that cause the most diseases in the body are criticism, anger, resentment, and guilt.
Every painful memory that resides in our mind, every emotion of anger or resentment that we cling on to, creates a tense vibration, and when we hold onto that negativity, it actually influences our physical body.
It’s so much easier to release these negative emotional patterns from our minds when we’re healthy than to try to dig them out when we’re in a state of panic and under the threat of a life-or-death situation.
Below is the list of a few most common diseases along with their emotional causes, as stated by Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body. It would help you reflect on your emotional causes if you or someone you know is suffering from any of these diseases.
- AIDS- Feeling defenceless and hopeless; Nobody cares; A strong belief in not being good enough; Denial of the self; Sexual guilt.
- Arthritis- Feeling unloved; Criticism; Resentment.
- Asthma- Smother love; Inability to breathe for oneself; Feeling stifled; Suppressed crying.
- Blood Pressure- High hypertension: Long-standing emotional problem not solved. Low BP: Lack of love as a child; Defeatism, "What’s the use? It won’t work anyway”.
- Cancer- Deep hurt; Longstanding resentment; Deep secret or grief eating away at the self; Carrying hatred; “What’s the use?”.
- Cholesterol- Clogging the channels of joy; Fear of accepting joy.
- Constipation- Refusing to release old ideas; Stuck in the past; Sometimes stinginess.
- Diabetes- Longing for what might have been; A great need to control; Deep sorrow; No sweetness left.
- Fibroid Tumors & Cysts- Nursing a hurt from a partner; A blow to the feminine ego.
- Heart Attack- Squeezing all the joy out of the heart in favour of money or position, etc.
- Heart Problems- Longstanding emotional problems; Lack of joy; Hardening of the heart; Belief in strain and stress.
- Menstrual Problems- Rejection of one’s femininity; Guilt, fear; Belief that the genitals are sinful or dirty.
- Migraine headaches- Dislike being driven; Resisting the flow of life; Sexual fears.
- Osteoporosis- Feeling there is no support left in life.
- Overweight- Fear, need for protection; Running away from feelings; Insecurity, self-rejection; Seeking fulfilment.
- Parkinson’s Disease- Fear and an intense desire to control everything and everyone.
- Pneumonia- Desperate; Tired of life; Emotional wounds that are not allowed to heal.
- Thyroid- Humiliation; “I never get to do what I want to do. When is it going to be my turn?”
- Tumours- Nursing old hurts and shocks; Building remorse.
New to EFT? Learn how Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping heals.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (tapping) is clinically proven to lower stress, tension, anxiety, past trauma to enable health, happiness and vitality.
HOW DOES EFT HELP IN HEALING DISEASES?
Emotional healing is possible and accessible now to everyone desiring optimal health.
Given the choice, most people would choose a life that is stress-free, with increased self-belief and a positive outlook.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) helps you just that. With 85% of illnesses being stress-related, EFT is being used by millions of people worldwide to eliminate stress, trauma and unwanted emotions.
This technique helps to eliminate, anger, fears and phobias, pain, cravings as well as negative emotions, promoting a feeling of balance and wellbeing.
According to Gary Craig, the founder of EFT, when you go through some negative or traumatic experiences in your life, however small or big they may be, they are stored as a distressing memory.
These distressing memories create a disruption in the flow of energy in the body, and as a result, unresolved negative emotions are formed.
When these unresolved emotions interfere with the flow of energy in the body, it causes an annoying discomfort.
When emotions are suppressed over a long period of time, they start accumulating in the body and manifest symptoms in the form of illnesses.
EFT targets what is often the true source of your pain; your emotions, your stress, your traumas. Once you release those, your body's innate ability to heal itself will take over.
Research also shows that EFT has managed to produce real, long-lasting effects along with improvements that result in the elimination of conditions or ailments that psychotherapy, medication, or even hospital treatments failed to help individuals deal with.
“Emotions make you human, even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. Don't lock them away.”
Sabaa Tahir
EFT TAPPING Produce great Healing Benefits
With the pace of life becoming more hectic and stressful. This is one technique that helps to get to the root cause of stress.
A clinical study also conducted by Dawson Church in 2010, showed that after 6 sessions of EFT 90% of study participants were free from symptoms of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder).
There have been thousands of heartfelt stories on how attending EFT has helped in personal transformation, healing and change for more vitality and a renewed interest in life in general!
Some of the alumni transformations with EFT are:
- Eliminating physical pain - Dr Rajesh CM's back pain disappeared after 20 mins and one year later he was still pain-free;
- Weight Loss - After years of trying, Avni Radia became motivated to stick to a health plan and lost 20 kg in weight;
- Overcoming illness - Sejal Mehta's 7-month-old chronic muscle pain (fibromyalgia) disappeared by Day 2 of the seminar;
- Stopping cravings - Working mom Emma Voss overcame her chocolate and biscuit cravings and dropped a dress size;
- Defeating phobias - Marie Christie and Nihal Masarathulla, cured their phobias of closed spaces (claustrophobia);
- Speaking with ease in public - Michael Sciaraffa and Ashish Piyasi overcame their fear of public speaking;
- Combating past trauma - Yoga Teacher Sadhana Batouri made peace with her past experiences in Iraq;
- Letting go of stress and anxiety - Sreekumar Rajagopalan let go of emotional pain and could breathe easily after 28 years;
- Helping children thrive at school- Psychotherapist Nalini Kannan found that children lose their negative thoughts and beliefs;
- Parents help their children heal - Davinder Kaur Anand helped her son to overcome a learning difficulty;
- Increase high fee-paying clients - Corporate Trainer Neeraj Kumar gets faster results with his executive clients;
- Earn a living as a Practitioner - Jayant Pawar doubled his fee paying client’s as a result of adding EFT to his offering;
- Therapists get quicker patient results - Psychotherapist Father Leo finds faster results with EFT versus traditional therapy;
In addition to this Dr. Rangana Rupavi Choudhuri overcame daily migraines and chronic pain in her body through EFT.
P.S. Want to discover if EFT is right for you? Book a Complimentary Discovery Call.
How To Self-Heal & Become An EFT Practitioner
Discover how EFT Tapping can help you to self-heal or to become professionally qualified as a Certified EFT Practitioner. Emotional Freedom Techniques (Tapping) is clinically proven to lower stress, tension, anxiety, past trauma to enable health, happiness and vitality.
In summary, although suppressing emotions can lead to disease, EFT can help overcome those emotions and trauma by getting to the root of the issue, helping you lead healthy, vital lives.
References:
- Psychological Stress and the Human Immune System: A Meta-Analytic Study of 30 Years of Inquiry. Segerstrom Suzanne , Miller Gregory. Psychological Bulletin, Jul 2004.
- Trauma in the Addiction Family. Claudia Black, Dec 2010. www.addictioninfamily.com.
- Childhood Maltreatment as a Risk Factor for Adult Cardiovascular Disease and Depression. Batten Sonja, Aslan Mihaela, Maciejewski Paul and Mazure Carolyn, Journal of Clin Psychiatry, Feb 2004.
- Candace Pert PhD: Molecules of Emotion (Simon & Schuster 1997; ISBN 0-684-84634-9).
- Dr Deepak Chopra: Quantum Healing (Bantam Books 1992; ISBN 90-215-8874-9.
- . Bruce Lipton PhD: The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles (Hay House, 2008; ISBN 978-1401923112).
- Psychological Trauma in Veterans Using EFT: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Dawson Church, Crystal Hawk, Audrey Books, Oliver Toukolehto, MariaWren, Ingrid Dinter, Phyllis Stein. Presented at the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Seattle,Washington, April 7-10, 2010.
- Gopal, Dr Nirmala D (2004a): The Journey Programme (JP) Interim Evaluation Report. Centre for Educational Research, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, July.
- Gopal, Dr Nirmala D (2004b) The Journey Programme (JP) Evaluation Report. Centre for Educational Research, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, November.
- Dr Robert Scaer, MD, The Body Bearsthe Burden (Routeledge, 2nd edition, 2007, ISBN 978-0789-033352).
- Louise Hay: Heal Your Body
- Dr Nicole LePera: How To Do The Work
Disclaimer: The information on this website is purely for educational purposes and does not in any way replace the requirement for medical and psychological diagnosis and treatment. Please seek professional medical and psychological diagnosis and advice for all medical and mental health conditions. It is advised to always book any consultations with qualified professionals.
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