The mind and its subconscious part, being in relation to the patterns of tension and contraction, will also give us a path for therapeutic treatment using Craniosacral therapy and Emotional Liberation (Alberto Panizo)»
Emotions, although interpreted and named by the mind, are integrally an experience of the body. Each emotion appears different to the observer, and has a different bodily expression. Every emotion is characterized by a discrete pattern of skeletal muscle contraction that is visible in the face and body posture (somatic nervous system). Each emotion is also felt differently within the body. The different patterns of visceral muscle contractions are discernible as bodily sensations (the internal sense). These sensations are later transmitted to the brain via the proprioceptive nerves. The way an emotion is seen from outside the body, in facial expression and posture, is communicated to others in our environment. The way an emotion is felt within the body is communicated in being. Each emotion is the result, to a large extent, of the interaction between the sensory, autonomic, and somatic nervous systems interpreted within the cerebral cortex.
Language can be a bit tricky when it comes to differentiating the conscious experience of emotions from bodily sensations. The word “feeling” generally means both: I feel sad and I feel a lump in my throat. It is perhaps no accident that “feeling” represents both experiences, a semantic recognition that emotions are composed of bodily sensations. One possible way out of the confusion would be to distinguish between feelings, emotions, and affects. Donald Nathanson (1992) addresses this dilemma. He distinguishes affect as the biological aspect of emotion and feeling as the conscious experience. Memory, he suggests, is necessary to create an emotion, while affect and feelings can exist without the memory of a previous experience. That emotions are somehow connected to the body is no surprise. Everyday speech is full of phrases—in many languages—that reflect the link between emotion and the body, psyche and soma. Here are a few examples:
Anger —This person is a headache.
Sadness —I have a lump in my throat.
Repulsion —This person makes me sick.
Happiness —I could explode!
Fear —I have butterflies in my stomach.
Shame —I can’t look you in the eye.
There are also things in common with the physical sensation of emotion—how an emotion feels in the body:
Anger—muscle tension, particularly in the jaw and shoulders
Sadness—moist eyes, “lump” in the throat
Repulsion—nausea
Happiness—deep breathing, sighing
Fear—rapid heartbeat, trembling
Shame—increased heat, particularly in the face
And typical physical behaviors that go with each emotion:
Anger—shouting, fighting
Sadness—crying
Repulsion—pushing away
Happiness—laughing
Fear—flight, trembling
Shame—hiding
And, of course, many facial and postural expressions of emotion are easily recognized (although some are much more subtle) by the observer:
Anger—tighten jaw, neck flushed
Sadness—flow of tears; red eyes
Repulsion—wrinkled nose, raised upper lip
Happiness—(some types of) smile, bright eyes
Fear—wide eyes with raised eyebrows, trembling, paleness
Shame—red, averted gaze
Emotions are expressed from the earliest moments of life outside the womb. The typical cry of a newborn baby as it exhales its first breath of life could be interpreted as the first expression of emotion. The newborn has a limited emotional repertoire. At first, it is only able to distinguish between discomfort and comfort, crying in response to the former and remaining calm in response to the latter. During the first weeks of life, the range of perceptible emotions is limited. However, the baby’s collection quickly increases, differentiating the nuances within the varieties of comfort and discomfort.
Our body is related to our mental and emotional state. Our repressed emotions result in the suppression of activity and, ultimately, in the chronic contraction of the muscles that could be used to express these emotions. Whether we repress positive or negative emotions: anger, fear, hatred, joy, frustration, sorrow or others. As the most vulnerable areas of our body, I would cite the muscles and tissues that surround the neck and spine, the face and especially the jaw, the stomach and intestines, the diaphragm as the main muscle of breathing and the pelvic area with its influence on the legs. All these areas of the body that produce sensations that arouse emotional arousal can have reduced blood supply due to muscle contractions. The mind and its subconscious part, being in relation to these patterns of tension and contraction, will also give us a path for therapeutic treatment with Craniosacral therapy and Emotional Liberation, using tools such as therapeutic dialogue and work with trauma.
(Article sources: Alberto Panizo, Donald Nathanson and Babette Rothschild)