She began to have tears in her eyes as she was given an exercise she could no longer perform. These were tears of frustration and disappointment combined with tears of determination and gratitude. Is it possible to have so many mixed emotions during this single circumstance? She knew she had let her fitness fall by the wayside over the past couple of years, but she was determined to regain it all.
As we move through this thing called life, it’s inevitable that we are going to experience a full array of emotions. There will be times of joy and happiness and times of sorrow and pain. We will experience good times with friends and loved ones, new beginnings, letdowns, and losses. There will be tears of joy and tears of sadness. Allowing ourselves to let go and feel our emotions is actually very good for our overall physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
As adults, it is very easy for us to put pressure on ourselves to hold it together and be strong given the multitude of challenges we experience. Some may see being vulnerable to our emotions as a weakness; however, on the contrary, it could be a strength and very good for our overall well-being and mindset. Did you know that allowing yourself to feel your emotions and to cry has many benefits?
As children, we did a lot of crying. It’s how we processed many emotions. In fact, that was the first sound we made when we came into this world. A good cry is the sound of a healthy baby; however, as adults, we are taught that “big boys and girls don’t cry,” or “suck it up.” I’m not suggesting that we allow uncontrolled emotionalism to ruin our lives, but it is healthy to allow ourselves to cry from time to time for a variety of reasons. Some of which I list below.
Dulls Pain
Crying can release oxytocin and endorphins when we allow ourselves to cry for long enough. Oxytocin can give you a sense of calm.
Self Soothing
Crying for an extended period of time literally helps your body to self-soothe. Research suggests that it may take several minutes of crying for this mechanism to kick in.
It Helps To Shed Stress
Ever feel better after a good cry? According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, emotional tears actually have higher levels of stress hormones in them. In other words, you are literally crying your stress away.
Cathartic Effect
By allowing ourselves to cry, and not holding in stress or emotional pain, research has suggested that we can keep stress from turning into mental health problems.
Overcome Grief
We all go through loss in our lives. Crying can help us overcome and process our grief, rather than bottle it within where it can wreak havoc on our mental and physical well-being.
As you can see, having a good cry is not just something that children do. It can be a healthy response that we can utilize as adults to help us with a plethora of things that we have to deal with on this journey called life.
Next time that you are overwhelmed and feel like tearing up, take some time alone and use it as a tool to shed the stress, soothe your body and release those feel-good endorphins.
And remember, “big boys and girls” cry too!
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