Butterflies In The Stomach And A Lump In The Throat? How The Body Speaks To Us When Emotions Overwhelm Us

Did you know that expressions like “butterflies in your stomach,” “a lump in your throat,” or “your head feels like it’s going to explode” aren’t just clichés?

According to Dr. Rosa Molina, a psychiatrist with special training in clinical neuroscience, “These are real sensations that are triggered in different parts of our body every time we experience an emotion, be it anger, sadness, or joy, and they are as real as the pain of pancreatitis .”

For Dr. Molina, “all our experiences, emotions, and feelings occur first and foremost in the body, and psychological suffering, for example, is often only released through physical sensations.”

“Our body can also be the vehicle through which we can positively influence our mind through physical activity and sport, the practice of mindfulness (a technique of full attention meditation ), or sharing a hug or a caress at the right time.”

Dr. Molina highlights the importance of our body in understanding our emotions and taking care of our physical and mental well-being.

We can learn to understand our emotions through what our body expresses, says Molina in his book ‘Una mente con mucho cuerpo’, where, in addition to explaining how to achieve this learning, he offers some keys to regulate our moods, make better decisions or face adversity.

“Emotions are inscribed in the body, they manifest themselves throughout our organism. It could be said that they “take shape” and, thanks to their capacity to affect organic physiology, they could be considered the most corporeal form of mental activity,” Molina points out.

FROM MIND TO BODY

“An example of the relationship between mind and body can be found in the effects of stress on our immune system,” he explains.

“Whether it is a physical agent or due to psychological elements, stress reduces our defenses against external attacks, weakens us, makes us more vulnerable, by suppressing inflammation processes,” he says.

This is basically caused by the inhibition of glucocorticoids, the regulatory hormones that are released during these processes, such as cortisol, according to Molina.

“Our immune system is inhibited in a stressful situation, and it is inhibited in the long term, in the case of chronic stress,” he emphasizes.

FROM BODY TO MIND

Conversely, what happens in our body affects what happens in our mind.

For example, “Our body posture is very important, as it reflects the way we position ourselves in the world. We have all experienced how different it is to walk with our head down and slow movements, compared to marching with our body upright and energetic movements, ” he says.

According to Molina, “It is very difficult to laugh or feel energetic while sitting hunched over because this posture does not encourage it, and conversely, it is difficult to imagine yourself stretching your arms and jumping around with an angry face. It would be incongruous.”

“ When we feel strong and capable, we unconsciously transfer that feeling to our body, transmitting it through our postures and movements,” he emphasizes.

BODY IN MOTION

“Moving the body almost immediately helps us to think better. Some studies show how aerobic capacity is related to cognitive abilities such as logic and mathematics and others such as the speed of information processing, the management of spatial information, the ability to self-control,” explains this psychiatrist.

“In today’s society, we forget that physical activity is a key factor in our performance and health. It is necessary to emphasize the importance of physical exercise in children and adolescents and not only in old age. Exercising allows us to improve academic performance and physical and mental well-being,” he adds.

STOP THE MENTAL CURRENT

Dr. Molina also shares with EFE three practical measures to calm our emotions when we feel that they are getting out of control or overwhelming us in difficult times.

DELAY

As a first step, this specialist recommends using the “time out” technique, which consists of “waiting, delaying” worry or stress, instead of automatically immersing yourself in these mental states. She advises stopping, instead of letting yourself be carried away by the negative mental current .

“When we are in an intense emotional state, a lot of negative thoughts come to our mind. We can’t stop thinking and what we think is increasingly catastrophic. We focus on our weaknesses and insecurities,” she says.

“At such times, it is good to stop, put into perspective what is happening to us, and consider how we will feel in a few months or years regarding this current situation,” he advises.

LEARNING TO TOLERATE DISCOMFORT

The second step is to consider the need to learn to tolerate this discomfort. “If we are feeling rage, frustration, anger or fear, instead of running away from that emotion that overwhelms us, running away or leaving a place screaming, we can expose ourselves to that emotion, face it, let it touch our body and learn to bear it,” he suggests.

According to Molina, we can say to ourselves: “I am being overcome by an emotion, it is very unpleasant, but I am going to stay with this feeling for now. I am going to go through it, waiting, letting this time of overflow pass, and remembering that at this moment I must not make decisions.” important decisions or act impulsively because I am blinded by the discomfort.”

LEANING ON OTHERS

Dr. Molina advises asking for help, talking to someone, and calling a friend or a family member, because “when we have a very intense emotion we get overwhelmed and forget that we don’t just need to regulate ourselves emotionally. We also need other people to regulate us .”

“It is a form of emotional management that occurs from the moment we come into the world when we are small and our parents regulate us. We are social beings who can ask other people for help. Talking to them about our emotions and telling them how we feel already has a regulating effect in itself,” she concludes.