The Science of Emotional Release: From Loud Crying to the "Patting" Method of Emotional Release

You can practice releasing emotions by closing your eyes and imagining you're holding a handful of colorful balloons. Each balloon represents a negative emotion, such as fear, anger, guilt, or sadness. Imagine that each balloon you release is releasing the corresponding negative emotion. Once you release the underlying factors that lead to overeating, your life will change. Bringing memories from our subconscious to the conscious level allows us to better understand why we behave in certain ways (including our eating habits). By releasing past problems, we can heal the present and create health benefits for the future. Another way to release negative emotions is by writing a letter to someone (or to yourself).

Write down your thoughts and feelings, and express your emotions. Doing so can help you release negative feelings that have been nagging at you. After you've finished writing, you can process the letter in any way that helps you vent, allowing you to move forward and feel validated and accepted by yourself. Resolving past emotions can save us from the agony of emotional torment. There are other ways to address emotional issues. One emotion people try to fill with food is anger. (Anger often causes eating disorders.) Instead of suppressing anger with food, why not try channeling that energy into exercise? Try Taekwondo, or any exercise that helps you release your anger.

Sometimes, just taking a walk (or a run if you can) can help you forget your worries. After a while, you might not even remember what you were angry about. Forgetting your troubles through exercise not only doesn't add extra calories, but it can actually burn some. Finally, you'll feel better; mentally, physically, and emotionally. Have a good cry. All land animals can produce tears, which lubricate their eyes. But only humans have the ability to cry, and this crying can help people deal with emotional problems. Scientists have found that after a good cry, people feel better, both physically and mentally. If you don't cry, you feel worse.

Evidence suggests that people feel better after crying because their bodies release certain toxins through tears. In fact, tears induced by watching a tragic movie are chemically different from tears induced by cutting onions. It has been found that crying helps expel stress-induced toxins from the body. Emotionally triggered tears include the following substances: 1. Manganese: A mineral that affects mood. The concentration of manganese in human tears is 30 times higher than in serum. 2. Albumin in emotional tears. 3. Leucine enkephalin: An endorphin that helps reduce pain. 4. Prolactin: A hormone that regulates milk production in lactating women. 5. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH): A stress-induced compound.

Suppressing tears increases stress levels and can trigger stress-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, and heart disease. Because men are often perceived as creatures who can't cry easily, they are more prone to stress-related illnesses. (Perhaps this is one reason why women generally live longer than men.) Some people suffer from a genetic condition called familial autonomic nervous system disorder, which means they are unable to cry. Therefore, they have a very low capacity to cope with various stresses in life. Tears evoke sympathy from those around us, and crying helps unite us with other people.

Emotional release therapy. A method called emotional release therapy or "tapping" can help people alleviate emotional problems, thereby avoiding emotional eating. According to Gary Gray, the founder of emotional release therapy, unresolved emotional problems or trauma can cause blockages or breaks in the body's sensitive energy systems. These energy breaks can increase anxiety, which in turn can lead to overeating. It is believed that emotional release therapy not only resolves energy imbalances and lingering negative emotions but also has a relaxing effect and helps eliminate anxiety. Because it eliminates the need to use large amounts of food to calm emotions, people can make more nutritious food choices. To achieve the goal of releasing negative emotions, when applying emotional release therapy, focus your attention on the negative emotions and tell yourself, "Despite (the negative emotions you feel), I still love and accept myself."

At the same time, tap on a series of corresponding acupoints with your fingers. Tap in the following order for easy memorization. However, it does not matter if the order is scrambled or omitted. ① Top of the head (Baihui acupoint) ② Eyebrow tip (Zanzhu acupoint) ③ Outer corner of the eye (Sizhukong acupoint) ④ Below the eye (Chengqi acupoint) ⑤ Below the nose (Renzhong acupoint) ⑥ Below the lips (Chengjiang acupoint) ⑦ Front of the collarbone ⑧ Below the arm. Other acupoints: (1) Below the chest (2) Wrist (3) Fingertips. End with Baihui acupoint on the top of the head. Take three deep breaths to purify the body. Say thank you to yourself.