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How do emotions affect the body?
Emotions are not only felt in the mind. They are experienced through the body. In fact, according to Candace Pert, emotions can be understood as biochemical signals that are expressed throughout the body in response to perception and experience.
We often relate to emotions in the same way we do to thoughts, as if they are fixed or factual. Whilst they are real, felt, and deserve to be acknowledged, with awareness we begin to recognise them as changing states. They are closely linked to our thinking, our perceptions, and the way the nervous system is responding in any given moment.
Physical sensations such as tension, tightness, fatigue, or even ongoing discomfort can often be connected to emotional states that have not been fully processed or expressed. The body holds these experiences as patterns of contraction or activation.
For example, you might notice what happens in your body when you receive a stressful email. The jaw tightens, the shoulders lift, the breath shortens. Over time, repeated patterns like this can lead to a sense of strain or discomfort, where the underlying cause is not purely physical, but connected to stress, perception, and a lack of moment-to-moment awareness.
By bringing attention back to the body and allowing these patterns to be felt and understood, the system can begin to release what it has been holding. This also creates the space to recognise and shift patterns of thinking that may be contributing to the response.
This is why working with the body is such an important part of healing. When we include the body, rather than focusing on thoughts alone, deeper and more lasting change becomes possible.
