When most people receive bodywork like chiropractic, acupuncture or massage, they have some expectations of physical relief: release of tension, more freedom of movement, and/or pain reduction. Common culprits of body tension include habitual movements or postures like sedentary lifestyle, sports, or driving. But sometimes the tension or pain sensation comes from emotion, and patients might not expect the release of emotions that can happen during and after body work.

Emotions and the Body

Emotions are not just an internal sensation — emotions have a physical component. There is a reason why many facial expressions are universally recognized. For example, furrowed eyebrows tend to indicate anger or frustration. Up-turned lips communicate happiness. If you’re feeling stressed you may notice your shoulders are up by your ear lobes. Feeling uncomfortable? You might fold your arms tightly across your chest. These are just a few ways in which our bodies and our emotions intersect.

Emotional Response to Bodywork

It is normal for people to feel anxious, angry, or even laugh or cry during or after a bodywork treatment like massage.

Why does this happen? In some cases, the tissues of the body that habitually hold tension from an emotional response are now free to release that emotion. For example, if a patient habitually clenches their teeth when they feel frustrated, releasing the jaw muscles during treatment may suddenly release that feeling of frustration. In other cases, the tissues are put into familiar shapes that may bring up a sense-memory of a trauma or event that hasn’t yet been fully processed.

Of course, there are many cases where the physical tension and emotional tension overlap. If a patient has experienced an injury, there are the physical ramifications of that injury, and at the same time the emotions that accompany injury — fear, shock, frustration, sadness, vulnerability, etc. There can also be visual, auditory, and even olfactory stimuli that are present at the time of the injury. All of these things get intertwined together in the physical body, which can make the road to healing an emotional process.

There’s a good reason for this: keeping a sense-memory of an injury event or trauma is a protective mechanism. The body is trying to avoid experiencing that pain again in the future. But as we see, patterns of tension can cause maladaptive movements and postures that actually lead to compensations and pain in other ways. Hindrances in physical healing may be because an emotional wound needs to heal, or the other way around. Sometimes a patient has trouble fully letting go of an emotion until the tissues of the body are able to release and heal.

The more we learn about pain and healing, the more we see how interconnected body and mind truly are. At Equilibrium, we provide evidence-based care taking the whole person into account. If you find yourself having an emotional response to bodywork, know that this is normal and be gentle with yourself as you move through healing.