I’ll be honest – I used to live in my head a lot. But ever since I started practicing emotional and somatic awareness, I’ve been observing weird things happen in my body as a part of the process. These recent events inspired me to talk about some strange ways our body releases residual energy to heal itself!
Note that while I’m pointing out the spiritual meaning of bodily reactions such as tremors and pains, there can also be an underlying physical challenge. That may require medical intervention.
So, this article isn’t intended to substitute for any kind of medical advice. Rather, to offer an alternate outlook to the different ways your body might respond to all the healing work you’re doing.
On that note, let me start with a funny story.
#1 – Yawning
As a part of my coaching certification, I was required to practice on a peer before I could practice the tool with my clients.
As soon as my peer practice session began, my peer kept yawning. At one point, I felt annoyed! I began questioning if she wasn’t interested in the activity, or if she was bored.
But as our session concluded, she revealed how deeply transformative the work had been for her. I was confused because it didn’t add up for me. Being a deeply intuitive spiritual coach herself, she revealed that her yawning was actually a way for her body to inhale new energy.
To shift out the old.
Who would have thought?!
As the year progressed, I’ve noticed myself yawning a lot right after “digesting” an emotion, memory, or thought.
#2- Tremors
Now comes my turn. I am being coached on a challenge that had recently ‘shaken’ me, and I notice my body tremor as I work through the emotions. As that happens, it also strikes me that this has happened before to me, in a group coaching setting.
So this time, I pay deeper attention.
The tremors felt as if every inch of me was shaking to release the trauma it was uncovering. I felt very uncomfortable, as my heart raced and different body parts experienced the shaking. But deep down inside, another part of me was aware that this was actually helping as my body released old energy to heal itself.
Turns out, this shaking is classified as neurogenic tremors. This is our primal response to trauma, and it holds true throughout the animal kingdom. Which is why you’ll see a zebra shaking off their rears after a close chase!
But for humans, if our body is judged or restrained from shaking, we can go into shock and forget this primal skill. So instead of the energy and impact being released, it ends up getting stored. And then, later on, this shaking can happen as a response to remembering the traumatic event – a sign that trauma is not just in the mind, but in the body too!
Tremors can be felt in different parts of the body, also as a response to anxiety, fear, and what-not.
Tuning into our bodies and consciously allowing ourselves to tremor can become an important part of our spiritual practices. Where can you begin with that? Personally, I’ve tried TRE (trauma release exercises) and have noticed a huge shift in my emotions from a single workshop. Learning about tremor therapy from a somatic healing specialist can be a great way to ground your shaking practice, as a way to release the old energy from your body.
#3 – Burping
It’s just getting weirder, and weirder. I hear you!
One way the body reflexively releases excess or dormant energy from its system to heal itself, especially during a Reiki or massage session, is burping.
I’d first heard about this phenomenon when I watched a YouTuber talk about her massage experience. It sounded just as strange then, so I didn’t take it very seriously, but then a friend recently confirmed this too. And it is very real!
It can feel awkward if you or the other person starts burping so profusely. But now that you know why it’s happening, I’d say you celebrate the energy that has officially and so loudly passed through!
#4 – Tingling or Numbness
This first began for me when I was experimenting with different types of meditation.
Many people will experience weird tingling, tickling, or numbing sensations in their extremities during deep meditation. Your arms might feel light, or heavy. There may be sensations running up and down your spine.
It might even feel like currents are running up and down, inside of you!
Without getting scared, try to tap into the sensations and be aware of them as they pass through you. Just like everything else, this too is a part of your body’s way of releasing old energy.
#5 – Change in body temperature
I remember the first time I had a chiropractor realign my body. I could feel so much heat rushing out of me from different points, as if these parts were “letting go” of something.
Similar things happen when you are meditating or seated in deep contemplation. You might experience heat rising in different parts of your body, or conversely, yourself cooling down and feeling lighter.
If that happens to you, it’ll be interesting to take note of what you were thinking about right before the change started. Because the chances are, you are probably releasing your old patterning from that very memory, through this change in body temperature.
#6 – Aches and Palpitations
When I first started listening to Binaural Beats, I wanted to focus on healing my Heart Chakra. And every time I’d listen to this particular frequency, my heart would start pounding as if it were truly “opening”.
A few years later, when I experienced the same phenomenon during the Heartfulness Meditation, my theory was confirmed by the spiritual teacher, Daaji.
But it’s not just our heart that may pound. You may have a sudden, sharp shooting pain in some part of the body, like a headache or stomach becoming sore as your body resists or releases old wounds.
While there could be a purely physiological explanation at such a time, don’t eliminate the possibility of something psychological.
The book You Can Heal Your Life is another powerful introspection into the different diseases and bodily ailments that actually have a deeper spiritual meaning.
#7 – Crying
When the Dark Night of the Soul kicks in, you are more than likely to undergo a deep “grieving” that is at times, unexplainable. It can feel like a dark cloud that is trapping you in, and you might feel like crying for no reason.
Well, you’re not alone. This blog, among many other amazing spiritual websites out there, is here to simply remind you that this too shall pass.
The spiritual meaning behind crying for no reason can be associated with the way your body is using the eyes as a passageway to release energy and to heal.
For many people, this can actually mean crying after years of pent-up emotions! Building the muscle to cry without having shame and guilt around it is in itself another huge relief for you in your healing journey.
And it doesn’t have to be unexplained crying, it can also very well be consciously triggered. Many people use music to express and feel their emotions, and the crying that comes through such experiences has a profound release for the body.
Also, as Jim Schmidt, another wonderful spiritual writer added in conversation with me recently, crying also releases toxins that shrink your muscles and suppress your immune system. When you are under stress, your body produces toxins that do both of these things.
Your body will collect these toxins and concentrate them in your tears. When you cry it flushes them out of the body. Releasing these toxins is a very intelligent way your body deals with stress!
Even if you don’t feel like crying, if you’ve been under a lot of stress, you can lie down on your back and pretend to yawn. Often this will get your eyes to start watering. Then, wipe excess moisture away with facial tissue.
BONUS – Pooping and Peeing
If you’ve ever felt nervous before a stage performance or exam and felt a sudden urge to poop, now you know that your body was working to release some of that built-up tension.
When we are constipated, it’s our inability to let go of something, not just-food. In a similar fashion, peeing has associations with the Sacral Chakra. A story I often tell my clients in my chakra balancing workshop is how I had a urinary tract infection over and over again, back in the day when I was feeling like my creative energy was blocked. The moment I was able to consciously work that energy out, my bladder movement seemed to self-regulate.
Literally, anything the body does to “remove” something from the body, whether it’s exhaling deeply or flushing out toxins from under the belt, is all a way for us to release old energy to heal ourselves.
Concluding Thoughts
We don’t give our body the credit it deserves. Truly, it’s a piece of art that can speak volumes to us if we step down from the mind. And now knowing what you know, you can work with your body to help it release old energy. Some great examples of healing practices that will help you feel a release at the body level include:
- Energy healing practices like Reiki and crystals;
- Forest bathing rituals;
- Intense breathwork practices like the Wim Hof Method and Holotropic;
- Somatic healing (for which yours truly is professionally trained in as well).
That said, I also want to give you a reminder to take it one day at a time. There’s no rush, and every step counts in your healing journey. You don’t need to overwhelm yourself with healing either!
Vasundhra is the Founder & Writer of My Spiritual Shenanigans. After seeing 11:11 on the clock one fateful night, her life turned around. Ever since, she has been blending modern psychology and ancient spirituality, to help herself and people around the world elevate the quality of their lives.
Ready to take your healing deeper? Book a laser-focused session with V.
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I get farts as well
This is such a solid example as well – we don’t just digest food, we actually digest information as well. There’s so much association with “keeping things in your stomach” and constipation. Definitely going to expand on my article – there’s relationship with peeing and releasing stress too! Thank you for sharing ✨
When ever I meditate on some devotional song, I cry. Do you think it is a release too?
Absolutely! Emotions are another way your body expresses itself and releases old energy.
I had no idea about the yawning one. For as long as I can remember I’ve been a great listener and pay attention to conversations sincerely but at one time I used to notice that my focus was on-point but I kept yawning all the time. I didn’t understand what it meant then.
Great to hear a new perspective about it 😊
That’s so fascinating! Thanks for sharing too 🙂