How to flush out your stuck emotions
Have you ever gone through a stressful time and noticed your body feeling heavy, swollen, stiff? That’s your lymphatic system experiencing a blockage. Because while most of us think of the lymphatic system as the body’s trash collector- handling waste, fighting infection, balancing fluids, it actually does much more than that.
Your lymphatic system also helps you process emotion.
When emotions get stuck in the body
Emotions are chemical events. When you’re stressed, grieving, anxious, or overwhelmed, your body produces hormones and inflammatory messengers to help you cope. But those substances don’t just vanish after the moment passes. They need to be cleared out. That’s where your lymphatic system comes in. It’s responsible for carrying away the biological leftovers of intense emotional experiences.
But here’s the problem. When your body is under emotional pressure, you’re often moving less, breathing more shallowly, and holding tension in your muscles. And movement is exactly what your lymphatic system depends on.
How lymph flow gets blocked
Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a heart to pump it. It relies on things like walking, stretching, deep breathing, and muscle contractions to keep fluids circulating. When those things stop, because you’re sitting more, sleeping less, or stuck in fight-or-flight mode, your lymph flow slows down too. This leads to that heavy, swollen, stuck feeling. The feeling that something’s weighing you down, even if you can’t see it. It’s not just in your head. It’s in your tissues. So what happens when this continues over time?
The build-up of unprocessed emotions
When the lymphatic system can’t keep up, the byproducts of emotional stress start to accumulate. This can lead to:
- Puffiness and fluid retention
- Brain fog and fatigue
- Chronic tightness in the shoulders, hips, or jaw
- A sense of being stuck or emotionally “numb”
In long-term stress or trauma, this can become a loop. The emotion triggers the chemistry, the chemistry clogs the system, and the clogged system keeps the emotion from moving on. The result is a body that’s not just holding stress—it’s storing it. But here’s the good news. You don’t need to push your emotions out. You just need to help your body do what it already knows how to do.
Movement is lymph medicine
The best way to support your lymphatic system is also one of the simplest: gentle, consistent movement. Try this next time you’re feeling emotionally heavy:
- **Legs up the wall
**Lie on your back with your legs resting vertically against a wall for 10 to 15 minutes. This position uses gravity to help lymphatic fluid flow back toward your core, where it can be filtered and cleared. - Walk slowly and mindfully
Even five to ten minutes of easy walking can get your lymph moving again. - Breathe with your belly
Deep, slow breaths expand and contract the diaphragm, which pumps lymph fluid through your chest and abdomen. Try five slow breaths right now.
Your lymphatic system isn’t just clearing out toxins. It’s clearing out the chemistry of your emotional life. And when you move gently, breathe deeply, and create small rhythms of care, you’re not just helping your body, you’re giving your emotions somewhere to go.
Much love,
Manu
Source: Manuela Mitevova
Provient de : Libérer l’émotion par le corps