What your Body Posture is Saying about how you’re Feeling

You might not realize it, but we have subconscious postures that our body takes on when we start experiencing certain feelings. Think about it, when we are happy we get big, jump around, hold our heads up high and even the corners of our mouths will start to turn up.

When we are angry we start to tense, maybe we feel some heat in the body or start to cross our arms or lean in and become intimidating or lean backward, our eyebrows lower and our mouth turns downward.

When we are sad or grieving, the shoulders round inward, the upper back slumps forward and our eyes become heavy as tears may come, we start to hold ourselves, turning inward.

All these body cues can be indicators that we are feeling something. But there are even more subtle non-verbal cues from the rest of your body that may be the hidden cues you were looking for. A thread to pull on which could lead to the root memory and emotion so you can’t start working in a more holistic approach with the body towards healing.

When we think of healing holistically- we have to think of the body, mind, and spirit.

The body represents the physical components, how we move, what we eat, and how we repair. I.e sleep, detox, and supplement.

The mental mind is composed of how we feel in each moment. We must ask ourselves what people and hobbies give us inspiration and satiation on an emotional level.

Spirit represents our higher calling and our commitment to serving others. It embodies selflessness and our dedication to contributing to the greater good of humanity.

The the body is hindered by the physical world. Where you live plays a huge role here, as well as the foods you are consuming, the pollution you are exposed to. By looking around your environment you may be able to discover what needs to be changed quite easily. Such as taking out toxic scents, lotions, shampoos, GMO foods, toxic clothing, honestly the list goes on and on.

We can start to look at our emotional body and think about where the physical pain has manifested from, but it takes a much more trained eye to scope out what’s going on.

Let’s begin with the Root Chakra. This first chakra is closely linked to our sense of safety and security. If the pelvis is tipped forward or backward, it may indicate an imbalance in the Root Chakra, which can contribute to feelings of instability, anxiety about lacking a stable home, and discomfort in your own body.

As for the sacral, if the toes are pointing inward like pigeon toes or outward, again this indicates an imbalance. Pointing inward could be due to some abuse, which intern has stifled creativity and self expression, ability to feel pleasure resulting in depressive tendencies.

The Solar Plexus Chakra, when the belly protrudes without core control, may suggest a tendency towards overindulgence or issues with setting boundaries. Conversely, a noticeably shrunken abdomen might indicate a strong need for control, often stemming from a fear of losing it.

The Heart Chakra is designed to remain open, continuously flowing in a balance of giving and receiving. However, if someone has experienced loss or betrayal, they might close off their heart, hunching over and possibly feeling pain between the shoulder blades. This posture can weaken their ability to keep their shoulders back, mirroring the sensation of being "backstabbed."

The throat chakra is harder to notice, as you usually need to hear the tone of someone’s voice to fully understand. Our throat chakra represents our ability to speak the truth, our truth, and say what we need, it usually co-insides with the heart chakra, with the head sitting very far forward and a shortening in the front of the neck muscles.

Other emotions of the higher chakras are harder to point out by posture, but usually by more extremes of being introverted, you never see them and so you never see their posture, of extremely extrovert, which could be a large display of any emotion.

Regardless of the specific issue, grounding yourself back into the physical body is an effective way to balance the higher chakras. Additionally, meditating to infuse your body with lightness can further enhance this balance.

There are so many emotions and it is unrealistic to think every emotion can be seen. However, the same way emotions evoke bodily postures is the same way the body evokes emotion. It is helpful to know that if you stand tall and proud you feel more confident and optimistic. If you smile you feel happier, if you engage your core you feel more powerful. All these postures help us feel more peace and optimism throughout our daily lives. This is how yoga helps us release energy, as each posture is utilized to help connect to emotion and relieve it so we can be equanimous once again.