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Are you someone who bottles up your emotions? If so you may be dealing with a lot more muscle tension than you should be.

I not too long ago came across an article that was written by Sean Grover who happens to be a psychotherapist among other things with at least 2o years under his belt of working with both adults and children. While we aren’t 100 percent sure that tension and stress manifest in these areas throughout his years of working with people and studying them Grover claims that he has managed to uncover where people store their ‘unwanted emotions.’ This meaning yes he does believe they manifest within the body, and his thoughts on such are quite interesting and well worth sharing.

These are the result of something known as our ‘psychosomatic reactions’ and so some of them will not be true for everyone, but personally I tend to ache in these places seemingly lined up with what he claims to have found. Below I am going to go over the body parts he listed and what feelings he noted as being linked with each, do you also repress your feeling in these areas?

10 Areas Stress And Repressed Emotions Are Stored:

1. Insomnia

According to Grover, when we are facing insomnia, it could be stemming from some kind of life-changing event that is good or bad. We find it hard to sleep because our minds won’t allow us to truly relax. We’re either too worried or too excited.

2. Lower Back Pain/Tension

Grover associates lower back pain with anger or frustration. The more we allow repressed anger to build up the more tension we may feel within our lower back area. While learning to address anger and deal with things like this head-on can be hard, it might be enough to relieve some tension if you’re willing to give it a go.

3. Stomach and Intestinal Issues

When we face stomach or intestinal issues, that could be stemming from fear. The more afraid we are the more in knots our stomach will feel. I know this one is something I resonate with big time.

4. Heartaches and Chest Pains

Chest pain is not something we want to have to deal with, but for many of us, it is something we face often. Now in many cases, there is some kind of underlying issue but when that issue is emotional it could be hard to come to terms with. Grover says that when we are hurting emotionally it can make our chest hurt physically as well. Heartache on an emotional level can leave us hurting broken hearts are not something to take lightly even though they are common in this day and age.

5. Throat Issues

Oppression might not be something you think about often in current times, but it is a real part of some people’s lives whether they realize it or not and according to Grover oppression can manifest as throat and even voice issues. He claims that this is because we tend to silence ourselves and cause tension within the area itself.

6. Breathing Issues

This one also hit home for me big time. Breathing issues and anxiety seem to be quite common alongside one another. Trying too hard to repress those anxious feelings can really leave you gasping for air sometimes or at least it can for me, does this happen to you?

7. Numbness/Disconnectedness

When we begin feeling numb overall, it might not be as physical as we think it is, but it still feels that way. This according to Grover can be the result of some kind of trauma. Through disassociating or disconnecting we are distancing ourselves from it whether we realize it or not but that can have effects on our bodies.

8. Headaches/Migraines

When our lives are out of control, and we feel like we cannot do anything to regain control, we might end up with tension headaches or if severe enough migraine issues. This possibly being the result of burnout.

9. Fatigue/Exhaustion

When we find that we are feeling overly tired or unable to continue on, Grover says it could be stemming from some kind of resentment. This is because resentment stresses our body big time. The more we resent, the less we are able to enjoy our lives. When someone becomes overwhelmed with this feeling, bad things could end up happening.

10. Neck or Shoulder Pain/Muscle Aches

While something most people relate to overdoing their bodies, these things according to Grover could be the result of taking on too much in your life. If you’re constantly doing things for other people, you are taking on a huge burden and likely putting your own needs behind those of other people. This bringing aches and tightness to our muscles in these areas.

11. Outer Thigh Tension

Your past ends here and every sense of betrayal you have experienced here appears, but it is obvious that you ignore it. If this happens to you often, you need to figure out how to overcome it as soon as possible.

What do you think about the things Grover has found through his years of working with the public and helping people overcome emotional repression? I, for one, think that he is onto something and that I need to be working within to overcome some of the things I’ve come to understand about myself through reading his words.