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taking care of myself
hey guys just some reflections from today I wanted to share💙
Believe it or not. crying is a form of self-care and love.
For someone who grew up in a household where crying = weak, I grew up to believe it to be something completely different.
for me, crying = self-love / self-care.
Today, this constant feeling of overwhelm wrapped around me leading to dissociation and an inability to carry on a conversation with anyone. until 2 hours ago, when I cried, it felt like I cried it out of my system and feel so much better.
I remember watching a video where it was explained how crying is your body's way to balance itself from being overwhelmed by a specific emotion. it doesn't mean you're weak. it means your body feels. There are so many benefits to crying. Crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system and restores the body to a state of balance."
it releases endorphins and oxytocin, improves mood, helps you connect with others, helps cleanse your eyes, etc.
so the next time you feel the need to cry, let it out without shame or guilt or disgust. if it feels better alone, cry it out alone.
id love to hear about your moments where crying has helped.
Comments
@Midnight_skylight thankyou so much for this, I loved reading your post. I think that being able to unpack shame around big expressions of emotion is so important, particularly given how prevalent these types of sentiments are in our culture. I'm so glad that you've been able to do this 😊. I'm also glad you're feeling a bit better now!!
I myself and very much someone who embraces a good cry, and I totally agree with you - there's something able physically releasing emotion through the body that feels incredibly healing and cathartic. After a good cry I'm always conscious of a sense that any tension has completely left my body and just evaporated.
@Midnight_skylight thankyou so much for sharing, I loved reading this post. I'm definitely a person who loves a good cry now and then, it feels incredibly cathartic to me. There's something about being able to physically express emotion through the body that I think is so important, so helpful, and almost cleansing.
I think unpacking shame around big expressions of emotion like this is so so difficult, especially given how much these types of anti-emotion sentiments are in our culture. I'm so glad to hear that this is something that you've been able to do, and so glad to hear that you're feeling a bit better now.
I've never heard this about the parasympathetic nervous system and crying before, but that totally makes sense. I love this idea about crying to restore the body to a calmer state and therefore being something that helps you when you're upset - intuitively it's something I've always felt but have never quite been able to properly articulate.
I love this post, and thought I'd share a quote I heard years ago and still regularly plays in my mind:
"Sometimes people have to cry out all the tears to make room for a heart full of smiles" - Jamie Scott on One Tree Hill
Whenever I am feeling sad, overwhelmed, or just need to let out some tears, I remember this quote and am reminded that it is okay to cry and let out your emotions. In some cases, it is even a healthy release.
Thank you so much for posting this, it's so validating @Midnight_skylight 😊
Crying is so important and I hate that people are so often shamed for it. It does often make me feel much more balanced.
unfortunately, society plays a big role, labelling crying as a weakness when all it means is that you are human. no worries I'm glad I could help.
Thank you for this important post. You are so right about crying being a form of self love/self care. Every time I cry I almost always feel better afterwards. Just the other day I cried over something that seemed very overwhelming to me and I instantly started to feel just a little bit better. It's such a good reminder as well not to keep everything bottled up, otherwise you will feel worse.
Crying is definitely not a sign of weakness, I think it shows how strong you can be in situations and says a lot about your character. 🙂
10000 per cent about not bottling up. it's especially hard when you're used to bottling up and running on autopilot. reminders like this help us check back in with our bodies and express our emotions in healthy ways like crying, painting, writing poetry, etc; and remind us to pause.
Thank you so much. It's been really hard for me lately to do things like drink water, eat proper meals and stuff and manage my money properly. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing a terrible job at being an adult and my physical health is awful at the moment too, so it's been making me really anxious. I've booked a doctors appointment but I still can't help feeling anxious about my health. I've got assessments next week as well, so I feel like its even harder to take care of myself when there's other important things to do. I keep forgetting how important my own health is...
it seems like you are burnt out and functioning from a place of freeze state. You are doing the most to simply survive and you should be proud of yourself❤️ you're managing a lot at the moment it seems and it's taking a toll on your health.
there is no proper way of being an adult. it's about showing up for yourself and seeing what works for you and what doesn't. don't for a second beat yourself down and shame yourself for how things are looking at the moment. you are strong and resilient and will get through this.
things that can help and remember you don't have to do this alone.
maybe reaching out to a friend whom you trust and could offer you support? or possibly taking a few minutes a day to just sit down and meditate to help clear your mind?
Thank you so much for this. This has been so helpful for me. I hope you are going okay too. You deserve love and are super strong for helping other people as well. Keep healthy crying!! ❤️
ofcourse @sc0ut 🥰 anything I can do to help!! thank you for your beautiful message!! you go this champion! it made me smile from my heart. my new motto. keep healthy crying 💙