Why you should cry.

You're probably either one of those people who never cries - or one of those people who seems to cry all the time. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm one of the latter. Earlier this week my partner embarrassingly told a story about how I cried at the airport for like an hour, even though he was only going away on a trip for about 10 days. Yep. I'm that person. And even though I'm usually mortified if anyone sees me cry, I've started becoming more okay with it. Why? Because I realised it's extremely beneficial.

Earlier in life, I never used to cry. I hated crying, but also just never really felt the need to. What's the point? It wasn't an automatic reaction, and it's not like I could force myself to cry. It just wasn't a thing. Recently, I've come to realise that this is a sign of being closed off to your emotions. And even repressing them. I used to get really really bad muscle tension, all over my body - but especially in my shoulders. It got so bad that I would experience excruciating headaches as a result. Turns out it was because of stress. My body was storing all that stress in my muscles. And it sucked big time.

I've come to realise that if I don't express my emotions, they're stored in my body. Whether that be through muscle tension, a sore tummy or lack of energy - emotions manifest physically if you hold on to them. I'm at the point where I almost think my food intolerances may have a direct correlation to poor stress management. Cray cray!

So, how do we get those emotions out and save our poor bodies the struggle of storing them? We cry. We cry like a little baby who needs a feed. Crying is like waste removal for emotions. It helps you digest the good stuff, and expel the crap stuff. Yes, crying is like pooping out your shit feelings. Isn't that a fun comparison?

Whenever I'm stressed, I have a good cry and usually feel much better afterwards. If I'm overwhelmed, I have a good cry and feel relieved. If I'm angry, I have a good cry and suddenly everything isn't so bad. Don't get me wrong - I actually hate crying. It's yucky and it makes my face swell and it feels awful. But it's useful. Like how vomiting is the worst thing to experience, but sometimes you just need to get that kebab straight back out.

Crying may be yucky, but it's a billion times better than the alternative. Better out than in, right!? If you're one of those people who cries a lot, don't be ashamed comrade. And if you're one of those people who rarely cries, maybe next time you're having some strong feelings, try to let go of them instead of pushing them inside.