Wholeness Healing Center

Allow Those Tears to Flow – Release Toxins and Feel Better

“What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.” – Jewish Proverb

Tears cleanse us in many ways.  We cry different kinds of tears.  Tears helps to lubricate and protect our eyes which is secreted as we blink. Tears also reflexively form as protection to environmental irritants. And tears happen when we have emotional moments. These emotional tears are what most of us talk about when we talk about crying. Sometimes when we share our emotional tears, (whether we wanted to share or not) we have judgment around the situation, not wanting to share our vulnerabilities with others especially if our tears arise without our ability to control them or “stop them”.

In the interest of being kind and nonjudgmental with ourselves, we might want to talk about the health benefits of crying.  Dr. William Frey from the Ramsey Medical Center is the “tear expert”.  (Judith Orloff, 2010) In his research of tears, he found that tears that lubricate and clean our eyes are 98% water whereas emotional tears contain stress hormones and toxins which get released from our body through crying.  These emotional tears also release other toxins which come from our stress.  Emotional tears have 24% higher levels of albumin protein. This helps with metabolic regulation.  (Duczeminski, 2017)    Other toxic cleanses are that manganese is released when we cry.  This mineral is important for absorbing calcium, metabolizing fat and regulating blood sugar.  Too much of it tends to result in fatigue, anxiety and aggression.  A teardrop contains as much as 30 times the amount of manganese than is in our blood.  (Locke, 2017)  And studies have shown that 89% of people feel better after crying.  Along with the release of stress hormones and toxins, emotional tears also stimulate the production of endorphins which is the body’s natural pain killer and “feel-good” hormones.  Crying does have a physiological effect on us in cleansing the body of pent-up emotions and toxins and then giving us the boost we need after we have flushed our system.

Along with the physical detoxing of our body, crying is also good for us emotionally.  It can help to heal the heart. It is healthy to cry.  Crying can help us emotionally clear sadness and stress, resolve grief, and process the losses we are experiencing. It helps us in expression of our feelings and communicating with others that we are sad. In fact, crying has been found to be more effective than an antidepressant with improved mood being reported almost 90% of the time after a good cry. (Wallen, 2017)

Suppression of our emotions (and our tears) is the perfect recipe for setting up depression.  Allowing our feelings to move through us naturally, as we need to, is really the perfect medicine.  If we experience a crying moment, allow the tears.  As they bubble up they are giving us the message that it is time to release some of the emotions we feel.  (Judith Orloff, 2010) And with that release we can allow a physical and emotional cleansing to happen, spontaneously, as the body and mind see fit.

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” – Washington Irving

Works Cited

Duczeminski, M. (2017, June 27). 8 Health benefits of crying many people don’t know. Retrieved from Lifehack Blog: http://www.lifehack.org/295683/8-health-benefits-crying-many-people-dont-know

Judith Orloff, M. (2010, July 27). https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/emotional-freedom/201007/the-health-benefits-tears. Retrieved from Psychology Today: www.psychologytoday.com

Locke, R. (2017, June 27). Why people who cry a lot are mentally stronger, healthier and freer. Retrieved from Lifehack: http://www.lifehack.org/317309/why-people-who-cry-lot-are-mentally-stronger-healthier-and-freer

Wallen, D. (2017). 9 Surprising benefits of crying or why it is okay to have a good cry. Retrieved from Lifehack Blog: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/9-surprising-benefits-crying-why-its-okay-have-good-cry.html

 

 

Tags: benefits of crying, Tears serve a purpose