How Negative Emotions Affect Your Health

The effects negative emotions have on your body are long and depletive - it places a tremendous amount of stress on your system and we all know how dangerous stress can be.

Negative emotions can affect your immune system, making you more prone to colds and 'flu; it can affect your hormones - which is a particular problem for women, causing an increased likelihood of premenstrual tension and menopausal problems. Negative emotions can also affect your circulatory system, your blood pressure, your digestion (stomach ulcers and indigestion) and it also causes insomnia in a lot of people. Sleep is restorative and essential for our overall well-being, so if you are deprived of sleep you are not going to function very well in your everyday life.

Letting go of negative emotions such as resentment and guilt, worry and anger will benefit your life in so many ways. How do you know if you have unresolved negative emotions which are affecting you physically and mentally? Well, that is simple. If you are constantly imagining someone's downfall or dreaming about them in some negative way then it is easy to say that you are harbouring negative emotions because of anger or jealousy or both. If you picture your own failures and misfortunes then it suggests that you are worried about your future or feel guilty about wanting success. When these thoughts are multiplied several times a day, you need to do something about it before it begins to cause stress.

Firstly, pay close attention to what your body is trying to tell you. For example, anger often expresses itself in a clenched jaw or fist, dry mouth, shallow breathing, impatience and a raised voice. These outward displays of anger do not stay on the surface. Inside your body, the anger is causing a chemical reaction which results in your blood pressure becoming elevated, your heart pounding faster, and your stomach tightening up. Your brain is likely to be sending a "fight or flight" message to your adrenal glands to release adrenalin throughout your body, which constricts your blood vessels and can potentially trigger a headache, back ache, high blood pressure, and, in the worst case scenario, a heart attack. As you can see, there is very little pay off for holding onto your negative emotions.

The key to letting go is to begin with your thoughts. It is our thoughts that create our emotions and luckily we have full control over what we think, even if it doesn't always feel like that! If you have negative thoughts, for example an angry thought about someone you dislike, it stands to reason it will create a negative feeling within you. If you replace your negative thoughts with positive thoughts the effect is reversed. Positive thoughts make us feel good, they produce positive emotions such as joy, happiness, love and empathy. And these positive emotions have a wonderful, beneficial outcome on our bodies - protecting us from stress and all its bad effects.

Want to learn how to banish your negative thoughts and emotions? Then visit / for all the answers you need to leading a positive and happy life.

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