Top 10 Reasons To Let Yourself CRY!

If you’re anything like me you’re a gold medal Olympic sobber.

Anything can make me cry. It’s not even that stuff makes me cry,  it’s more that crying just comes and flows through me.

It often feels so big it’s like it originates from the Big Bang and is pulsing through my body in big Cosmic waves; grief, sadness, joy, loss . . . It’s intense.

I’ve had to become very good friends with my crying, because when it comes, it comes, and it comes often.

I’d like to share with you my thoughts on why I think crying is good for you.

So here goes – 10 Super Good Reasons To let Yourself CRY!

1) Crying reduces stress and washes the toxic chemicals caused by stress, out of the body.

2) Aside from removing toxic chemicals from your body, crying also has the psychological benefit of lifting our mood and helps us to deal with painful situations. Deep crying is good for you in that it exposes and releases deep emotions. Often I have no idea where these deep emotions originate from, but its good to let them out otherwise they make me highly irritable, narky and sick.

‘The Freudian theory is that it’s beneficial to get feelings out, that if you let them fester they can affect you physically and psychologically,’ says Professor Gail Kinman, an occupational health psychologist who has carried out research on crying in the workplace.

Having a mega sob session makes you feel emotionally cleansed afterwards. Imagine feeling really sick and you just know you need to vomit to let something out, but you’re a bit afraid of it cause you know it’s an intense experience to puke! Having a big cry is a bit like that. But how much better do you feel once you’ve chucked it all up? Relief hey. Crying is the same, massive crying anyway, the style that I’m into.

3) Crying infront of others unlocks their compassion. When you dissolve into tears and are in your vulnerability you give others the  opportunity to connect with you at a heart to heart level. Ok, so there’s perhaps some people that milk this and use it as an attention sucker. That’s not what I’m meaning. I’m meaning that if you’re genuinely feeling and crying and showing your truth it is an opportunity for the other to meet you where you are at, to empathize, to connect in, to feel compassion. Don’t you just feel blessed when others feel safe enough to cry in your company? I love that. I think crying is utterly beautiful and humbling.

4) Crying can help your creativity.  When I’m bunged up with emotion that’s needing an outlet one very good companion channel for the release of tears is writing, poetry, song-writing, drawing, painting, dancing. Just letting it flow can trigger inspiration in these creative areas. For instance today I’ve been feeling super emotional and very tearful, I’ve been quietly sobbing and hugging myself wondering how I can channel this in a way that is healing, hence why I’m writing this blog.  Ask yourself “How can I express what I’ve just been through in a way that will inspire/help others?” then cry your eyes out and get creative.

“I cry very easily. It can be a movie, a phone conversation, a sunset–tears are words waiting to be written.” – Paulo Coelho

5) Be above average! I found this detail online – “On average women cry 47 times a year and men a mere seven.” And I thought ‘Shit! I am not the average woman!” I cry a lot more than that. And if I haven’t cried for ages I start feeling weird, constipated kind of. Nowadays I consider myself a champion of crying. I see it as an absolute strength. We’ve all been taught not to show our feelings, that it’s weak and unacceptable. Fuck that! Cry! Champion others who do. Don’t fix it, there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s their humanity blazing through. Be above average! Show others it’s ok to cry. Come on man let’s have a cry-a-thon! (It would end in laughing I swear, they’re so linked, which brings me to . . .)

6) Crying is a bit like laughter, as in they are both emotions of release. Watch this Abraham Hicks video to hear a little more on their perspective of that –

7) Crying helps you let go. It’s purging something deep within you and you may not even know where it’s coming from or what it’s related to. It could be coming from some dark buried feelings or some ancient losses that we think we’ve forgotten about. If the crying comes let it flow, so much from so many places deep within us is being released.

“To weep is to make less the depth of grief.” – William Shakespeare

8) Being unafraid of crying makes you strong. I believe this without a shadow of a doubt. All I need to do is look around me and I can see people holding it in all the time. It seems very rare that someone just lets themselves weep. Imagine if we were all doing that with laughter, Whoa, that would be fucked up! Well, not crying is as fucked up as that. It causes stress to remain and stagnate in the body, which causes dis-ease. When you become one of the few who allows themselves to cry in public, sure, you get some weird looks and some folk feel uncomfortable but you, YOU my friend are getting stronger, bolder, braver, more able to show your true self. And what we need in this world are more role models of truth, showing and being how it is. I’ve been training myself in crying now for the past 7 years and I admit it still feels like I’m about to die when I unzip and let the tears flow in front of someone else. But, They are flowing quicker and faster and I’m over it sooner.

“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

9) Crying helps you grow as a person. I’ve had this image in my mind for a long time that has helped me befriend my tears – I see myself as a beautiful plant/flower/tree and each time I am crying and soaking the ground at my feet those tears are watering and nourishing the very roots of my being. Whenever I am with someone who is crying I see this so clearly. I see growth, beauty, openness, a willingness in them to see where they are at, strength. So much comes from my crying. This writing right now is coming from my crying. It’s all movement, it’s all energy, it’s all evolution. It feels good to share. Oh my word, I’m welling up again . . .

10) Crying can help you fall in love with yourself. All of things I’ve mentioned above; the beauty that you learn to appreciate when in the company of someone who is sobbing their heart out, you learn this for yourself too. When I fall into a sobbing session I realise that the only person who really knows how I feel in that moment is myself. I imagine myself in my minds eye and I share with her and we hug each other. Ok, so it’s not a real hug, but everything starts in the imagination! I imagine seeing the younger parts of me that have been holding the tears in,  are coming out and I imagine being with them, loving them, hugging them, talking with them. I start hugging and stroking myself and kissing myself all up my arms and stroking my hair and face as I cry. The result is that I feel really cared for and loved. I love myself more and more every day.

11) We deserve an extra point here – Cats and dogs will give your more attention when you’re crying. Aren’t they just amazing like that? They seem to zone in with their emotion healing radar. This evening Pusskins just came right over and snuggled into my armpit ad purred across my heart for a while. Spontaneous unconditional love and  a good reason to cry!