Crying.....................

The other day i was talking to one of my friends about personal motivation and stress relaxation tecchniques.It went around the most obvious technique of Yoga.........and pranayam then laughing.

My friend sometimes (i call her psychic)always has the uncanny ability to sprung surprises on me, and this time too  she did the same..........

Crying she said.......What yes.......crying........yes the same process of releasing protein rich salty fluid from the eyes along with some alien vocalisations and heavy breathing. This according to her gives her the strength and courage to face the unknown....and relieves her off the tensions, past depressions and of course makes you feel more better.

So my mind started working back, about how many times i had actually cried recently... Infact i have cried many times......i have cried for characters in films and books.......cried while playing an emotionally charged game..burst into tears whenscrewed a important certification exam....more recently on the death of my neighbours cute little kitty......

And though i am thinking about his right now.........i actually felt better. It relieved me of the intense stress, depression and made me to accept things that are beyond our conscious control. Eureka !

Indeed crying is theraupeutic and this has been validated by Psychotherapists and counsellors from all over the world.

One need to acknowledge ones tears and  sadness and see them as a valid reaction to things that are going on in life ..
One don't necessarily feel better in that the feelings that led me to cry have gone but it allows you to move on in some sense during the day you have a cry ...  crying is probably  good  because it means that you're forced to be in the moment and confront your feelings

A very similar pattern is found in laughter, particular the infectious laughter of a group, again with tears but the starting stimulus involves humour rather than sadness or loss.

From a biological perspective three kinds of tears are distinguished ; "Basal tears" are continuous and lubricate our eyes; "reflex or infant tears" occur when we chop onions or receive a blow to the eye; "emotional tears" are psychologically caused.

There is substantial  experimental evidence of the difference between the biochemical composition of emotional tears compared to irritant tears.  The protein concentration of emotional tears was 24% greater than irritant tears.  The complex proteins in emotional tears were those involved in the human stress response.  Tears actually perform a sort of physical catharsis, expelling toxins from the body.

There are examples  galore of people using cry as a manipulative medium. There are very  few exceptions (males)  who have escaped or havnt succumbed to the Worlds greatest power aka womens tears........

Crying is indeed an emotional processing exercise. A very strong and effective one..........