Cry your heart out to alleviate pain

The principle that crying has therapeutic effects on our psyche evolved ages ago. Philosopher Aristotle believed that crying could purify the mind by alleviating emotional stress, through the expression of emotions.

Psychologists call this progression catharsis. The idea of catharsis is not new ' it has its bearings in indigenous narratives and in Freud's work. Aristotle also believed that theatre served a function in catharsis, just as much as the celluloid does to us today.

Do we not feel relaxed after a bout of crying, while watching a Bollywood tear-jerker?

Science has not fully understood the chemical drama, or nitty-gritty, of our tears. What research testifies is that some chemicals found in tears, such as beta-endorphins, play a useful role in allaying pain.

Tears release emotional tensions, just as much as a workout at the gym does. They also restore our body to a state of balance akin to meditation.

Crying boosts a host of physiological, or functional, processes. This is represented by way of facial expression, muscle tension and also release. Many of us know and also observe how facial tension escalates in the forehead, while pulling the eyebrows in unison.

In like manner, stress brings about changes in the jaw and mouth, while flattening the corners of our lips. When we cry, we release tonnes of muscular tension. This, in turn, leads to a reflex state of reduced, or resolved, muscle tension ' the easing of a stressful situation, or misery.

Crying is a natural response to pain, disappointment or grief. Yet, many of us shy away from crying, or put up a brave front hiding our gloom or even suppressing it.

This bottle up our nerves ' it can, at some unearthly hour, go askew like a ruptured pressure valve. We are all creatures of habits. We were chided for crying, when we were kids. The tradition continues.

We castigate our children when they cry. The bottom line is ' we do not acknowledge the healing power of tears. Crying is nothing short of instant nirvana from unhappiness, or hurt.

It helps us to release toxins. If this isn't natural detox, a process of purging toxins or chemicals, what is? Crying is indispensible for emotional healing, a method of catharsis, or cleansing our body of stresses and tensions accumulated from time to time.

There's more to tears than what meets the eye. We are apparently frightened of our tears. What if we do not control our tears and allow them to run amuck in front of others?

There is nothing to fear, so long as we release our tears to face things head-on, without being marooned by a glut of problems that we can't control or manage.

There is a method to tears because, where there are tears, there is always a way. We need to re-learn and re-educate ourselves that crying is therapeutic. It is nature's most wonderful tool to 'let go' and feel relieved when stress hits us with notice, or without notice.

Crying restores our mind and body to natural balance. We have all gone through the process and know it from the inside out, while feeling empowered with its curative properties.

Crying is kinetic energy ' it does not hinder our ability to feel elated or blissful. In like manner, it celebrates happiness by ridding ourselves of accrued negative energy. Have we all not experienced it? When we release emotional tensions, we are better able to bear emotions in us and in others.