What Your Body Remembers (And Why That Matters)

Before you read on...

This one might touch something deep, so grab a cuppa and give yourself permission to feel whatever comes up. That's all part of the process.

As a Qigong teacher and working with private clients, I've often witnessed women becoming unexpectedly emotional - sometimes tearful - during lung-focused practices.

It can happen quietly, during an exercise, tears start flowing. And almost always, at the end of the class she will come to me to apologise and say, “I don't know where that came from".

But I do. And deep down, you know, and so do they.

"The body keeps the score" - Bessel van der Kolk

This simple truth has been understood in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. Our bodies don't just experience emotions - they store them. In our organs, our tissues, in our very cells. Every grief we've held in, every fear we've pushed down, every frustration we've held back... it all lives somewhere in our physical body.

And sometimes, when we move our body in particular ways or breathe in particular patterns, those stored emotions ask to be released.

What Your Organs Are Holding

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), each major organ system is associated with specific emotions. Not metaphorically - but as actual energy that gets stored when we don't fully process what we're feeling.

What's fascinating is that Western medicine is beginning to validate what TCM has known for a long time. Take the lungs and grief, for example. When we experience deep grief, what happens physically? We struggle to breathe. Our chest feels tight and constricted. The connection between our lungs and our grief isn't metaphorical - it's physiological. Our respiratory system literally responds to emotional pain.

The Lungs hold grief, sadness, and loss. That heaviness in your chest when you're holding back tears… that's real. That tightness when you breathe… your lungs are remembering what you haven't let go of.

The Kidneys hold fear. Deep, primal fear. The kind that makes your lower back ache, that keeps you awake at 3am, that makes you feel constantly unsafe even when there's not really any immediate threat.

The Liver holds anger, frustration, and resentment. All that suppressed rage you've been taught is "unladylike" or "too much." It's sitting in your liver, creating tension in your shoulders, tightness in your jaw, that chronic feeling of being wound up.

The Heart holds impatience, hastiness, even hatred. But also, anxiety - particularly the kind that manifests as racing thoughts, restlessness, that scattered, overwhelmed feeling.

The Spleen and Stomach hold worry. That churning, heavy sensation in the middle of your body. That's not just stress - it's worry taking up residence in your digestive system. (Anxiety can live here too. The "nervous tummy" kind that affects your digestion and creates that pit in your belly feeling).

This isn't woo-woo. This is ancient wisdom that Western medicine is now beginning to understand and validate.

Why This Matters for You

For many midlife women (like myself) - by the time we reach this stage of life, we've accumulated years of unexpressed emotions.

Grief, we didn't have time to process because we had to keep functioning.
Fear we pushed down because we had to appear strong.
Anger we held in because we were taught to be nice.
Worry we carried alone because everyone needed us to have it together.

But our bodies have been keeping score the entire time.

Chronic tension in your shoulders might be decades of suppressed frustration.
Tightness in your chest that won't shift - perhaps is unprocessed grief.
Anxiety that seems to have no clear cause - might be fear your body's been holding since you were too young to name it.

Your body remembers everything you've tried to forget.

But there's something important to understand. You can't think your way out of what's stored in your body. You can't logic away grief that lives in your lungs. You can't positive-think away fear that's nested in your kidneys.

You have to move it. You have to breathe it. And you have to release it.

How We Help Our Bodies Let Go

This is where gentle movement practices like Qigong become so powerful. When we move in specific ways, when we breathe with intention, when we make particular sounds that resonate with different body organs - we are not just exercising.

We are giving our bodies permission to release what they've been holding.

Those women who feel emotional during lung exercises - their bodies are finally letting go of grief they've been carrying for years. The tears are not a breakdown – they are a breakthrough.

This is why I'm so passionate about making these practices accessible to you. Not just in my classes, but in ways you can use at home, whenever you need them.

That's exactly why I've created my YouTube channel - so you have access to gentle practices that help release what your body's been storing. Short, simple movements you can do in your kitchen, your bedroom, your garden, wherever you need them.

Because healing doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes it's just about giving your body the space and the movement it needs to let go.

Your Invitation This Month

This February, I invite you to get curious about what your body might be holding.

Not to analyse it or rush the process. But simply to acknowledge this:

My body has been carrying things for me. And maybe it's time to help it release some of that weight.

You don't need to know exactly what you're releasing. You don't need to understand every emotion that surfaces. You just need to move, breathe, and trust that your body knows what it needs to let go of.

A practice to try

This month on my YouTube channel, I'll be sharing Qigong practices designed to naturally support your body's ability to release and restore. Whether you need to release grief from your lungs, fear from your kidneys, or worry from your stomach - there's something there for you.

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I'll be adding new practices regularly, so if you'd like to be notified when new videos drop, please subscribe to the channel and click the bell 🔔

Start with whatever practice calls to you. Trust that your body will guide you to what you need. And if emotions surface - let them. That's not weakness. That's your body finally feeling safe enough to release what it's been holding.

Your body has been keeping the score for years. Maybe it's time to help it clear the slate.

Breathe & believe lovely, 💫

Lorraine