Is crying or sobbing necessary for integrationand release ?

[jambonsambo]

John I just came across your book and I couldnt put it down. I wished I had read it years ago . I went through a period of grief when I was a teenager or rather I should say I didnt go through it I suppressed it totally until the point where my body started to revolt and even then I took antidepressants to keep the lid on it all. It has all started to come back up into conciousness now and Im quite literally stuck so I found it a definite example of synchronicity that your book landed on my lap . I am doing some tai chi at the moment , as far as I can tell it ticks a lot of the right boxes as far as bodywork is concerned and I actually credit it with churning up a lot of repressed grief and anger I hope to start yoga soon also on your recommendation  .

I am noticing a cycle where the emotional suffering I go through builds and builds and eventually saps a lot of my will and energy and shows up as aches in my heart and throath chakra areas , then there comes an emotional release which I can  usually trigger through listening to emotive music or it may be brought on by something like  watching a movie that relates to the grief  issue . The tears and deep sobs seem to relieve some of the pressure and I start again at the beginning of the cycle .

I was wondering is this  outpowering or release through crying is always necessary ? Is it enough just to feel and experience the raw energy of the depression/sadness / grief without mental judgements  in order  to integrate  or must there also  be crying or a  release through the mouth .

Another thing which really resonated with me from your book was how you spoke of people losing their place in the world as they engage in this type of self work. I no longer feel motivated by the things which used to motivate me and  yet I  have a lot of negative energy to integrate so i feel like I am in a bit of a no mans land and it is scary indeed .

Thanks again John , as someone else here said this approach to dealing with the human condition would be invaluable if it was introduced to young people in school settings

Jambon

[John Ruskan]

Here's what I was recently writing about this subject:

emotionalism
Another type of reactive emotional impulse to watch out for is emotionalism. This is when we are overly emotional - easily agitated, reacting with what appears to be strong feeling or even hysteria, and possibly continual anguished crying. Emotionalism is another way that we unconsciously react in order to defend ourselves from confronting core feelings. Continual emotionalism does not release feelings, as may appear. It is only a diversion. Crying can be good at the right time; it can coincide with emotional release. Excessive crying suggests that it is no longer performing this function, but has become a means of avoidance - turning away from the core feeling. Try to restrain excessive crying by looking with a clear awareness into the feeling level - look for the feeling behind the event of crying. Your awareness (intellectual level) can control the unproductive reactive emotionalism of crying as a defense on the lower feeling level.Try to stay detached, impassive, witnessing the feeling when you get to it. You definitely don't need to be actively expressing emotion in order to clear core feelings.

When you get to the core feeling, you are usually in a quiet, highly alert state. In a way, you're beyond tears, which are more concerned with emotions; core feelings are concerned with feelings - there's a difference.