3 awesome reasons why crying is super good for you!

I’ve become a self confessed prolific crier. I blub mostly at TV commercials featuring kids, movies featuring kids, watching my kids in a nativity play dressed as disheveled sheep, oh and ( please don’t judge me ) kids on any talent show like The Voice, Britains Got Talent and X Factor! I’m a quivering-lipped, blubbering, runny-nosed mess on a couch. What am I like? What has happened to me? To be fair though, I did get a little emotional before our boys came along, but since having the boys my water works leak more often than not. I seem to feel and sense so much more. My husband loves to secretly watch me for that moment when I sniff, clear my throat and pretend to hide behind my wine glass. Sure, being a mum seems to have turned me into an emosh cry baby, but I very rarely cry cry. I mean really cry. Until recently that is.

There is something so cleansing and therapeutic about having a good cry, right? Recently this happened to me. It was a moment of release that needed to happen. Whilst I’ve been busy spinning plates, keeping my head above water, trying new things and moving outside my comfort zone, until this moment, I had not taken time to stop and reflect on what’s happening in our household right now, which is a lot. To summarise, it’s all incredibly positive, but there we’re also plunging into the unknown, which comes with it’s peaks and troughs as we are in complete control of our own destiny. My husband and I are embarking on building our own businesses in the same year ( exciting, terrifying and slightly nuts ), we’ve had to review our lifestyle, finances, commitments and scale back things we’re normally used to, we’ve been moving at such a rate of speed that days and nights have whizzed by too. We’re having to schedule date nights or ‘no device’ nights when there are no phones, laptops or any screens in sight, or kids! Just us. There is also sometimes an overwhelming sense of responsibility as parents, and as adults.

So one evening, whilst watching a movie with my partner in crime ( it was probably Bridget Jones or something ), I started to blub right on cue, but this time I couldn’t stop. My usual ‘welling of the eyes’ turned into a full blown ball, complete with a blotchy red face and blocked nose, the works. Time to pause the film my husband thought to himself. But it was the best feeling to let go. I didn't have a specific reason why I was crying but I guess given it had been some time since I remember crying like this, the release felt extraordinary. I needed to let go! Really let go. I needed to expel pent up toxins of stress, worry and fear. Purge any feedings of doubt and doom. All of this is normal when there is so much change, new learnings and bravery taking place in one household. Talking about everything that was swirling in my head, like a brain dump, really helped too. And then after 10mins, I was fine! I couldn’t breathe through my left nostril and my eyes looked like I had been punched in the face, but I was feeling SO much better! And our Bridget Jones film rolled on, just like life I guess.

There are so many more reasons than just these 3 ..but the phenomenon we call “crying” can heal us physiologically, psychologically, and spiritually.

1. Did you know that Biochemist William Frey, who has been researching tears for as long as I’ve been searching for balance and sanity, found in one study that emotional tears, those formed in distress or grief, contained more toxic byproducts than tears of irritation (think onion peeling). Are tears toxic then? No! They actually remove toxins from our body that build up courtesy of stress. They are like a natural therapy or massage session, but they cost a lot less!

2. Did you know that tears really are like perspiration, in that exercising and crying both relieve stress? Tears remove some of the chemicals built up in the body from stress. The opposite is true too. Suppressing tears increases stress levels, and contributes to diseases aggravated by stress, such as high blood pressure, heart problems, and peptic ulcers!

3. Did you know it actually feels good? It feels human. We aren’t robotic and pillars of strength all the time. These vulnerable moments don’t mean we are weak or have failed. It’s a form of expression that helps us move through to the next phase. Onwards and upwards.

Now, have a good cry then dry your eyes princess. You're awesome.

Are you a cry baby like me? Would love to hear from you! Please comment below!