It dates me, I know, to admit I danced to this song when it became a Pop hit in 1963. The vocalist, Lesley Gore, is crying over a lost love, but, as we all know, there can be myriad reasons for crying.
I grew up in a family that valued stoicism over emotional display, and I was the family member who found it impossible to adhere to that creed. I cried. My tears were often a source of embarrassment for other family members, admonishment from my parents, and a sense of shame for me. My relationship with crying has changed over the years. I now welcome tears, appreciate their gifts, and shed them fearlessly.
When tears begin to flow during a Reiki session, the client often apologizes or attempts to control their emotion. I, on the other hand, encourage the tears. As a practitioner, the tears represent a release of energy, an indication that healing is taking place, and evidence that the client is actively participating in the healing process. Most of us have experienced the stress relief and enhanced mood that comes with crying, and I have, on occasion, suggested to clients that perhaps what they need is a “good cry.”
Tears are not only cathartic for the one shedding them, but also a means of forging deeper connections with others when we cry because we are moved by their suffering. What I did not know about tears before reading a recent article in The New Spirit Journal, is that crying provides biological as well as emotional benefits. According to the author, Deanna Minich, PhD, research indicates that crying can actually reduce inflammation, provide better pain management, and extend life expectancy. Read the article, “Don’t Let Anyone Tell You Not to Cry—Here’s why.”
One of the ways Reiki supports healing is by gently facilitating the release of held emotion. The beauty of this process is that there is no need for the client to revisit trauma they may have experienced in order to be freed from the energy associated with it. If you are on a healing path, let Reiki ease the way.
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Related posts:
Using Reiki to Ease the Burden of Grief
Come as you are. “Bad” attitudes welcome here.
©2018 Marianne Streich, Reiki for Living. All rights reserved. For reposting permission, contact Marianne.
Marianne is a Seattle-Area Reiki Master Teacher and Practitioner. She is the author of Reiki: A Guide for the Practice of Levels I and IIanda former editor, contributor, and columnist for Reiki News Magazine. See her current class schedule.
Your blogs are always so spot on ….relevant and written with such heart felt emotion. I’m thinking many of us are crying these days and it’s good to be reminded of its healing benefits……and I sang a lot to this song as a teenager…..wish I could have been dancing along with you. karen
Thank you, Karen. It is fun to think about what it would have been like had we known each other as teenagers. I am forever grateful for the celestial wizardry that orchestrates our human connections and that has given me a family of friends to cry—and laugh—with.
Hi Marianne,
I certainly agree with all you say.
Many years ago I was in the presence of a very holy man. He was speaking about spiritual matters but all I remember is sitting in the audience, literally bent over in my seat, sobbing–crying my heart out. Something karmic was happening there.
I don’t cry easily so this stands out in my mind. The other significant carthartic crying episode in my life was at my mother’s bedside when she died. It was a blessing she died peacefully after a lot of suffering but I sobbed at her bedside, as if my heart would break!
Much love,
Pearl
Thank you, Pearl, for sharing your thoughts. My reaction to my mother’s very sudden death was similar to yours. My family and the nurses were appalled, and I was quickly ushered from of the hospital. In situations such as these, I think emotion wells up from deeper levels than we can consciously comprehend. How blessed we are to have tears as a safety valve for the heart. Much love to you and yours, M