How can you explain the physical sensation of “relief” in the middle of one’s trunk, right above abdomen and just below the chest, when crying? It feels like a gradual release of tension in that area.
In: Biology
That area is where our diaphram muscle lies. This is a large flat muscle that helps us draw a breath.
People with axiety disorders sometimes carry tension here.
Yoga, or even just learning yogic breathing can help with anxiety and loosening that muscle. This technique is the only thing that can stop my panic attacks.
A proper ‘belly breath’ (look that up if you would like to learn it) stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system and increases our feeling of calm.
Perhaps we sob sometimes to help regain calm?
Also, tears contain cortisol, a human stress hormone.
Edit: my curiosity got the beest of me. https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-crying
The solar plexus is a very complex ‘brain’ of neurons which creates ‘emotions’, which are physical feelings, by tensing the smooth muscles around the intestines, heart, liver, stomach etc.
Muscular tensions in specific places are interpreted by us as either good or bad feelings, and their purpose is to make us act in a way that keeps us alive, by doing more things that benefit us and avoiding things that hurt us. Crying serves three purposes: it allows us to release some of the muscular tension created by the solar plexus, it allows the excretion of certain ‘stress chemicals’ from the body, and it acts as a signal to other caring, empathic humans that we need comforting.
Latest Answers