Question

Where is anger stored in the body?

Answer 1

In the body, anger is stored in the liver, gallbladder, neck, jaw, shoulders and chest.

Physically, anger manifests through a quickened heart rate, adrenaline spikes and tightened muscles, which often stems from unexpressed emotional energy, repressed fight or flight responses.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the liver is considered the main storage site for chronic anger, frustration and also resentment.

Clenched jaws and stiff necks are also common areas where suppressed anger and unsaid words are also held.

And anger can also feel like a tightness or pressure under your ribs, which often affects your breathing.

Chronic anger and stress can also build up as tension in your shoulders, and reflect "weight" or "defensive" postures and feelings of powerlessness, which is often tied to anger, can also result in tension in your gut.

Anger triggers your body's fight or flight mechanism, releasing catecholamines, (adrenaline and noradrenaline), which causes immediate heart rate increases and muscle tension.

And when the anger is not expressed, the physiological mobilization stays in your body and leads to chronic muscle tightness, aches and even potential damage to tissues or organs.

Your nervous system and fascia also can hold onto this energy, and cause it to manifest as physical pain, like tension headaches, digestive issues etc.

And anger that is unprocessed can contribute to or even be a symptom of chronic stress, anxiety or even depression.

The emotion that is held in the hips is fear, sadness, anxiety and trauma.

The hips are also commonly known for being the body's emotional storage center for trauma, sadness, anxiety and fear.

As the junk drawer, the hips hold tension from control issues like power struggles, as well as repressed emotions.

And deep muscles like the psoas muscle, tighten around these emotions to be able to protect the body, especially during fight or flight responses.

The hips, most particularly the psoas muscle, are directly linked to the body's sympathetic nervous system and tighten when the body feels threatened.

The hips can also store deep emotional residue from past traumatic events for trauma and unresolved grief.

Pent up frustration can also be stored in the pelvic area like anger and resentment.

And shame and guilt are most particularly linked to the sacral chakra area of your pelvis.

And stiffness or the frozen feeling, is also stored in the hips, which is a physical manifestation of emotional suppression, that is often described as tight hips.

The reason why the hips store these emotions are due to the Psoas connection, fight or flight response and because the hips are considered an emotional junk drawer.

Because the hips are removed from the heart and head, the body often stores the difficult, unprocessed or deep emotions in the hips.

And when stressed out, the body also instinctively tries to curl up for protection, which causes the hip flexors to contract when you feel afraid or feel threatened.

And the psoas connection which is also known as the muscle of the soul, connects the torso to your legs, and is the first muscle to contract when you feel afraid or feel threatened.

To release stored emotions in your hips, you can engage in deep hip opening exercise that can result in an emotional release, like crying, laughing or even feeling immense relief.

Common practices for releasing stored up emotions in your hips include Yoga poses like the Happy Baby, Lizard Pose and Pigeon Pose.