Laugh to keep from crying

The Situation

I sometimes have clients who come in, wanting me to work on an area of their body that’s holding pain. Plain and simple, they want it gone or alleviated. Once I trace it to its roots, they often laugh and become ticklish instead of going “Ouch!”, leaving them in confusion.

In my studies, I’d often hear my teachers say “it should be a feel good pain”, meaning if the client is holding their breath, it’s too much pressure applied to the area. If you’re holding your breath, your body will not release the tension; it will hold it in, just as you’re holding in your breath, trying to keep it from hurting, or because you can’t face the pain.

Instead, the body will laugh to keep from crying to get the tension out.

Some people are afraid to face what hurt them; letting go means it has to come to the surface. They don’t want to process it to get it out of their system, and some don’t know how. So now, vices and are picked up just to cope with it (externally or internally) just to satisfy the trauma. Coping mechanisms learned to cover what cannot be expressed.

The thing is, the body will choose to express it the best it can and this can be how you lash out at others, or even diseases in the body.