Why crying is powerful — the movement our body longs for

26 May

A woman with her eyes closed crying having her hands into prayer position

I hear it all the time around me:

"I haven't cried in years. I never really feel like I need to."

And then, on the other side, there are those of us who tear up from a beautiful song or when they see two older people walking hand in hand. (Nod along if you’re one of us. 🙏)

For years, I’ve experienced my own waves of emotional release—and after many inner debates about whether that's a good or bad thing, I now have a deep reference for tears.

I believe they are the doorway towards a deeper healing.

In movement or in freeze

I’d like to look at our system—our inner world, emotions, body—as either being in movement or static. It’s a simple yet powerful lens. When something moves, it flows, it changes shape, it adapts. When something is static, it stiffens, holds, resists.

Think about it: when we are emotionally overwhelmed but keep going, keep “being fine,” there is a kind of inner holding that happens. A freeze. That’s static. The emotion is still there—it hasn’t gone anywhere—but it’s unexpressed, waiting for a safe opening to move.

Crying is one of the ways our system returns to movement.

It’s not just about tears falling. It’s about the emotional texture behind them—the shaking in the chest, the breath that stutters, the warmth in the throat. It’s the body thawing. The inner tension beginning to loosen.

In stillness, our emotions harden into patterns—of avoidance, of people-pleasing, of perfectionism. In movement, they get to evolve. They soften. They surprise us. What once felt unbearable starts to become bearable, only because we finally let it move through.

Movement doesn’t always look big or dramatic. It can be a quiet sigh. A tear you didn’t expect. A hand resting on your own heart. But it’s the difference between holding it all in vs. letting some of it out.

This is why emotional release, like crying, can be such a turning point. It creates momentum. It signals to our whole being: you don’t have to stay stuck in this loop anymore.

With crying comes softening. Emotions that once felt too overwhelming to face finally get the space to tell their story. It’s vulnerable, yes. But afterward? There’s often peace. A weight is lifted.

So what happens when we cry?

The physiology of tears

When we cry emotional tears, our body is actually doing something brilliant. Unlike reflex tears (from chopping onions) or basal tears (which keep our eyes moist), emotional tears release stress hormones like cortisol. They’re part of our body’s natural detox process. Crying also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the “rest and digest” response, helping us calm down and regulate.

What happens to our nervous system?

Crying can shift our nervous system out of a state of survival (fight, flight, freeze) into a more grounded place. It’s often the signal that something deep within us is ready to be witnessed. That regulation, that settling, is why we often feel lighter or more peaceful afterward.

Giving space to the unheard parts

I believe we’re full of different inner voices—sometimes contradicting each other. One tells us to push through, to keep going. Another whispers that we’re tired, that we need rest. And then there’s the critical voice judging the whole thing.

To cope with the noise, we often push certain feelings aside so we can function. But these parts don’t disappear—they just go quiet in the background, until they’re safe enough to emerge.

Crying is a moment when one of those quiet parts steps forward. It asks to be seen. Maybe it’s a part carrying grief, fear, or confusion. Maybe it’s a part that just needs comfort, not logic. And when we allow it to speak—through tears—we’re giving it a place at the table. We’re saying: I see you. I hear you. You matter.

That’s why, so often after a good cry, we find ourselves saying: "It doesn’t feel so heavy anymore." or "Wow, I didn’t even know I felt that way, but I feel lighter now."

Tears don’t mean we’re broken. They mean we’re regulating ourselves and we’re listening to our bodies.

So if you’re someone who cries easily—bless that sensitivity. And if you haven’t cried in a long time, that’s okay too. Just know the door is always open when you’re ready.