Understanding the Stigma Around Crying in Public: Embracing Emotions

Crying in public can feel uncomfortable, and many people, often associate tears with weakness. It’s common for counsellors to hear client’s express shame about crying, a sentiment I used to share.

Throughout my childhood, teenage years, and even into my younger adulthood, I was often labelled a "crier." I experienced sadness frequently, and while some comments from others were supportive, many were not. Interestingly, after completing my four-year training to become a counsellor, I found that my tears had significantly decreased. While I still cry—because, let’s face it, life can be tough—I’ve learned to embrace my emotions rather than hide them.

Why Crying is Stigmatized

When we celebrate joy and excitement in our lives, why do we shy away from sadness? It seems society has conditioned us to feel uncomfortable with tears. This discomfort often stems from not knowing how to respond to someone else's sadness. It’s crucial to recognize that someone’s tears do not diminish their strength; instead, they are a natural response to life’s challenges.

Validating Emotions

In my past experiences, I noticed that when I cried, others often reacted with awkwardness or dismissal, as if my emotions were unwarranted. However, our feelings are valid and appropriate to our circumstances. When someone cries, they may not need solutions; they might just need presence. Sometimes, all a person requires is a compassionate listener who asks, "What do you need right now?"

Embracing Tears: A Path to Healing

Understanding the significance of tears can foster deeper connections. Encouraging open discussions about emotions, including sadness, can help reduce the stigma surrounding crying. Whether in therapy or daily life, supporting others during their vulnerable moments is vital.

In conclusion, it's essential to normalize crying as a part of the human experience. Let’s create an environment where we can share both our joys and our sorrows without fear or shame. Embrace your emotions, and remember: it’s perfectly okay to cry.

At the end of the day, crying just like every other response to emotions passes, it won’t last forever.

Nervous system regulation yoga [Video]

Regulating your nervous system can be achieved in many ways, and yoga is a great option. I’m not talking about complex poses; simple stretching can help calm your body and mind.

Personally, I use gentle stretches to relieve neck pain caused by stress, allowing me to release tension and destress effectively. It’s important to listen to your body—avoid overstretching and focus on what feels good. If a stretch causes discomfort, skip it. Pay attention to how you feel before and after stretching. Try this approach with the short 15-minute video provided and see how it works for you! (Unfortunately this video does have an advert in the middle but if you can ignore that I think its great)

Building resilience: How support and self-discovery help us overcome fear [short clip]

This is my daughter, and she has been learning how to skateboard...

The experience of drop-ins off the ramp can be quite daunting, as your mind and body instinctively signal that it’s not safe, prompting a natural desire to recoil. At this stage, regulating your nervous system can become challenging.

However, with the right support and thanks to a skilled instructor from at Lets Go Skate —her confidence grew throughout the session, allowing her to succeed repeatedly. She felt amazing, proud of her achievements and motivated to keep going and so she should she overcame a fear. Not an easy thing to do.

Facing fears is never easy, even when we genuinely want to overcome them. Having the right support system in place is crucial for building confidence and independence. Life will always present challenges; even the instructor shared his own experiences with mental blocks while attempting new tricks. It’s important to recognize that feeling fear is a completely human experience. If fear becomes debilitating, seeking support is essential.

Life IS challenging and scary at times. In therapy, individuals learn to understand themselves, their fears, their past and present experiences. While this journey can be intimidating, it also leads to discovering joys, happiness, and resilience. You’ll learn how to regulate your mind and body, enabling you to live a more balanced and fulfilling life. And yes, you might even learn to skate if that’s your passion!

I am not affiliated with Lets Go Skate but I do want to take a moment to express my gratitude for helping build my daughter’s confidence, this is not my area of expertise but I truly believe they are excellent at working with the children/teens to encourage and build their resilience and confidence. Remember, the right support is vital for personal growth and overcoming challenges.

No-one is perfect and at times we will fall and it might hurt but the choice to seek support is there.