We get busy. We try to take our mind off our problems. We fight ourselves so that we don't have to experience them. We shove them deep into our being, pushing them deeper and deeper into ourselves until, after a while, we no longer are aware of them. When we suppress vs. experiencing and releasing our emotions, we go into resistance.
Resistance puts unnecessary stress and strain on the body.
It takes enormous amounts of physical energy to maintain the dam we have created to hold back our emotions. Then we don't have to look at them, feel them or experience them. We add bricks to a wall of energy that surrounds us until at its most extreme, it is as if we have no feelings at all. When we give ourselves permission to express all our feelings, no matter what we may call them, when we allow them to run their course, we always feel lighter, fresher and more centered. Often, simply to recognize them as they come up can make a difference.