Importance of emotions and bodily sensation

One of the most common requests I hear as a psychotherapist sounds like: “Help me overcome the fear of…” — public speaking, open spaces, flying, getting sick. Or: “I’m constantly irritated and angry, I don’t like it, help me get rid of it.”

But if we look closely, almost any request — whether it’s about relationships, anxiety, depression, crises, grief or loss — is really about one thing: the emotional experience a person is going through.   And that experience is often deeply uncomfortable.

This is why I work with methods that focus on emotions and bodily sensations. There are several reasons for that.

Reason One. Emotions take us where logic cannot.

We humans like to think of ourselves as rational beings. We explain, analyze, interpret. So much so that a simple question like “What are you feeling right now?” can leave a person confused. Instead of naming a feeling, they start describing circumstances or reasons — because naming the emotion itself can be surprisingly difficult.

It makes sense. Logic and structure feel safe. Emotions — especially strong ones — feel unpredictable, overwhelming, even dangerous.

But trying to understand the roots of our struggles only through rational thinking is often difficult, sometimes impossible, and in many cases simply doesn’t lead to change. Understanding something does not automatically mean being able to change it.

Working with emotions and the body allows us to access experiences that lie beyond words — often early wounds, preverbal memories, places where logic was never present to begin with.

Reason Two. Emotions are signposts to our needs.

We tend to label emotions as “good” or “bad,” usually based on how pleasant they feel. But even “positive” emotions can be hard to experience. Try recalling a moment of joy or gratitude — was it always easy to feel?

And take anger — unpleasant, “messy,” socially unwelcome. Yet how profoundly it can shift a situation once it finally finds a healthy form of expression.

Emotions arise in the ancient part of the brain — the limbic system, specifically the amygdala, which existed hundreds of millions of years before the prefrontal cortex evolved. That’s why when we’re overwhelmed by feelings, it’s hard to analyze or make decisions. And when we start analyzing — emotions naturally quiet down.

The amygdala scans for danger, triggers fight‑flight‑freeze responses, shapes social distance and empathy. So emotions are signals: How safe am I? How comfortable? Are my needs being met or ignored?

You might say: “Okay, I know this is anger or disgust — now let it go.” But emotions don’t leave until they’re convinced the need they signal has been addressed.

Disgust in a relationship? It points to a need for healthier boundaries — and until that need is met, the emotion will stay.

Becoming aware of emotions and bodily reactions gives us lived experience — the kind that helps us avoid repeating old mistakes. Our so‑called gut feeling is built on this unconscious processing of emotional and bodily cues.

Reason Three. To feel is to exist.

Feeling emotions means feeling yourself — your body, your aliveness. What is alive is vulnerable, changing, imperfect, and often illogical.

I once heard that Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” is more accurately translated as “I am aware.” And awareness is not only about thinking — it is also about feeling.

I invite you to explore your feelings and their connection with your body and how they are connected to your needs. Also, of course, in therapy we are looking for the ways how you can fulfill your needs.