Molecules of Emotion: How Your Thoughts Can Affect Your Body

Have you ever had a thought that made your heart race? Or felt tears well up just from remembering something painful? That’s not your imagination — that’s chemistry.

In the 1990s, Dr. Candace Pert, a neuroscientist and pharmacologist, coined the phrase “molecules of emotion.” Her groundbreaking research showed that our emotions are not just fleeting feelings — they’re actual chemical messengers that travel throughout the body, influencing everything from our immune system to how we heal.

What Are Molecules of Emotion?

Every emotion you feel is linked to a chemical response. When you're stressed or anxious, your body produces stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. When you feel safe or connected, it produces calming chemicals like oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine.

These chemicals attach to receptor sites on cells — not just in your brain, but all throughout your body.

Your gut, immune system, and even your cells are constantly responding to your emotional state. This is the mind-body connection in action.

Your Body Hears Everything Your Mind Says

The stories we tell ourselves — *“I’m not safe,” “What if it comes back?” “I’m not strong enough”* — don’t just live in our heads. They create chemical shifts in our bodies that can affect everything from digestion to inflammation, from energy levels to immunity.

But here’s the hopeful part:

The opposite is also true. Empowering thoughts and moments of calm, gratitude, and connection can help your body produce healing chemicals. Breathwork, journaling, visualisation, and even loving connection can send signals of safety to your nervous system.

What This Means for Healing

If you’re navigating life after cancer or living with chronic stress, understanding the science behind your emotions can be incredibly validating.

You’re not “too sensitive.”

You’re not “overthinking.”

You’re a whole human — and your emotions *matter*.

Learning how to work with your thoughts and emotional patterns isn’t about being positive all the time. It’s about becoming aware of how your inner world affects your biology — and learning simple, supportive ways to bring your body back into balance.

Your thoughts are not just stories — they’re signals. And when we start to shift our inner dialogue with kindness and curiosity, our body begins to shift too.

In my coaching sessions, we explore how to gently rewire thought patterns, work with the nervous system, and cultivate emotional awareness and resilience — not by forcing change, but by building safety, step by step.

If this resonates with you, you’re not alone. You're already on the path to deeper healing, just by becoming more aware of the powerful conversation between your mind and body.

With Love,

Joanna