Minding the Gap: Grief as the Headwaters of Resentment; And Resentment as The Floodway to Sacred Rage: Part 1

Elutna Lake, the headwaters of the Eklutna River, Elkutna Native Land, Alaska. © 2011 Nicole Rachelle Keane

By: Nicole Rachelle Keane, MS LMT BCTMB

Resentment is a pernicious and pervasive force that can impact our body and mind in powerful ways. I've been contemplating the physical effects of resentment within the body, as the past several years have shown me this path. What causes us to feel resentment and what allows it to settle within the body? I write about the “Gravitational Precipitation of Grief” within the book, 'The Tao of the Polyvagal Theory: A Five Element Perspective for a Future of Healing the Spirit and Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System.' As grief is integrated within the human experience, it is felt, and processed, and released in waves, like sheets of rain, through the physical system. If for any reason the body is unable to mechanically process this emotional experience, parts of that symphony may be able to accumulate within the tissues, leading to the development of other emotional and physiological experiences.  

Resentment begins with grief, and as the gravitational process of grief rains down through the body, the emotional experience may take on a particular character, as unprocessed grief changes state, gradually anchoring into the body. I have gathered through my experience and contemplations that if the elusive process of forgiveness, or the stark concept of radical acceptance, is not fully actualized, there is a possibility that grief can change state into resentment. Both forgiveness and radical acceptance happen within the energy and tissue complex of the lungs, the yin organ of the Metal/Air element.1 Forgiveness and radical acceptance are incredibly challenging to completely actualize, because of the human nature and Ego. I am speaking of the part of the Ego that is tied to the concept of “free will,” and a need for perceived control. This character of the Ego is domiciled within the kidneys, and associated with the Spirit of Zhi. Id.

Resentment can be characterized as having the quality of irritation and anger, that of the gallbladder and liver, and the Wood element out of balance. The Wood element home to the spirit affiliation of zhi, the quality of the “will” that we may think of as “divine will.” Id. While resentment may take on the character of irritation and anger, if we spend some time with our resentment, and feel deeply into it, we may realize that it is rooted in an experience of our “free will” not being able to grasp a reality it wants to have control over. Resentment is a driving quality of the “power-over” paradigm, a paradigm that we as a society are currently in the process of gradually and systemically deconstructing. This is the main reason I have chosen to write this piece at this time.

I've noticed that the type of grief that can spawn resentment, like a cloud formation, or “wall,” in a thunderstorm that spawns tornadoes, tends to settle into the right side of the body, through the diaphragm, into the posterior liver and hepatorenal ligament. It is drawn by magnetic attraction to the Ego, seated within the right kidney.

I had the opportunity to do a treatment on a client last year. We were practicing an “emotional release” technique taught within the Visceral Manipulation Level Six course with the Barral Institute. This person had what the Barral Institute calls a “listening” to an emotional holding pattern around the liver for many years, with no other manual therapists being able to adequately clear the holding pattern, despite using the specific techniques which were the subject of this course. The term “listening” is simply the process of a type of energetic assessment of the body that is very similar to a practice called “Toyohari,” which to my knowledge was developed by blind Japanese monks. I teach this practice, calling it a Toyohari evaluation, you can also refer to it as a Reiki evaluation or assessment, as it is simply an observation of the current state of energy within the body.

After I did the emotional integration technique that was taught in the course, which was an energetic clearing technique focused on the cranium, I then used the techniques I have developed independently to further clear the emotional program that was embedded into the body by the historical traumatic event. This event was experienced by this person many years ago, as often is the case with significant emotional holding patterns. The Barral Institute curriculum teaches that this first cranial technique that I used is focused in the Right Frontal Parietal Zone (RFPZ), but that is not accurate. The technique must be focused within the Default Mode Network (DMN), which can involve the RFPZ, but does not have to. The DMN is the area of the cerebrum that is responsible for cataloging and filing away emotional distress within the body.1.2 The scientific literature, as well as my own clinical observations confirm this area as a more reasonable and accurate location to direct emotional release techniques.

The DMN is actually a collection of several interconnected areas; this can be felt during the assessment and treatment process, with proper training and practice.3 It is also possible that the Barral interpretation was perhaps true with reference to the neural connections in the population within which it was developed. The culture of the population that was studied to come to these assumptions, could have a more defined and well connected neural hub within the RFPZ, than the culture and population where I have done most of my clinical research. The organization of these neural connections depends a great deal upon the early childhood environment with regard to the neural development.4 The RFPZ could also be more of a focus for emotional release when the location of the emotional holding pattern is more of a limb or joint, as this area encompasses the gyrus of the Motor Cortex, and the Somatosensory Cortex, and is associated more with discreet parts of the body and less with a general emotional experience. Whereas the DMN is associated with general emotional experiences and ways of being. Id. 

The cranial techniques that I have developed also focus on areas within the lymbic system that help orchestrate the neuroendocrine experience of the original trauma, as well as other areas that are involved in the storage of the traumatic memory as lived experience. All of these techniques tie back into manual and energetic work with the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), and cranio-facial nerves, as well as the Vagus nerve complex.3

After this cranial work was done, the emotional holding pattern in my client had changed; for the first time in years, possibly since it had been filed away and embedded within the body. The emotional assessment had shifted, and now there was a discrete area that was calling for attention at the posterior liver. I did a liver mobilization and then released the hepatorenal ligament and mobilized the parietal peritoneum (peritoneum), stretching it forward and away from the restriction that had been locked into that plane of tissue for so long. Id.

The peritoneum, I classify as a tissue associated with the Metal/ Air element, although I teach techniques associated with mobilization of the peritoneum, as well as the anatomy and physiology of this tissue complex, within the Wood element, due to the very important affect it often has on the Vagus nerve complex. It is necessary to learn these techniques early within the flow of the Elemental Manual Meridian Theory and Techniques (EMMT) curriculum that I developed, for this reason. Id.

After this series of releases was done, the body was quiet and clearly integrating the work. I explained that the emotions associated with the areas that I worked were often related to a quality of grief that settles into the body, that if not integrated in a sustainable way, can be associated with a spectrum of anger settling into the tissues within and around the liver. This particular character of grief is also related to the Ego, as indicated by the exact location of the emotional holding pattern being near the hepatorenal ligament; as this tissue is part of a plane of folded peritoneum that transitions into the energy and tissue system of the kidney. I then explained to the client that it was not just an issue of anger and Ego, that the grief aspect was a key player in this emotional holding pattern because of the length of time it had been embedded, and the involvement of the peritoneum, a tissue group associated with the Metal/Air element.1

The nature of the primary organs within the Metal/Air element include the lungs, the feminine or yin organ (associated with grief), and the large intestine, the masculine or yang organ (associated with an emotional need for control)... At the energetic crossroads of this space is where the more refined emotion of resentment can be often observed and felt within the physical body. The person then immediately connected this emotional experience to a marriage separation that happened years ago, and said that for the first time in years, the energetic evaluation, or the “listening” as they were used to referring to, had changed. This was quite a profound experience for them in many ways, as an osteopathic manual therapy practitioner, they were able to advance their understanding of the emotional holding processes within the body, and as a receiver of the work, they were finally able to experience a release that was on a much deeper level than they had realized before.

Part two of this article explores more of the nuance associated with the emotion of resentment, and how to catalyze a alignment and healing reaction in the body, resulting in a transformation of resentment toward the experience of sacred rage. Stay Tuned.

1. Keane, Nicole Rachelle. The Tao of the Polyvagal Theory: A Five Element Perspective for a Future of Healing the Spirit and Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System. Gratitude Healing Arts, LLC; 2021

2. Raichle, Marcus A. (2025, February 8). The Brain's Dark Energy. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brains-dark-energy/

3. Keane, Nicole Rachelle. The elementalAdvanced Method. Elemental Manual Meridian Thery and Techniques: The Wood Element. https://www.elementaladvancedmt.com/courses

4. Bertolero, Max; Dani S. Bassett. (2025, February 9). How The Mind Emerges From The Brains Complex Networks. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-mind-emerges-from-the-brains-complex-networks/