Yoga: A Pathway to Emotional Honesty

Yoga is more than mere exercise. In fact, I would say that yoga can be a pathway to discovering and freeing different emotions within yourself. There have been several times during my personal practice where I have become overwhelmed with emotion. This is not uncommon. Yoga is a cleansing practice. These emotions that are brought to the surface during your practice do so because you are ready to face these feelings. You are ready and strong enough to see and feel these feelings without unneeded blocks or mind/body distractions.

Emotions can be suppressed in our bodies for several reasons:

* Because at the time when they were originally experienced it was not "safe" to feel or express those emotions 

* Because they were taken out of context and the maturity and or ability to understand them was lacking

* Because there was some sort of overwhelm to the system at the time that they would have originally been experienced 

Suppressing emotion can lead to many different outcomes. It can manifest itself in mental distress such as depression or post-traumatic stress, or physical distress such as disease, including fibromyalgia and other chronic health problems.  It also can manifest itself in a wide range of addictions as a form of self-soothing or distraction over cover-up. Finally, it can manifest itself in a form of "zoning-out" also known as dissociation. This can be as small as a momentary daydream and as severe as becoming completely dissociated with reality (DID-Dissociative Identity Disorder).

Emotions, generally, are made to be experienced and felt. Sometimes in our culture, we are taught that it is not always appropriate to express how we feel. Sometimes we are unsure of what is deemed appropriate expression and "guidelines" for such are sometimes contradicting. For example, as young children we are told, "not to cry" and that "you are ok" when something is wrong. Instead of letting children experience that emotion, we are asking them to mask it.

Yoga can be a very therapeutic outlet in expressing these emotions. During yoga, the emotions that are behind held in the body begin to move. As we begin to move and feel more comfortable in our body, we are more able to feel, say, and do what we honestly feel.

I personally have felt this with my own practice. My decision to get certified as a yoga instructor came shortly after the unexpected death of my dad. Needless to say, I had a lot of emotion, both being expressed and withheld. There were several times during savasana that I found myself in tears or otherwise overwhelmed because of the intense feelings that were surfacing and that I was allowing myself to feel. I know that my yoga practice has been a catalyst in helping me cope and adjust to my fathers passing. It has been a huge blessing in my life and a way for me to live as honestly as I can. It is for this reason that I am so excited to be able to teach others as they embark on their yoga experience and journey and help them be able to express themselves through the movement of yoga.

-Namaste

www.gobodhiyoga.com