Did you know yoga moves more than just your body?!
As a yogi teacher and massage therapist I have come to see and believe that we hold and store emotions in our physical body. Stress shows in headaches just at the base of the scull, sometimes we lose hair or have digestive issues. Tension, worry and anxiety are often stored in the gut which is part of the solar plexus chakra and moves up to the heart chakra and upper shoulders.
If we are being stubborn and inflexible in life, we sometimes have neck and shoulder pain. This manifests into having low range of motion in the neck from not being able to see another point of view. We hold fear in our psoas and low back, guilt in the middle back and anger in our hearts. The burn of anger radiates from the heart through the upper back and shoulders.
When tragedy happens like losing a loved one or an unexpected loss of a job this affects our security related to the root chakra and often the foundation of our bodies, the feet. When we fear moving forward in life our knees take a hit and when we just can’t figure out how to get enjoyment out of life, we store misery in our hips.
It’s quite intriguing to me how often we dismiss our bodies signals as nothing more than a physical injury. Yet even accidents like falling are a metaphysical symptom of not valuing ourselves or not feeling valued so we are careless and absent minded and that causes accidents.
Louise Hay has a book called Heal Yourself. It has mantras that relate to the reasons behind our physical symptoms. Each time I have a seemingly ‘random’ pain or ailment I check this book to see if it is real… Or is it a physical manifestation of my inner emotion? In yoga we say that Emotions are Energy in motion. If we are stuck on one or more painful emotion, our body will kindly hold it for us!
Sometimes during or after Yoga practice or body work, we have an emotional release. When we move certain parts of the body that have been storing our emotions it can be spontaneous. Often, we have already been feeling pain or tension in those same areas of our neck, back, knees, ect… for years! During regular practice we inadvertently move those emotions up and out! It sounds intensely therapeutic, and truly is!!!
However, it usually comes out in very messy emotional way like a crying break down or eruption of uncharacteristic anger or outburst so you can allow those emotions to break through. There is more room out than in, so it its best to let it all come out where you can see them and heal them.
I feel compelled to write and tell you of this phenomenon because it just recently happened to me again after a wonderful yoga set, I called Heart Openers. It’s funny to me that I really enjoyed creating and teaching this class! And yet, four hours after that practice I was huddled under the covers in my bed bawling my eyeballs out because I had moved those stuck emotions in my heart with a powerful heart opening yoga practice.
I laid there allowing myself to really feel all the icky emotions I was storing and weighing heavy on my heart. I didn’t hold back, I used a hundred Kleenexes and dehydrated myself allowing the abundant tears to fall freely. Finally, I fell asleep and allowed myself to rest after my big emotional purge.
When I woke up, I felt better. The emotions that I kept stuffed had dissipated and I felt lighter. It took me a few hours to realize what had just happened. Since my breakdown seemingly came out of nowhere being pushed over the edge by a small minor inconvenience. It was clear to me it was my body purging in uncontrollable emotional release.
Now this Emotional Release phenomenon does not happen after every yoga practice or massage! LOL So don’t fret. It happens when your body is ready to release what no longer serves it. It is an energetic letting go of all those stuffed down emotions so the body can move into healing.
There are times I’ve had massage clients crying on the table for these same reasons. I felt honored to be able to hold space for them while they allow those messy emotions go. I felt that it was important to remind people that this can and does happen and that it is okay to let it out. It is a step towards allowing healing in the mind, body, and spirit.
This is why, self-care techniques like yoga and massage therapy are so important to incorporate into your life. I’ve come to believe our bodies are quite magical! Our bodies are always communicating and it’s up to us to take the time to listen to its needs and the nagging aches and pains to see what they are trying to tell us. What emotions do we need to heal and release so we can feel better in our own skin?
I hope this article is helpful in some why so that when it happens to you. You are now able to identify it as the healing opportunity it is. Instead of thinking it’s an out of the blue break down, you will now see that is a therapeutic break through! Which is very healthy and healing to the energetic and emotional body.
So now you know the magic of movement! How cool is that?!
Sending you all so much love and wishing you an abundance of blessings,
Namaste,
Emy Minzel
SpiritRiverYogaandMassage.com
Emy Minzel 