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I don’t recall the primary time I cried on the mat. Probably since it’s happened so often that it appears like such a traditional a part of my practice.
Once I returned to yoga postpartum greater than a decade ago, my body was a wreck from carrying twins who arrived prematurely, three months to the day after my mother passed away. Depressed and grieving, I cried on the mat in addition to off.
My grief was the apparent cause for those tears. But my crying on the mat hasn’t all the time been due to sadness. And even anything I can easily discern.
On days when my body appears like it’s manufactured from cement and my breath feels stuck, my tears speak to frustration. Other times, tears of release sneak out in a hip opener or a forward bend. Sometimes the prolonged give up in a Yin pose or the virtually hypnotic state I find in yoga nidra elicits tears of unknown origin. More often, the tears are available in Savasana. And, at times, the tears are because an ideal storm of elements—the pose, the vibe, the music, the words of the teacher—resonate so deeply.
Yoga possesses the uncanny ability to unlock our feelings, even those we don’t know now we have. Teachers are likely to explain the resulting tears by saying we store emotions in our bodies and that our practice can release those feelings.
But how?
What yoga teachers say about crying during yoga
“I remember being curious when a yoga teacher said we store our ‘issues in our tissues,’” says yoga teacher Ellen Mosko, who has taught Yin Yoga classes for nearly 20 years.
A typical explanation often given by teachers is that we accumulate mental and emotional tension in response to on a regular basis life, and people experiences linger in our bodies. As we settle into the rhythm of our practice by intentionally slowing our breath and aligning it with the movement of our body, we shift from the sympathetic nervous system (generally known as the fight, flight, or freeze response) to the parasympathetic nervous system (the calming rest and digest response).
On this more relaxed state, the speculation goes, muscles and connective tissues release physical and other pent-up tension. “Students begin to access these ‘stored’ emotions on a subtle level when each body and mind are relaxed and mindful in a yoga class,” says Mosko.
And this will bring up…stuff.
What science says about crying during yoga
The assumption that emotions are stored within the body can also be present in psychology. In The Body Keeps the Rating, psychiatrist and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk relates observations from his 30 years of research in neuroscience and clinical therapy with trauma survivors. In accordance with Van der Kolk, there may be an intricate interplay amongst our mental, physical, and emotional response to trauma.
His observations led him to imagine suppressed emotions eventually manifest as physical symptoms, and he began to explore nontraditional treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including embodied movement corresponding to yoga and certain types of athletic movement.
Although not all tears are related to acute or chronic trauma, Van der Kolk’s research offers tremendous insight into the connection between our emotions and our bodies. Particularly, in regards to the potential for suppressed emotional tension to be released through certain types of movement, including the practice of yoga.
How your breath could also be related to your tears
Although the precise mechanics of how yoga, particularly, can elicit an emotional response are usually not understood, research and anecdotal evidence suggest that the breath plays an integral role in unlocking our emotions.
“From my experience teaching tens of 1000’s of individuals for 27 years, I can say for certain that respiration patterns are the way in which in,” says Max Strom, an writer and breathwork teacher whose Tedx Talk on the breath has drawn 3.5 million views. “A way in beneath the armor we wear for defense. It’s the quintessential tool for emotional healing.”
Based on his conversations with neuroscientists, Strom says it’s not yet known how exactly respiration and emotions interact, and exactly where within the brain and body this happens. “We do know that the nervous system is in every a part of the body, and it’s where we experience our emotions,” he says.
And there’s absolute confidence that the breath can and does calm the body by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system. Once we breathe slowly and in tandem with rhythmic and embodied movement, which yoga teaches us, there appears to be a measure of natural intelligence at play. “Crying just isn’t an issue to be fixed,” says Strom. “Crying is genetically encoded.”
What to do when tears occur
There might be many complex explanation why you may experience tears in yoga class. It might be pent-up emotions. It might be the one time you’ve had in days to decelerate, feel, and process your emotions. It might be the movement-induced release of hormones, which may affect your emotions, explains Melissa Renzi, a yoga teacher and licensed social employee.
As a yoga teacher…
“We are able to’t assume the reason for someone’s tears,” says Renzi. “But yoga teachers don’t have to know the cause so as to teach with trauma-informed principles.”
That begins with not attempting to “fix” the situation for college students. In his trainings, Strom suggests teachers hold back for a few minutes before approaching a student to supply support or a tissue. “For those who go over to them prematurely, they could pull back and stuff every thing back down again,” he says.
In accordance with Strom, students are sometimes afraid to permit themselves to feel what’s inside, let alone release it. The truth is, he continues, we regularly expend tremendous amounts of energy attempting to repress our feelings under the mistaken belief that if we release them, they may destroy us.
As an alternative of approaching students, Renzi has a unique approach. “I prefer using supportive language that emphasizes that every one emotions and experiences are welcome,” she says. “I also cue so much around alternative, by inviting students to pause or move or select an anchor point corresponding to the bottom or a sound that they hear.” This brings students back to the physical reality of the moment and might return them to a way of safety.
But crying may not, in actual fact, feel protected for some people. “Being vulnerable can feel—and really be—unsafe for people of color and LGBTQ+ folks,” says Tamika Caston-Miller, a trauma-informed yoga trainer. “Historically, being vulnerable has led to harm for QTBIPOC folks. Asking for them to be unarmed and open with you may be an enormous ask of trust. Have you ever built that?”
What Caston-Miller has found to be especially powerful for traditionally marginalized people is “when a yoga teacher is capable of create a container of safety and allyship.” That is achieved over time and includes welcoming and witnessing students and making a space where they’re respected as they’re.
The “freedom to exist truthfully” that Caston-Miller says comes from being in an affirming class will be transformative. “It might result in moments of letting go of holding all of our feelings—our rage, our despair,” she says. Creating this affirming relationship over time will help teachers support those that are consciously working through systemic and developmental trauma, she explains.
As a student…
For those who’re a student and end up beginning to cry, try to not panic. Although it may well feel uncomfortable and even embarrassing to cry in a yoga class, it’s completely normal. There’s no have to suppress your emotions or feel ashamed of them.
“While you do yoga, which is the mixture of breath and movement, even a straightforward alignment can shift things. And suddenly your energy just flows,” explains Todd Norian, founding father of Ashaya Yoga, a heart-centered yoga practice. Norian suggests you approach your tears through “the three Cs.” Namely, curiosity, compassion, and courage.
Be Curious
Observe any emotions you’re experiencing. There’s no have to pressure yourself to grasp why you’re crying or feeling a certain way. Simply notice the sentiments.
Be Compassionate
Give your feelings space and take a look at not to withstand whatever emotion you’re experiencing. No judgment. This will help normalize processing any emotions that come up for you.
Be Courageous
Researcher, storyteller, and writer Brene Brown has spent the last 20 years exploring courage, vulnerability, and shame. As she explains, vulnerability is an act of courage. It’s okay to permit yourself to be real. The truth is, it’s essential.
Having a very good cry at school could also be exactly what it is advisable to release pent up tension and frustrations. It might release among the heaviness attached to those emotions.
If difficult emotions linger, nevertheless, consider consulting a licensed therapist who can assist you work through them. Your yoga teacher just isn’t equipped to assist you resolve past experiences, irrespective of how knowledgeable or kind. Yoga’s role could also be to bring awareness to what may have further exploration slightly than provide resolution. And, perhaps, to grasp how the lesson of slowing your breath, especially your exhalations, can assist you experience emotions on the mat.
In my case, I think that if I hadn’t grow to be accustomed to moving pain through my body, it might have stayed stuck there. I even have come to depend on the mat as my very own little rectangular island, an area where I can process life’s challenges—whether I cry or not. Something all the time shifts there, even when I don’t necessarily know what it’s. I just know that I often feel higher.
No matter what science can or cannot explain, I feel Strom’s reminder helps us understand why. “The goal just isn’t to tie ourselves in knots. We’re already tied in knots,” says Strom. “The aim is to untie the knots in our hearts.”
About Our Contributor
Carrie Havranek is a food and wellness author, yoga practitioner, and Reiki master living in eastern Pennsylvania.