Emotions in the Body...

Over the last 17 years practicing yoga i have found that it can , under the right circumstances, and absolutely phenomenal way to develop psychological awareness through:

a) the ability to stay present and observe the subconscious patterns of the mind - distracting, projecting, controlling, competing, judging etc etc etc etc… :O)

b) the deeper heart process that is going on under the surface that has to do with where the body unconsciously holds unexpressed emotions - allowing those to be released and the awareness to be consciously integrated.

c) discovering moments of “peak experience” in which one is free of one's usual neurotic defenses and open to the energy of life and a spacious awareness of reality as-it-is.

I am curious to hear from any psychotherpaists about their experiences practicing yoga and/or working with clients who practice yoga….Or from any yogis who have either a) used their yoga practice as an arena for psychological awareness/emotional healing or have used yoga in conjunction with therapy.

This is such a rich area of mind-body healing!

~julian

Re: Emotions in the Body...

Hi Julian,

I definitely believe that yoga is supporting my psychological work.  I am currently going through EMDR therapy.  Due to my yoga and meditation practice, I am better able to “feel” the emotions in my body, and stick with them as they move/release from my body.  I also believe that my EMDR work is helping my yoga practice.  I am more able to concentrate on areas of my body, and feel areas of tension.  Both yoga and EMDR  seem to make me a more conscienious observer.

 - Mel

Re: Emotions in the Body...

mel - thaks for sharing this wonderful information and account of your experience.

what a gift!

yes - isn't it incredible how much deeper both processes can go when synergized?

awesome to hear too about the observing awareness that runs through both modalities for you - right on!

true mind-body stuff seems to turn on the work with emotions.

would you care to share any more?

~julian

Re: Emotions in the Body...

I've made more progress in the 4 years of doing yoga and therapy than in the 8 years of therapy alone. The connection of mind and body is vital for real transformation to take place.

I was in my head for so many years. Yoga brought me into my body for the first time. It was a connection between mind/body/spirit. Freaked me out many times when I started to feel things that weren't so pleasant. I wanted to run, but kept going back to class anyway.

I would bring up these emotions in my therapy sessions and the work started to progress at a more rapid pace. The more yoga I did the less frightening the emotions were, I was getting used to them. Fortunately, Julian holds amazing space in his classes for people to process.

It's hardwork! Finding balance in resource and process is vital. Not everyday needs to be groundbreaking. Smile, laugh, sing, cry, dance, scream, and of course breathe!

Healing,

Annie

Re: Emotions in the Body...

Yoga has been wonderful for me as well. I started doing it ten years ago, long before I got into therapy. The transformation it brought about was and is amazing. it felt suddenly as though feelings and thoughts that had been buried or frozen in the base of my spine could sort of float up and out of the top of my head—i guess, basically, come into my awareness and then get released. I have always done my sessions before going to bed, and it creates a shutter between the days, so they don't run into each other. The day comes to a peaceful, fully processed conclusion, and the many impressions I have taken in have their time to integrate. It's a very sacred processing time.

In reply to Annie—it must have been fascinating to have gotten into yoga after having been in therapy, and then witnessing the changes it can bring.  Yes, i can relate to yoga bringing you back into your body. What a wonderful way to do it! What type of yoga do you practice?

–daate

Re: Emotions in the Body...

I agree with you, Julian.  Yoga provides such a wonderful process of emotional healing.

I've recently come up with my own analogy, after a particularly freeing asana practice on the forest floor, next to a river, and a very old pine:  the emotions we have are a chemical in our bloodstream.  My theory is that these chemicals leave a residue on the interior walls of our veins/capillaries.  There is more residue left the more often a certain emotion is felt, or more residue with the strength of the emotion.  Almost like graffiti on city walls, this residue can be left, scarring the interior walls years after the emotions causing the graffiti have gone.  Yoga is the power scrub to remove the graffiti!  Through prana, movement, and awareness, the power scrub removes the residue from these walls.  Now, the body is able to release the last of the emotions that were felt so long ago. 

This is only an analogy that is working for me right now, but I love it.  It makes sense then, why we feel so much more refreshed, and confident, and grounded after our practice. 

I also strongly feel that this type of release can only be truely realized during a private practice.  In a classroom situation, there are too many outside distractions preventing your inward focus.  At the same time, classes are absolutely necessary, and always are necessary no matter what level of mastery you've reached.  But a home practice/private practice allows for that inner awareness. 

I thought you might like my analogy of yoga being a power scrub to release the toxins left by old emotions.  Yoga has been freeing me from a terrible ten year period of my life and the old graffiti that was scarring my beautiful temple! 

Namaste, 
Lisa

Re: Emotions in the Body...

Someone above said: “I was in my head for so many years. Yoga brought me into my body for the first time.”

And that really sums up a lot of what yoga has done for me. It has been a very powerful part of my psychological healing process. It's made an amazing difference in my anxiety, depression, and OCD!!