We are six months into this global pandemic. Have you shed any tears? I am usually pulling toward positivity and hope. I still hold onto those, and, I know there is space for both. But we need to hold the darkness as well as the light. We need to feel what is here to feel. And right now, there is some of both. In Yoga Therapy we say “it all gets to be here”.
It is not uncommon to see tears at the end of a yoga class. Yoga gets us out of our heads and into our bodies, where the emotions and memories are stored. Our body knows what to hold, and when it is safe to let go. At those times of letting go, the release can come with overwhelming emotion. Sometimes it’s joy, sometimes it’s anger. Sometimes it is met with resentment, and we push it back down. And sometimes, it spills out of our tear ducts.
I believe that an emotional release in yoga is a good thing. When we finally feel what is there to be felt, when we greet the moment as it is, and as it isn’t, it usually ends up being cathartic.
Since March, I have been teaching classes and leading trainings exclusively on zoom. And I am amazed at the level of intimacy there. My students are digging deeply into themselves. It might be that they are in their own comfortable home space. It might be that there are fewer distractions and it might be that there are more distractions. I see tears, beautiful tears in almost every class.
Folks, if you’re not crying now, you should be. More than 90% of people who responded to a new nationwide survey reported feeling increased worry, frustration, and anxiety during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Rates of suicide, domestic abuse and depression are rising. If you are not allowing yourself to feel, really feel the weight of what we have lost, the grief, the fear, the uncertainty of this season of life, I can safely say you are holding onto things your body needs to release.
We need to let the tears fall. We need to allow ourselves to exhale, and feel.
It’s nice to have someone to cry with. Or on. If you have that someone in your life, let them see your tears. It might open the door for them to let theirs go too. It’s ok. It’s healing. It’s cathartic.
If you need a safe space to explore your inner wisdom and feel what is there to feel, pleaseĀ join my virtual Yoga Therapy class. Every Tuesday for the next two months we will look within, and invite it all to show up. I will hold the space for you to let the tears fall. I will hold the space for you to let joy emerge. I will hold the space so you can do your healing. Your body knows. It just wants to tell you.
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