Yoga has long been seen as a way to build strength and flexibility. But in addition to physical transformations, yoga can also help reconnect you with your full emotional spectrum. Maybe it’s an urge to smile or laugh during practice, or a few surprise tears or unexpected sadness as you wind down after class.
When this happens, you’re not imagining it – yoga really can make you feel emotional. We dove into the theories behind why this happens, how to accept these emotions, plus how to use a variety of yoga poses to tap into (or center) your emotions.
Why do you feel an emotional release after a yoga class?
It is a widely believed notion that the human body holds onto emotions. The 2014 book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD explored the idea that “trauma literally reshape[s] both [the] brain and body,” and it is commonly thought by psychologists that other emotions such as anger, anxiety, and burdens “live” in parts of the body like the back, stomach, and shoulders.
New York City-based clinical psychologist and registered yoga teacher Tiffany Narain, Psy.D, believes yoga and mental wellness are closely linked.
“We often forget that there is a very strong mind-body connection,” says Narain. “The body holds onto tension and trauma and emotions. Yoga can be used as a tool to create a pathway between the mind and the body.”
Science agrees: A 2020 study in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care found that participants who took regular yoga classes rated their emotional regulation abilities, self-esteem, and ability to feel a variety of emotions significantly higher than the control group, who took no yoga classes.
Another study from 2018 in Frontiers in Human Science found that even those who had only recently added yoga into their routines experienced better emotional regulation when faced with negative situations than prior to when they began practicing yoga.
“Emotions do not live purely in our minds,” Narain says. “For example, when you’re stressed, you might clench your jaw or scrunch up your shoulders. Yoga may help you release that emotion and its physical components through asanas targeted at that part of the body.”
As a result, you may feel a sudden rush of happiness, sadness, laughter, or tears during or after a yoga class as your body lessens its grip around some of the emotions stored throughout it.
Accepting and Regulating Emotions
Just because yoga can knock loose some strong emotions, does not mean it should be seen as an emotional panacea.
“Yoga should not be used in lieu of therapy,” Narain says. “If we only use yoga poses to sort through our emotions, we leave out a critical part of emotional regulation, which is talking about our experiences and feelings with someone we trust.”
Journaling is a great place to start. Writing about what emotions come up in certain poses or after particular classes can help you draw deeper connections between the mind and body.
Narain says it’s also important to practice yoga at a studio with a strong, supportive community that resonates with your personality and identity.
“Having people in your yoga community, whether it’s fellow yogis or a yoga teacher, who can help you explore different poses or modifications to suit your emotional needs can be very beneficial,” Narain says.
On the flip side, “if you’ve been in talk therapy for years and feel ‘stuck’ or like you aren’t making progress, try working with a somatic therapist who can incorporate yoga or similar activities into your healing work,” Narain suggests. “We can talk and talk and talk, but eventually, the body needs to physically release those emotions, too, and that’s where yoga can come into emotional regulation and processing.”
7 Yoga Poses for Emotional Regulation
Ready to get in your feels? April Fort, a yoga leader at LifeTime Cypress, shares seven beginner-friendly poses that will help you find emotional stability.
Pigeon Pose to Sleeping Swan
Child’s Pose
Bound Angle Forward Fold
Camel Pose
Supported Fish Pose
Happy Baby
Shavasana (Corpse Pose)
Sign Up for Our Daily Newsletter
Get all the latest in wellness, trends, food, fitness, beauty, and more delivered right to your inbox.
Got it, you've been added to our email list.
