Yoga: My Emotional Rollercoster

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve done yoga a few times in my life, but nothing serious and not in a very long time. However, this year is my year. I’m determined to create the change I desire in my life. I’m practicing the laws of attraction and connecting further with my faith, and I’m beginning to see results. One of the things that I want to change is my health and weight.

So here it’s midnight and suddenly I feel the urge to workout. Let’s do some Yoga. I popped in Rodney Yee’s Yoga for beginners and flipped it to the pose guide. It starts off ok. I find myself oddly attracted to Rodney. For a good 10 minutes I probably had a stupid grin on my face.

Then my heart rate starts to pick up, my muscles start to burn, and I start to feel moisture along my hairline. I feel good. Invigorated. I’m having flashbacks to my better years when I was a healthy fitness freak. It’s great.

Then we move to the floor and start to do stretches that remind me of fancier versions of the same stretches I used to do back in my cheerleading days. Quickly, I get frustrated. Suddenly I’m bored and wondering why they try to make every move so darn slow and complicated.

Now the exercise moves into these flat back relaxation poses. I’m laying there. Relaxing. My back feels sooo good. Then this wave of sadness washes over me. I get so sad, that I came dangerously close to tears. Honestly, if they hadn’t moved me into a new series of poses, I’d have cried.

The program ends. I feel fine. I’m glad that I finished a workout, but I’m thinking about doing an aerobic workout tomorrow. Now, at this moment, I’m just tired lol. Which is good. I’m normally not tired this “early”.

So I just wanted to share this odd experience with someone and thought I would go find a yoga forum. I hope you guys don’t mind me posting this. I didn’t realize a person could experience so many emotions during one yoga session. lol Is this normal? I assume not :slight_smile:

#2

Hi Lindsay,

I enjoyed reading your post because it reminds me of myself a few years ago. What you experienced is actually very normal!! Especially since you are just getting back into yoga and you haven’t been focusing on this aspect of yourself for some time.
Doing yoga can be an emotional experience for many reasons, they say that we store emotions in our body, so doing some postures that open up your hips for example can be very releasing.
When I teach, I always tell my students that if they feel any emotions coming up; anger, sadness, joy etc. to just let it flow! It feels good to move your body but it feels even better to release any emotional stuff that wants to be let go of .

Keep it up and keep posting :slight_smile:

#3

Anamaya - Thanks for reading and commenting. That actually makes a lot of sense and it explains why these emotions seem to come and go so quickly.

Yoga is going to be an interesting experience for me, I think. It’s so different from what I’m used to. Back when I used to workout daily, my workouts were hard and aggressive. This is so the opposite of that. I’d like to get a nice blend of the two types of workouts. I think that will help me to achieve the body I want, but also help me find a healthy spiritual/emotional state.

I’m excited about this new chapter in my life and I’m excited about this forum. I think here I might be able to share my experiences with people that I can feel comfortable with.

#4

That’s great! You sound like me more and more :wink:

I used to be an athlete and personal trainer and I loved the rough and vigourous workouts that just got the heart pumping. After a difficult time in my life I needed something more than the physical to turn to. I started practicing yoga again and fell in love with it. The asana practice was physical, so it took care of that aspect, however it went so much deeper than that on an emotional and spiritual level. It was just what I needed!

After getting back into my practice I decided to make yoga a bigger part of my life because it had brought me so much healing and peace. I now teach regularly and have found a faith in myself that allows me to be happy and know what is right for me, what more could I ask for!

I encourage you to keep up your practice and to be curious about the other aspects of yoga other than the physical postures (asana). There is so much to be discovered inside of yourself that yoga can help you with!

I’m happy that you found this board :slight_smile:

#5

Lindsay,

Good advise from Anamaya. What you’ve experienced happens often. So please don’t feel alone!

I’d like to add a story if I may. One of my students had been having trouble with one particular pose (Vrksasana). She would get quite frustrated trying to balance and maintain the pose. In addition, she found herself getting more and more frustrated with a fellow student. She approached me about her lack of tolerance toward this student and many other areas in her life. During class, I shared with her the story of how Vrksasana (tree) got its name which had to do with how tolerant a tree is. (a tree provides shade even to the woodsman who comes to chop her down) We then did the pose and what a difference from then on.

My point with sharing this is to emphasize that we all hold our emotions somewhere in our bodies. Those emotions take their toll on us eventually. Allow the emotions, whether good or bad. Then sense the wonderful release and realize they really don’t have control over you. Yoga is like a beautiful flower beginning to open. With the unfolding of each petal, we grow. We become.

#6

Anamaya & lotusgirl, The more time I spend on here the more I realize how much there still is for me to learn about yoga. It’s so much more than just an exercise.

Yesterday’s pose guide didn’t feel like much of a workout. It felt like some good stretches, but I didn’t even fully break a sweat. To my surprise though, I’m sore today! Every muscle in my body (except my core) is sore and stiff. It feels great! For the long since buried fitness freak in me, it’s a wonderful feeling. I’m truly impressed.