Healing Emotional Pain with Yoga

When we’re coping with emotional pain, a purely mental or intellectual approach usually isn’t enough. Although our mind may try to think its way out of pain, it can quickly become confused or trapped in repetitive thought-patterns that actually intensify our emotional turmoil. When we invite our body and spirit to be part of the healing process, however, transformation can unfold. 

The ancient wisdom tradition of yoga offers practices that unite the mind, body, and spirit, allowing us to experience deep emotional wellbeing and restful awareness.

When your physical, intellectual, and spiritual selves are working in union, our life becomes more balanced and we become more flexible – both physically and emotionally.

How Yoga Releases Emotional Blockages 

Every experience in the mind is accompanied by shifts in the body’s chemistry. When you say, “I feel anxious” (or angry, depressed, disappointed, etc.), you’re acknowledging that your body is generating disturbing sensations. Feelings are so named because we feel them in our body. These sensations result from changes in hormone levels and in the pattern of nerve firings within your nervous system. These physiological shifts can persist long after the emotionally upsetting experience that first triggered them. Over time, you mind-body system reflects your emotional history.

Through yoga, you can release the emotional toxicity stored in the body. Just as changing thought patterns can influence the body, changing the position of the body can influence the mind and facilitate emotional release. As you stretch your muscles and expand your range of motion, you shift the bodily patterns that trap emotional pain. Yoga poses, breathing practices, and meditation release the constriction and free the flow of the vital lifeforce energy known as prana.

Although you can feel the healing effects of yoga after just one session, a regular practice is required if you want to experience the full benefits yoga offers. Perform yoga poses on a regular basis, and your mind and emotions will transform.

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga

There are many yoga styles and traditions to choose from. Some have a greater focus on physical fitness or weight loss, while others are more meditative and spiritually-based. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga program taught at the Chopra Center blends the wisdom of India’s 5,000-year-old yogic tradition with the principles of Deepak Chopra’s long-time best-selling book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga will help raise your level of physical vitality, clear emotional blockages from your heart, and awaken your happiness and enthusiasm for life. The Chopra Center offers yoga instruction at all of our programs and events. In addition, there are Chopra–certified Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga instructors throughout the world. Click here to find a yoga teacher in your area.

Source: The Chopra Center