Yoga and Emotions

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Friday, July 31, 2009 at 2:24pm
My first introduction to yoga was in 1977. I was pregnant and I found a prenatal yoga book by Jeannie Parvati. Everyday I practiced the asasas and nine months later I easily delivered a beautiful baby boy at home. My son is now a man. His path brought him to India, where he took up the yoke of Ashtanga Yoga. Sometimes he shares his stories of what happens to people while doing practice.

If one is practicing an intense form of Hatha Yoga one can expect that many emotional blockages will be released. Sometimes a new practitioner is not ready or does not know how to deal with the emotional baggage that is coming up though the fire of their practice.

Maybe they entered the Hatha Yoga path for other reasons and they are now faced with the release of suppressed feelings and memories and do not have the tools to get though their emotional experiences. I have found this also happens with Mantra Yoga. Yoga creates fire and that fire burns away the dormant seeds of karma that live in the cells of our body and our unconsciousness. And this is the goal of all yoga.

When we empty our body of the files of our emotional, and mental blockages we find ourselves experiencing more spaciousness and in that empty space we can find peace and even the ultimate experience of communion with the DIVINE. This is the original reason for all Paths of Yoga.

Intense yogic practices can shake your tree and what comes falling from the branches is not always what you might have expected. Though my own experience I have found a few ways to help one get though the process.

Learning to become a witness to your process can save you from reacting to the emotions that are washing though your body. The witness is the part of you that goes to the movies and sits in the audience and watches the performance, rather then being on stage and identifying with being the actor. When you get lost in the identification of being the actor in your drama you can get lost in the emotional wash cycle.

Learning to become a witness takes practice. This is easier said then done as the emotional files are being quickly emptied right after you just came out of Chakrasana, also known as the wheel.

When the emotional files are being emptied the mind starts racing. The wash is going though and old mental images are coming back and we start reacting to every image that is showing up on the screen of our mind. The emotions are stored in our bellies. This is why some asanas that strengthen our core also bring up our emotions. One of the first things the body wants to do is stop breathing deeply. When we do not breathe deeply we do not have to feel or remember what the body remembers. Breathing deeply will help to release the old pictures that are rising from our bellies.

The breath brings liberation and this is one reason Pranayama can be effective. But the mind needs to be strong in its awareness in that moment. You need to remember to breathe rather than to stop breathing so you cannot feel the pain of the suppressed feelings. Each time you breathe deeper and feel what is moving though your body, and not get identified with, but feel and take one more breath and let the feelings go - you come closer to the great release.

I have found that mantra yoga is very necessary to harness the wild horses of the mind. I compare the mind to a French Poodle without a leash (I live in Paris) The mind is jumping all over the place. The mantra puts a leash on the mind jumping from one thought or emotional reaction to the next. When one does enough mantra the mind will actually settle into a tranquil state. It is when we are in that tranquil state of mind we can view our life as a Witness. We can deeply penetrate our thoughts, our reactions and our behaviors. Mantra is a vibration of sound. There are mantras that are like fire and will put one through the purifacation process quickly. There are mantras that deepen our peace. And there are mantras that will bring you to the feet of the Divine within the very altar of your heart. Yoga is a tree with many branches, and it takes exploring different branches to deal with the purification process that Hatha Yoga can bring to the surface of one’s experience.






Raylene Abbott's book "Between the Visions" is available
as a 5 Star book on www.amazon.com

In France as: "L'Emergence de la Femme Divine."
In Japan as: "Spiritual Sex."
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