The Role of Emotion in Yoga Practice, Part I

Emotions are evolutionary tools. They are our first feedback system, saying “Hey! the body has been impacted in some way”. Our body communicates in the language of emotion, just as it does in the language of sensation. We evolve by paying attention to our emotions and changing our behavior.

This process is not always conscious. In yoga, we practice focusing our mind on our body’s postures and breathing. The body, which in my definition is the bodymind, including the brain, enables us to experience our emotions. So, yoga practice gives us an opportunity to consciously notice our emotions and what they may be trying to communicate to us.

Emotions exist on a spectrum. As children, emotions are our first language. So, if I am two years old, and something makes me mad, I move away from it. However, as we age, our capacity for complex emotions expands considerably. So, if I grow up and I am 22, something that makes me mad might also make me laugh other times. Part of growing up is learning how to make decisions based on complex emotions.

Though our culture would have us think of emotions as mental phenomena, a truth about emotion is that it is energy in motion. Emotional energy inspires action, so when we pay attention, in the present moment, to what we are feeling, we can take more effective action in the world.

Sometimes, when we pay attention to our emotions in our yoga practice, we find out that we are feeling things that we don’t want to be feeling. I see this happen often in group classes. When I teach private yoga lessons to individuals, this is one of our main areas of focus. There are many yoga practices designed to help us consciously experience painful emotions. More on that in Part II of The Role of Emotion in Yoga Practice. Stay tuned!