WEBVTT - Why Does Yoga Make People Emotional?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lord volgelbomb here. Sometime around the start of the twenty

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<v Speaker 1>first century, mainstream America found out about yoga. Other mind

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<v Speaker 1>body disciplines, including acupuncture, chiropractics, and meditation, have gained significant

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<v Speaker 1>followings here during that time, but yoga's rise was meteor

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<v Speaker 1>In two thousand and three, market data showed that fewer

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<v Speaker 1>than two percent of US adults practiced it. By twenty sixteen,

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<v Speaker 1>nearly fifteen percent of Americans over the age of eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>were engaged in the discipline, and another thirty four percent

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<v Speaker 1>we're thinking about giving it a try. A Yoga is

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<v Speaker 1>a tough discipline to define. The National Institutes of Health

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<v Speaker 1>describes it as a meditative movement practice combining physical postures,

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<v Speaker 1>breathing techniques, and meditation or relaxation. But it's not really

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<v Speaker 1>something you do, at least not in the way that

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<v Speaker 1>you push ups. It's more of a state of mind. Technically,

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<v Speaker 1>the highly physical practice that most Westerners think of as

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<v Speaker 1>yoga is just one of a large body of yoga disciplines,

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<v Speaker 1>some of which are far more spiritual than sweat inducing.

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<v Speaker 1>Most scholars trace yoga's roots to ancient Indian religious practices

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<v Speaker 1>typically associated with Hinduism. The Sanskrit word yoga means connection.

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<v Speaker 1>The yoga state is variously defined as relaxed attentiveness, a

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<v Speaker 1>balance between body and mind, and tranquility. Whatever yoga is

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<v Speaker 1>to whoever is practicing, it can facilitate intense emotional release.

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<v Speaker 1>Many sources cite resting postures like corpse pose as common

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<v Speaker 1>settings for tears. A backbends, which are considered heart openers

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<v Speaker 1>in yoga, make the list as well, but hip openers,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly pigeon pose, seem to win the anecdotal vote if

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<v Speaker 1>you're unfamiliar. One stage of pigeon pose looks something like

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<v Speaker 1>a forward split, but the front leg bends and rests

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<v Speaker 1>on the mat, causing the hip flexer to open. In

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<v Speaker 1>another variation of the pose, a sleeping pigeon, the upper

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<v Speaker 1>body folds over that front leg, and the forearms and

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<v Speaker 1>forehead may rest on the mat in front of the knee.

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<v Speaker 1>An advanced expression of the pose, called one legged king pigeon,

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<v Speaker 1>incorporates a backbend where the foot of the back leg

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<v Speaker 1>touches the head. For the article, this episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuff Work spoke via email with yoga teacher

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<v Speaker 1>and mindfulness coach Daniel Shankin. He said, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 1>make a T shirt one of these days that says,

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<v Speaker 1>in pigeon pose, nobody can see you cry. One time,

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<v Speaker 1>I cried in pigeon pose every time I went to

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<v Speaker 1>class for three months. He explains that he wasn't in pain,

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<v Speaker 1>he was just deeply sad. House Stiff Works All spoke

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<v Speaker 1>by email with Joseph Lopez, a Denver based yoga instructor,

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<v Speaker 1>who said that he's also cried in sleeping pigeon quote.

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<v Speaker 1>For me, it's always the hip openers that trigger emotions

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<v Speaker 1>the most. I don't always cry, as sometimes I get

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<v Speaker 1>really really pissed off. Lopez, who has been practicing for

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<v Speaker 1>ten years and teaching for seven, thinks it may be

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<v Speaker 1>a matter of where we store the emotional gunk of

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<v Speaker 1>feelings that we don't express. He said, I carry my

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<v Speaker 1>anger in my hips, so when I open them, that's

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<v Speaker 1>what gets released. That sort of concept is a common

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<v Speaker 1>take on the phenomenon, which seems to draw from the

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<v Speaker 1>Eastern philosophy of chakras. There are seven traditional chakras that

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<v Speaker 1>mark the points in our bodies where energy supposedly flows.

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<v Speaker 1>In this understanding of wellness, a block in that energy

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<v Speaker 1>flow can cause physical and psychological damage. The second chakra

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<v Speaker 1>is linked to emotions and tears and is centered around

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<v Speaker 1>the pelvis. The idea is that unblocking that chakra by

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<v Speaker 1>opening the hips could lead to a sudden flood of emotion,

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<v Speaker 1>something like the unconscious exploding into consciousness. The science has

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<v Speaker 1>started looking at the effects of yoga on the mind.

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<v Speaker 1>A March twenty seventeen study found that yoga can ease

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<v Speaker 1>the symptoms of major depressive disorder, and other research has

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<v Speaker 1>found that it reduces anxiety and stress and induces feelings

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<v Speaker 1>of happiness and unity with the world beyond oneself. But

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<v Speaker 1>science hasn't done much to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for

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<v Speaker 1>yoga's emotional liberation. How Stuffworks also spoke by email with

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<v Speaker 1>doctor Timothy McCall, who practiced internal medicine before deciding to

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<v Speaker 1>study and teach yoga therapy full time. He reports having

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<v Speaker 1>once cried after performing a series of backbends, but that

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<v Speaker 1>this phenomenon hasn't been investigated scientifically to the best of

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<v Speaker 1>his knowledge. A one plausible explanation, he says, is simple

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<v Speaker 1>awareness a quote. Have you ever had the experience, say

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<v Speaker 1>on the beach or in the middle of the woods,

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<v Speaker 1>when you get quiet inside and just become part of

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<v Speaker 1>what's going on around you. Sometimes in that moment you'll

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<v Speaker 1>get an epiphany. Maybe you need to quit your job

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<v Speaker 1>or get out of an unhealthy relationship. This might be

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<v Speaker 1>something that you've known deep down but have been overlooking

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<v Speaker 1>during the grind of everyday life. And it can work

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<v Speaker 1>that way with emotions too. McCall speculated they may be

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<v Speaker 1>buried deeply or sometimes just below the surface, yet out

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<v Speaker 1>of our conscious awareness. When we get quiet and introspective

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<v Speaker 1>in yoga practice, those emotions might come to the fore.

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<v Speaker 1>It may be that yoga's focus on conscious breathing, postural alignment,

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<v Speaker 1>and physical sensations, as well as the interactions between those factors,

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<v Speaker 1>leaves no room for the noise of daily life. Suddenly

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<v Speaker 1>we can hear something deeper. Ultimately, neither science nor yoga

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<v Speaker 1>practitioners really know why yoga can bring emotions to the surface.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe we never will, but McColl says that these types

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<v Speaker 1>of breakthroughs are useful. As a yoga instructor, he tries

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<v Speaker 1>to let them be and for many practitioners. Part of

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<v Speaker 1>yoga is letting go of the hows and whys. To

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<v Speaker 1>this day, Shankin has no idea why he cried in

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<v Speaker 1>Pigeon Pose for three months, but that doesn't matter for him.

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<v Speaker 1>What matters is that he quote finally felt safe enough

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<v Speaker 1>to express it and let it go. At the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the three months, the crying stopped on its own,

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<v Speaker 1>and my hips were much more open as well. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article Yoga makes people super emotional,

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<v Speaker 1>but why? On how stuffworks dot Com written by Julia Laton.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, and its produced by Tyler Klang. Four more

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts to my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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