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Yoga Poses To Release Emotions by Suzanne Heyn

The document discusses how different yoga poses can help release and process various emotions that are associated with different parts of the body. It outlines poses that target the lungs and heart to release grief, the liver to release anger, the hamstrings to encourage letting go, the spleen to reduce worry, and the hips and shoulders to relieve stress and open repressed emotions. Poses mentioned include backbends, twists, forward folds, hip openers, and poses that target the different chakras.

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309 views6 pages

Yoga Poses To Release Emotions by Suzanne Heyn

The document discusses how different yoga poses can help release and process various emotions that are associated with different parts of the body. It outlines poses that target the lungs and heart to release grief, the liver to release anger, the hamstrings to encourage letting go, the spleen to reduce worry, and the hips and shoulders to relieve stress and open repressed emotions. Poses mentioned include backbends, twists, forward folds, hip openers, and poses that target the different chakras.

Uploaded by

mjauuuuu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Yoga poses to release

Emotions Like Anger and Sadness


by Suzanne Heyn

www.SuzanneHeyn.com
Grief lingers in the lungs
When we cry really hard, we may release gasping sobs, or when we talk
about emotions during a depression, we may say something like “I feel like
I can’t breathe.”

The lungs are also associated with taking in the new and releasing the old.
If we’re grieving, we have a hard time with both. Letting go and moving on.

The idea of lungs holding onto grief is commonly found in Chinese


medicine, but from a yoga perspective, the lungs are associated with the
heart chakra, the fourth chakra, related to love. When we grieve, our hearts
hurt. We lost something we loved. When our hearts are open, we’re able to
ride the flow of life.

Yoga poses to release grief and sadness:


☾ Practice backbends. Try a passive backbend by
rolling up a blanket, towel or yoga mat and
placing it underneath the shoulder blades, at bra
strap level. Lay here for any amount of time you
wish, preferably five or 10 minutes.

☾ Open up the hips. The hips relate to the second


chakra, the seat of emotions, and often function as a junk drawer containing
all our repressed emotions. Try goddess pose, pictured at right, and
experiment with moving your hips around.

☾ Meditate while visualizing a ball of light at the


heart chakra. Imagine it burning away all the
residue and clearing blockages with its incredible
light.

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Anger gunks up the liver
Anger’s connection to the liver is also found in both Chinese medicine and
yoga. The liver cleans the blood and stores energy. And when someone is
really angry, we say her blood is boiling.

In yoga, the liver is related to the third chakra, in the belly. This is the seat
of will and power. Often when we’re angry, it’s because we feel we’ve been
wronged, and feel powerless against that wrong.

Yoga poses to cleanse the liver and release anger:


☾ Practice twists to wring out the internal organs,
like the seated twist at right. Keep the spine nice
and long as you twist.

☾ Poses that fire up the third chakra and


encourage balance include leg lifts. Lie on your
back and place the hands underneath your hips
for support. Slowly lift and lower the legs,
pressing the lower back into the ground. If this is
too much, try one leg at a time.

Holding on tightens the hamstrings


The hamstrings are connected to our ability to let go and trust, which makes
sense because they’re linked to forward folds — postures of surrender.
They’re also connected to fear — we often grip the hamstrings when

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entering fight or flight mode, which makes sense if the body is preparing to
run off to safety.

If we tend to want to control life, we may have tight hamstrings. Some


people also say the hamstrings are related holding ourselves back in some
way, holding back our power, creativity, or fullness of self-expression out of
fear.

Freeing the hamstrings requires focusing on that difficult balance between


letting go of control while putting ourselves out into the world with full
trust that life will take us where we need to go.

Yoga poses to release the hamstrings and encourage feelings of letting go:
☾ Practice forward folds, poses of surrendering.
You may also want to combine these folds with
practices that strengthen the third chakra, the
power center, which is the fire of will and self-
determination.

Keep the spine long in any forward folds.

Worry clogs the spleen


The spleen is related to the liver. It helps to filter blood and supports the
body’s immune system. Energetically, it also holds worry. Fortunately,
worry dissipates much more quickly than the other, stickier emotions like
anger and grief.

www.SuzanneHeyn.com
Yoga poses to reduce worry:
☾ Srengthen the first chakra, which affirms your connection to the universe,
the ultimate source of power and nourishment.
Reduce anxiety by grounding down and trusting
in life itself.

To do this, try walking barefoot or practicing


malasana, or yogi squat pose, pictured at right. If
this isn't comfortable for you, try it against a wall
or placing your heels on a rolled up blanket. Only
lower down as far as feels good.

You can also rest in child's pose and feel nurtured


in this safe resting place. Pictured at right.

Hips are an emotional junk drawer


The hips hold a variety of emotions, from stress to sadness to trauma.
They’re the epicenter of the second chakra, which is the energy center
related to emotions. In the U.S. many people have chronically tight hips,
partially because we sit a lot and partially because our culture is scared of
emotion.

Yoga poses to open the hips and release repressed emotions:

Practice hip openers like goddess pose and malasana, pictured above. Try
supta baddha konasana, reclined butterfly. Lie down bringing the feet to

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touch and allow your knees to fall outward. Move the hips in circles. Dance.
Shake. Also, interrupt sitting with frequent breaks.

The hips can take a long time to open, so hold whatever poses you try for
one minute at least, but up to five or even 10 minutes.

Shoulders hold stress


This is probably a no-brainer, but I feel like the shoulders are under-
appreciated while everyone focuses on heart-openers and hips. If you’re
ever feeling stressed or worried, I recommend spending five or 10 minutes
opening up the shoulders. It really helps release a lot of tension.

Yoga poses to open the shoulders and reduce stress:

Down dogs are great, pictured at right.

Also try down puppy: From all fours, press the


hands a few inches out in front of you until you
can lower the chest down toward the ground as
you would in down dog.

You can also bend your elbows and place the triceps on a table. Let gravity
loosen the shoulders, taking care not to press, just allowing the gradual
opening.

Spend as much time as you'd like opening up this area and enjoy the sense
of joy and freedom that emanates as a result!

♥ I hope this served you! Namaste. ♥

www.SuzanneHeyn.com

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