CRYING IN YOGA

My yoga class this Sunday was taught by a man. Yoga is obviously a female dominated world, but I noticed that I have a much more fulfilling experience with classes led by men. This is a recent observation I made after a class last month. The instructions are much more clear and straight to the point. There’s less use of fancy yoga sanskrit and the class seems to be focused around the physical benefits and how much goodness can be squeezed into an hour. Men also describe what certain positions are doing for certain areas of your body, which allows you to understand things from an athletic or anatomical standpoint.

This class started off pretty normal, but it was intense throughout. I felt challenged, but not in a way of defeat. I had gone on a run earlier that day and needed a good stretch. I should also mention that this is hot yoga, where the temperatures in the room are up to 100 degrees. As the class progressed I became more and more drenched with sweat. Each movement was beautifully built upon the last and the sequence had so much intentional flow. I felt that the entire class received the same energy from the instructor as I had. When I looked around, I noticed that everyone was deep into the movements and dedicated to their individual practice. Commitment was in the air.

Toward the end of the class when we did our final stretches and conscious breathing I was overcome with emotions. These emotions took over me and developed tears within thirty seconds. I was laying on my back in “happy baby” position. Luckily, I could turn my head toward the window and let my tears flow. I was so confused. I didn’t think that I was sad or upset about anything. In the moment, I surrendered to the tears but I didn’t know whether they were from sadness or frustration.

In general, I can be melancholy and pessimistic. I am not afraid to cry and process emotions. In fact, sometimes I cry for a release and as a self care practice. I typically ruminate on what is bothering me and if it is moving enough then I will cry. In this class - the tears were instant. I wondered what was up with me. I was so curious as to why I was suddenly overcome with such strong emotion.

As soon as I got in my car, I googled “crying during yoga” and many articles popped up. Apparently, this happens to people all of the time and is considered normal. I sat in my car and read for about twenty minutes. The articles said that hip opening positions can bring some to tears because as humans thats where we store a lot of stress.

I taught yoga for years and never experienced anything like this. I will be returning to that class every other Sunday, it was cathartic. How often do you cry? Do you cry easily? Should you cry more?