Author: Zoe Campbell

Yoga therapy helps reduce anxiety and calm the nervous system. More people are starting to see the benefits of practicing Yoga regularly. The ancient sages in India discussed how Yoga can help with a busy mind and detoxify the body.

In Australia, after the summer bushfire disasters, the community is very anxious and struggling. They are also dealing with uncertainty about the pandemic’s spread and effects. Read more in the Black Dog Institute.

“Yoga teaches that emotional responses may be less pronounced with longer and more frequent practice – for the purpose of, mental rather than physical reasons.“US National library of medicine

Yoga therapy for emotional healing

Many of us carry layers of unmet feelings that settle in our hearts over time. This can lead to confusing and overwhelming thoughts in our minds, making it essential to manage our reactive thinking and responses. Simplifying our complex feelings into four basic emotions can be helpful.

 anger, happiness, sadness and fear 

There is a common belief that we should always be happy. When happiness is missing, stress develops as we try to find it.

If feelings of sadness, anger, or fear take over, we may feel like we’re the only ones experiencing them. This can lead to a sense that something is wrong with us or our lives. Such feelings often result in isolation and can lead to depression. Negative reactions or addictions may become automatic and impact our loved ones and community. Pranayama, a technique in Yoga, helps us focus on the pause between breaths, allowing us to create mental space. This enables us to make conscious choices about our actions instead of knee-jerk reactions. My mother used to say, ‘laugh and the world laughs with you – weep and you weep alone’.

Sadness is often the hardest emotion to handle and the least desired, while anger is commonly accepted and easier to express due to childhood conditioning. We see anger shown even in cartoons, yet many people struggle to manage their outbursts. Consequently, during tough times, they often react without thinking.

Change is one thing we can be sure of

Yoga is a natural way to help you live life to the fullest. It helps process blocked emotions gently. By focusing on our breathing and body sensations, our mind calms down. Practicing Yoga is like a moving meditation, making our body and mind feel calm, valued, and heard. Therefore, Yoga is an act of deep listening or self love.

Read about Yoga for natural anxiety relief here.

Practicing Yoga regularly helps calm anxiety and release hidden emotions. This healing process builds character and helps us understand where our true support comes from. As a result, our lives improve and we are less burdened by health issues.

Stuffing our feelings creates blocked emotions

For some, hiding their feelings may start in childhood, a process known as disassociation from the self. What begins as a helpful survival skill can turn into a compulsive habit that loses its effectiveness as we grow older. Our world often promotes distraction from ourselves, especially through social media, which keeps us constantly connected. This can lead to emotional immaturity in our relationships with ourselves and others, ultimately resulting in isolation, resentment, depression, anxiety, or fear.

Yoga therapy promotes emotional healing

The danger of blocked emotions is that they can lead to illness in the mind or body, like problems with organs, joints, or cells, and may be linked to anxiety, anger, or depression. In a regular Yoga therapy class, you are encouraged to listen deeply, which helps uncover hidden aspects of yourself and release stress and worry. You will learn to calm your nervous system while enhancing your health and well-being.

With Yoga therapy, we start to heal emotionally. Blocked emotions begin to shift, leading to a sense of emotional balance and wellbeing after practice. This brings renewed strength and a pause to make conscious choices. It’s a wonderful gift to ourselves, leaving us wondering how we ever lived without Yoga.

The 5 sheaths or koshas

The inner journey to uncover blocked emotions begins subtly with Yoga. Maintaining a regular practice becomes a warriors quest to wellness. Alternatively the mind constantly play tricks on us, feeding us with the chatter of excuses not to get onto the mat.

A regular Yoga therapy penetrates deeply past the mind and body into the 5 sheaths or koshas.

The five koshas or sheaths are summarised with the term Panchakosha and are described in the Taittiriya Upanishad (2.1-5).^[2][3] From gross to fine they are:

1. Annamaya kosha, “food” sheath (Anna)^[3]
2. Pranamaya kosha, “energy” sheath (Prana)^[3]
3. Manomaya kosha “mind” sheath (Manas)^[3]
4. Vijñānamaya kosha, “discernment” sheath (Vijnana)^[3]
5. Anandamaya kosha, “bliss” sheath (Ananda)^[3].

Try our Yoga for anxiety and stress exercise here