The Lovely Ordinary

When slowing down gives your brain and body a chance to catch up with each other.

I had a first today while in my yoga class.

While I’m not that old yet, I do feel like I’m at a point in my life where I don’t get very many “firsts” anymore. But it happened during my Sunday morning yoga class at the gym.

About halfway through the class, I was starting to feel very calm, very focused, very relaxed. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, my body decided, “Yeah, now is a great time to cry.”

Now, I’ve heard of this happening to people before. The idea is that sometimes your body can be wound up so tightly from stress that when you finally get into a safe, relaxed state, some kind of emotional release happens.

I had just never experienced anything like this myself.

So, naturally, this sent me down another 3 a.m. rabbit hole trying to figure out what exactly happened to me.

Please keep in mind, I am not an expert. I am not a scientist. I’m just someone who had a weird experience, got curious about it, and wanted to understand it a little better. And if you’ve ever found yourself unexpectedly crying during yoga and thought, “What is happening to me?”, maybe you’ll find this interesting, too.

So, what exactly is happening?

One of the concepts I came across was interoception.

In very simple terms, interoception is your ability to notice what’s happening inside your body. Your brain is constantly receiving information about things like your heartbeat, breathing, hunger, temperature, muscle tension, and pain.

That information doesn’t just tell you how you’re doing physically. It can also play a role in how you experience and regulate emotions.

For example, you know that feeling when you’re anxious and suddenly realize you’re clenching your jaw?

That’s interoception.

Or when you’re stressed and realize you’ve been holding your breath?

Also interoception.

Researchers are increasingly interested in the connection between interoception and emotional regulation, including how mind-body practices like yoga may influence both.

Here’s one of the research reviews I found if you want to go down the rabbit hole yourself.

So what does yoga have to do with it?

Think about a normal day.

You’re working. You’re checking your phone. You’re making plans. You’re answering messages. You’re thinking about dinner. You’re worrying about something that happened yesterday while simultaneously thinking about what you need to do tomorrow.

Your brain has a lot going on.

You may even be stressed without consciously thinking, “I am stressed.”

Then you go to yoga.

For an hour, you’re encouraged to slow down. You focus on your breathing. You pay attention to your body. You move deliberately. Eventually, you’re lying still with very little demanding your attention.

That’s a pretty dramatic change in sensory environment.

Research suggests yoga can help reduce perceived stress, although researchers are still figuring out exactly why and how much of the effect comes from yoga itself versus things like movement, breathing, relaxation, and mindfulness.

Here’s one systematic review on yoga and stress that I found particularly interesting.

So maybe yoga didn’t actually make me emotional. Maybe it just made it harder for me to ignore how I was feeling.

But what about “emotional release”?

This is where things get a little more complicated.

You’ll find plenty of people in yoga and wellness spaces talking about how certain poses can release stored emotions or trauma.

“Your hips store your emotions.”

“Your shoulders carry your burdens.”

“Hip openers release trauma.”

I understand why these explanations are appealing. I also know that stress absolutely shows up in my own body.

When I’m stressed, I feel it in my shoulders, neck, jaw, chest, and head.

If I have an argument with someone, for example, I don’t just experience that argument as a series of thoughts. I can feel it in my body.

My jaw tightens.

My shoulders tense.

My chest can feel tight.

I get a headache.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean my muscles are literally storing my emotions.

There isn’t a little filing cabinet in my shoulder containing every stressful conversation I’ve ever had.

What we do know is that emotional stress and trauma can have very real physical effects. Trauma can affect the nervous system and change the way the body responds to perceived threats. Certain experiences or reminders can trigger physical reactions even when we’re objectively safe.

So when people say “the body remembers,” there may be something meaningful behind that phrase. It just might not mean exactly what wellness culture sometimes makes it sound like.

So did yoga release my trauma?

I honestly don’t know.

I can’t tell you that I released some buried trauma during my yoga class. I can’t tell you that a particular pose unlocked an emotion that had been trapped inside my body.

But there is growing research looking at yoga as a complementary treatment for people experiencing PTSD and other trauma-related symptoms. Some studies have found reductions in PTSD and depression symptoms, and other research has looked at yoga’s effects on anxiety and stress, although researchers are still working through the limitations of the evidence.

Here’s a 2024 review looking specifically at yoga and PTSD.

So maybe yoga didn’t “release” something.

Maybe I was simply paying attention to something that was already there.

Maybe I was stressed. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was emotionally overwhelmed. Maybe I was relieved.

Maybe it was all of those things.

What I do know is that I felt incredibly calm and relaxed immediately before the tears started.

And when class ended, I sat in my car and kept crying.

Which was, frankly, pretty inconvenient because I still had groceries to buy and other errands to run.

But that’s okay.

Sometimes the body gets a chance to slow down before the brain has figured out how to explain why.

I’m still not sure what happened to me on that yoga mat.

But I’m glad I let it happen.

And if you’ve ever unexpectedly cried during yoga, meditation, stretching, or some other quiet moment when you were supposed to be relaxing, you’re definitely not alone.

And if your first thought was also:

“WTF is happening to me?”

Well…

Same.