03/02/2026
Yoga is often portrayed as a glossy feel good practice, with photos of people looking calm, relaxed, totally at ease. And it definitely can be however there are times when it's not.
Years ago, after about a year of practising Ashtanga, my regular class was cancelled. The only option was a Yin class. It may have been the first time in a class that I was told to relax my belly.
I enjoyed the class and went on with my evening as normal. Then, hours later… BOOM, I was sitting on the floor crying uncontrollably, with no idea why. It was the strangest feeling!
At the time, I had no way of understanding what had happened but I had a feeling it was to do with the class so I mentioned it to my teacher. She smiled and told me to not be put off by the experience, so I reluctantly went back to the class and had a very nice time and a lovely uneventful evening.
When we move slowly, hold shapes, or simply pay closer attention to sensation, we can shift the nervous system out of “doing” and into “rest.” When that happens, the body sometimes responds in surprising ways.
If you experience laughing or crying during or after practice, my advice is not to turn away from it. Simply acknowledge it as a visitor, once it's been felt, it'll probably move on.
Think about a sneeze, what's more satisfying, a loud achoooo or holding it in. I'd go with the first one 🤪
The lotus grows up through murky water before it blooms out in the world. To bloom sometimes we need to feel through some of the difficult stuff too but there is sunshine on the other side 💛
