Someone alerted me to the MSNBC article, Moved to tears: Workouts and waterworks. It’s not specifically about Bikram Yoga but I’ve had my own emotional moments in class and I’ve witnessed first hand the emotional release that can occur during practice for many people. It’s why our mission statement begins, “To provide a safe and supportive environment…”. The articles talks about some of the reasons why such strong feelings can sometimes arise during movement work.

“We use our bodies to physically tense up against pain or negative experiences,” says Karol Ward, a therapist in private practice in New York City. “Then someone is in a movement class… and that emotion can come to the surface,” she says.

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In the field of “body psychotherapy,” Ward and other therapists maintain that the body holds on to feelings, even if it seems the mind has dealt with them. “So if a person has the opportunity to relax that area, whatever has been held there can come to the surface,” Ward says. “The body wants to complete the emotional experience.”

Moved to tears: Workouts and waterworks