Crying in class

I recently had three yoga classes in a row where I was in tears for at least part of the time, very much so the last one. Most stimulated by seated forward bends, it seemed. Lots of tears in my hamstrings. (TEE-ars, not TARES, lol) I loved being covered in sweat and tears (not much blood) and moving through flows.

I loved it! I love crying so much. Does anyone else have fun crying experiences to share? Also, any tricks to stimulate the crying more are appreciated :).

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Josh Fossgreen on September 24, 2009 at 5:30am

No way! Crying is such a great release. Lately the crying has felt like a physical expression of recognizing unity between joy and sorrow. In fact, I'm off to class right now. Here's hoping for tears!

Permalink Reply by Josh Fossgreen on September 24, 2009 at 7:38am

No, I think the one at Exhale I was too focused on getting into poses I wasn't comfortable with. It seems like crying is a really deep release I get after I've been working with a pose for a while. I released a lot of emotional tension when I started doing Pigeon pose, and lately it's been in the hamstrings, in forward folds and seated forward bends.

Permalink Reply by Josh Fossgreen on September 25, 2009 at 8:33am

That's the best time to do it! It's so rewarding to be vulnerable in front of loving people, which is a term that often describes yoga teachers (not always!).

Permalink Reply by Josh Fossgreen on September 25, 2009 at 12:22pm

ha. I haven't been getting crying snot, it's all tears. Interesting. I guess I can only thank God for letting me continue to breathe :).

Permalink Reply by Vanessa Belzile on June 2, 2010 at 4:56pm

i've cried in some classes too!! Sometimes I feel like I'm releasing old repressed stuff and other times it's like you said, like a cross between joy and sorrow.
I get it in a forward bend too, but the time when i "released" the most was in a hip opening pose where you're also stretching the quad.
Apparently the tight areas in our bodies are where we store unresolved issues and drama in our lives......

Permalink Reply by Yogaranka on February 9, 2011 at 6:29am

My humble suggestion would be to learn how to be with your pain. Sit and meditate. Meditation is anything but fantasizing, daydreaming. It is more like sitting in the silence and experiencing all that there is. No judgment, no analysis, just observing with a keen sense of awareness.

People think bliss is an emotion. It is not an emotion, it is a state of being perfectly in balance without any distraction. Meditation is the only way to get there. Mind altering practices are not necessary either, they just delay the encounters.

One needs to be able to let go of childish tendencies of hanging onto the security blankets, and the pacifiers. No I don't mean it literally, but more about tendencies of not being able to be with oneself.

If you have not explored meditation I highly recommend. First read about it, then practice it twice a day, 20 minutes each time. In perfect silence and aloneness.

My first suggestion is to explore Kriya yoga on csa-davis.org, or a more generic website, but very well researched and put together is aypsite.org. Both website will get you to meditate very well. Just have to put into practice. Lots of help there.

Wishing you the best,

Permalink Reply by Josh Fossgreen on February 9, 2011 at 7:14am

Meditating without a functional philosophical framework can be 'dangerous,' I think, because it can reinforce an inflated egoic identity. Correct understanding is a prerequisite to correct meditation. I recommend checking out Mondozen.org and attending a retreat. The philosophical framework and the ability of the Mondo process to give a taste of freedom is exquisite. Mondo Zen is connected to the Integral movement (fathered by Ken Wilbur) and there's no taste of ego repression or any of the other weird, unbalanced ascender flavor that colors a lot of meditation communities.

Permalink Reply by cherimoyayogi on July 2, 2010 at 4:51am

oh yes, i have cried many times. always makes my day.

Permalink Reply by D'Kay on July 5, 2010 at 10:53am

Well, a good friend of mine studies Tai'Chi under the guidance of Earl Montaigue and has recounted a story to me about Earl having introduced a new Qi'Gong posture to students of his which focused on re-integrating meridians centered about the heart. After a couple of weeks of practice, his students, one by one, began to confess to having experienced random bouts of sobbing in public and private for no apparent reason. Curious stuff.

Permalink Reply by Yogaranka on July 5, 2010 at 11:09am

as a yoga teacher, I see it very often...boys in forward seated bends, girls in deeper back bends.

I remember one fellow bumping into me on the street, and confessing, he does not want to come to class because of the crying. I tried my best to explain that even I cry from time to time, but he was very upset about this release.

In class, when it happens, I don't draw any attention to it, just keep teaching, keeping an eye corner on the releaser. It stops as suddenly as it starts. nobody is hurt, just a bit surprised.

Once I touched a student on her shoulders, gave her a little massage to get her shoulders relaxed, and that rolled into a crying spell. I felt silly, apologized, and promised myself never to do it again.

Permalink Reply by teedo on February 9, 2011 at 7:54am

i've released through backbends, hip openers, heart openers... even the occasional meditation at home. the most curious one was in yin where we had to kneel on our toes for 4 or 5 minutes. it felt like my toes were going to break off and the pain was intense. my yoga teacher said that we could come out at any time, but not to be afraid of what we were feeling (because after all, your toes aren't going to break off ;) once i let go and accepted the pain as it was i felt this massive release and bawled. cried on the bike ride home too... but a joyful cry.

i cry at the most random times though. and i like it. just a change in wind or the special way the sun's light plays moves me to tears :)

Permalink Reply by Apple and Banana on April 2, 2011 at 10:08am

Yes! I've cried many times. During and after. It is such a wonderful release. Sometimes, I am so overwhelmed running through life that I don't even feel the need to release but the mindfulness of yoga brings awareness to it. Sometimes it stems from something negative, sometimes from something positive... more often than not though it's hard to tell. No need to label the emotion, I suppose.