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| I have been working on staying still in forward bends. I want to wiggle around alot - especially in pascimottanasana. What I am finding is that when I hold still and get into the pose, after several minutes I feel like I want to get out, like I'm suffocating and then I start to feel very emotional. This morning I thought I might start crying. Has this sort of thing ever happened to anyone? One of my teachers suggested that I just keep with it and continue practicing the pose every day to try to work through it. |
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| Yeah, this is a tough one. The forward bends tend to be introspective, and can bring things up that are unexpected, or at least not what we think we want to feel right then. Sometimes it is worth it to hang out and find out what is happening - and sometimes it's better to work on something slowly. One night it might feel great to dive in and start examining the emotions that come up, but another night it might be better for you to go easy on yourself. It just depends - and only you will know which is which. It may even turn out to be one of your favorite asanas if you hang out and let it show you what's there....How's that for vague wisdom?   |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Sometimes when I think this is emotional, it really isn't. It ends up being your body is releasing stored up energy. The forward bends are really good at releasing energy for my body, because I store the energy in that hip region - not sure what the technical name for it is. The emotional part for me is more of a relief, therefore, it makes me cry and it feels sooo good. It is overwhelming and somewhat kinda a personal spiritual matter, at least that is my experience with it. So, just let it out, let it flow and definitely don't try to repress or opress it, another words its kinda like sneezing...you know how when your in a public place and your about to sneeze and don't. This is the yoga process at work and is the goal. |
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| It's amazing the amount of resistence I feel to wanting to get back into that pose now. I have class tonight and I can gaurantee we will be doing pascimottanasana. I am surprised that the resistence I am putting up. I tend to want to go out of my way to avoid anything I determine to be uncomfortable. Yoga has been the greatest way for me to work through that part of myself. I'll keep you all posted as to how it's going. I'm doing a week long experiment and will report back to my pranayama teacher next sunday as to how it's going. I'm excited to see if I notice a change, even if it's small. One thing I have noticed is that my resistence to do the work is always much much bigger than the actually amount of work needed to make the change. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
  
| aaron - 2005-07-26 9:56 AM
One thing I have noticed is that my resistence to do the work is always much much bigger than the actually amount of work needed to make the change.
You are not on your own with that one, my friend!  |
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| aaron...My forward bends have been very emotional for me lately as well. My teacher will come and basically lay on my back and as I relax into the pose, all these feelings well up and i have started balliing. Its pretty powerful...and Cyndi is right...I do feel better afterwards. This has been my experience for the last few weeks...which have been rough. I've been doing alot of soul-searching lately, and I've attributed the emotional releases to some things I've been hanging on to that I need to let go of.
AM |
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| well, I did pascimottanasana again this morning and set the timer for five minutes so I could just relax and not worry about how long I've been there. of course I checked the timer a lot. but I tried not to force myself to move too deeply too quickly. I tried to just be still and after the five minutes, when the timer went off I was starting to relax. To really move beyond that point of resistence I think I should stay longer but I wanted to get out of the pose so bad. I felt an enormous relief when I looked up. I didn't feel completely overwhelmed this time but the emotions were there. I am trying to not make the goal to irradicate the feelings but to just move through or be with them. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| The timer can be very freeing sometimes. I have noticed I have felt anxious or at least my mind preoccupied with "how long is that teacher going to keep us here?" in class sometimes, and equally preoccupied with the length of the hold when I am going by "feel". So the timer actually releases that part of the mind and lets it be in the pose. Hmmm - I had never verbalized that before! |
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| I have alot coming up in this pose as well. It feels at once so releasing and yet so intense. I try to breathe and surrender and accept where I am. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
I think that this pose is literally suffocating if you have your face
on your shins. There's no room for air flow. With the face forward,
looking at the toes, the lack of breath is not an issue. Think in very
simple terms: your nose is between your closed legs so air can't
flow to it.
Kurmasana, in contrast, does not have the same sense of suffocation.
Your chin is forward and the airways are unobstructed.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| I think a lot of people feel suffocated because they collapse in the front rib cage - even those who can extend quite far down the legs. I find I have to lift and lengthen at several places as I go into the pose and then continually go back and do it again while in the pose. If the front bottom rib cage is compressing into the diaphragm, the breath is not going to be happy. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Yes, but if the nostrils are compressed by the tibial bones, you can't breathe no matter
where your diaphragm is! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Well, there is that....  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
It's like that Pranayama in Light on Pranayama, the one that involves
holding your breath to the point of fainting.... |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Yes, but BKS does point out that particular pranayama is "no longer in vogue."  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | tourist - 2005-07-30 11:13 AM
Yes, but BKS does point out that particular pranayama is "no longer in vogue."
By which I think he is subtly suggesting that those who were doing this either came to
their senses or suffocated! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |  |
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emotional in pascimottanasana
