Embracing Emotional Wellness: The Yogic Path to Emotional Awareness

If you have not gotten a chance to see my Monthly Reflection on Instagram, I mentioned that February was a month of Emotion, Passion, Third Eye Chakra Release, and Self-Advocation.

I wanted to use this space to expand upon yoga's influence on emotional awareness, release, and standing up for yourself.

Understand the components of the Throat and Third Eye chakras mentioned above:

Throat Chakra: Located at the throat. Connected to our ability to communicate verbally. When out of alignment you can see this through gossiping, speaking without thinking, or having trouble speaking your mind. When in alignment you speak and listen with confidence.
Third Eye Chakra: Located between eyebrows. Connected to our ability to have imagination and see the big picture. When blocked you might have headaches, issues with concentration, and hearing problems. When out of alignment people might show up as “know-it-alls” or out of touch.

Explore Emotional Awareness, Emotional Release, and Yoga

Emotional clarity is positively associated with active coping and less repetitive negative thinking.

Active Coping: Active coping is considered adaptive, having been associated with fewer mood disturbances, enhanced self-efficacy, and other favorable consequences with more focus on one's internal resources.
Active Coping Strategies:

Exercise - Yoga!
Deep Breathing - Yoga!
Meditation - Yoga!
Relaxation - Yoga!
Yoga!

Emotional Release enables you to live up to your potential. Physically releasing stored tension in our bodies will lead to less emotional tension. Techniques to relieve emotional tension:

Exercise
Pranayama or breathing techniques
Tapping or EFT

During research for this blog, I came across a very interesting strategy I had never heard of, the Emotional Freedom Technique. Sited by Kaiser Permanente, "EFT is used to help manage emotions and troubling thoughts and to lower stress and anxiety. The Emotional Freedom Technique is also called tapping. Here is the link to learn the tapping (EFT) technique.

Self Advocacy and Yoga

Self Advocacy can be described as asking for help, speaking up on your behalf, expressing your principles with clarity, and contributing your perspective.
Yoga involves honoring your needs, boundaries, and authentic voice on and off the mat.
Yoga makes us independent. It is a practice that teaches self-exploration and acceptance leading to an easier ascension to psychological and therapeutic techniques that call for a life with more mental ease.

In truth, I didn't process the scenarios of February in a hands on way. I knew I was stressed and I was holding more tension than usual, but I did not consciously recognize that my throat chakra needed to be opened or that my Third Eye Chakra was on 1000 problem solving creatively for me. I just continued to do what my yogic lifestyle encouraged me to do.

Here are my practical tips for dealing with emotional tension and standing up for yourself:

Journal. Every day I write something to myself. A note, a monologue. I am constantly expressing so nothing gets lost in the crevices of my mind and so I'm actively accepting where I am mentally.
Find a new perspective.

Every day I read a passage from, "The Daily Stoic," to provide myself with perspective. Find some quick inspirational sources that can help you get out of your head.
Inversions for physical play, such as a headstand, down dog or forward fold.

Active Listening:

Many of my emotional reactions come from misunderstanding or misalignment. Active Listening has been a journey and continues to be one. This can show up as:
1. Repeating what someone has said back to them to ensure you've heard it correctly.
2. Asking questions to gain an understanding.
3. Recapping a segment of conversation before moving onto a new topic.

Creative Problem Solving:

I have been recently introduced to Lateral Thinking Exercises which is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach.
Creative problem-solving requires reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involves ideas that may not be obtained by only using traditional step-by-step logic.

Resources: