There are theories that your body remembers everything that has ever happened to you. These are cellular memories that are held in various holding places in your body. Places that may go unnoticed but affect our lives in dramatic ways. I began to understand more about this as I practiced and taught yoga. Sometimes, during my personal practice, I would feel my emotions of sadness, anger or fear bubble up. Sometimes I would connect with emotions of great joy, peace and happiness. I began to make a conscious connection between my emotions and physical body. This new found awareness really blew my mind!

As a teacher I found I was not alone in experiencing this phenomenon. My students would be practicing Let It Go Yoga and have an emotional release. It was amazing to me to have a group of people laying side by side, doing the same yoga poses, and some were experiencing joy and laughter and others allowing the tears to flow… And still others seemed not to be affected except for the physical challenge of the pose! This was (and still is) so fascinating that I began my study of Yoga Therapy. I began working with individuals and exploring the mind-body connection and its many mysteries.

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It became very clear that for me and for many of my clients there was a definite connection between the tightness in the body and the past experiences that led to certain beliefs. For example, during my Let It Go Yoga practice when I would straightened my leg in a yoga pose, I noticed that my knee would automatically hyperextend. I could not engage (or lift) the quadricep. Hyperextension was literally holding me back from experiencing the posture fully, and gaining the full benefits of the pose. During this same practice, I briefly had a memory of myself very young, maybe 4 years old. I was full of feelings of fear and insecurity. I didn’t understand why but on some level my 4 year old brain had made a decision that it was not safe for me to be me, that I needed to hold myself back to protect myself. This thought happened in a flash but stayed with me well past the yoga practice. Outside of yoga practice, I began to think about myself as a 4 year old and how it made sense that I felt fearful. I began to see that there were other areas in my life where I had held myself back. I could see that there was a pattern. I had a belief that it was not safe “to put myself out there”. And that I needed to hold back my greatness, so that people would love and accept me. Wow! This was big stuff. I felt that I had tapped into a key that would unlock a long-held mystery and free me up in some way. So, I kept up my Let It Go Yoga practice and off the mat I decided to take a closer look at my early childhood experiences. I wrote “Love Letters” and addressed some of the issues that surrounded this belief. My yoga practice was changing as I did this and my body started to feel lighter and more flexible. This experience gave my yoga practice more meaning as I started this personal journey of introspection. Letting it go, on and off the yoga mat, I began to feel more willing to trust my instincts and to just be me. With Let It Go Yoga I felt I had a concrete tool that was helping me make the changes I needed to make. Sometimes, when I was in a yoga pose, and sometimes, during my daily life, I would simply bend my knees a little and allow the energy to flow. It was so simple, yet empowering to feel the energy move up my body and to know that I can make changes that counter old, negative beliefs. I didn’t need to hold myself back any longer, and I realized, on a deeper level, that I was (and am) a powerful adult in charge of my life.

Over the years my body’s aches and pains, illnesses and diseases have given me great insights into negative thoughts and old beliefs that no longer serve me. Yoga therapy has helped me understand what I truly need and want in order to live a happier, pain free life. Through this practice I have discovered that I need to listen to my body’s aches and pains because (I now know!) they are giving me a signal that something requires my attention. I love that I can do this for myself. And you can do this for yourself, too. When you feel a pain in your body or when you are in an uncomfortable yoga pose, just get quiet, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, focus on the place in your body that calls your attention, the place that stands out the most. Ask that part of your body the following question: “Tell me, what it is I need to know or be!”… Then wait for an answer. Be sure to take the time to be still and listen. Listen for your answer, give it space… Listen for the words, they could be few, they could be powerful. When you have received a message (and it could be anything), even if you feel as if you are making it up, don’t judge it. Open your eyes and write it down. Whatever the message is, write it down. Then rewrite it as a positive affirmation. “I Am”… Fill in the blank using your message, creating a positive statement. Close your eyes once again and ask yourself what action you could take to carry out this advice. You may decide that you need to write in a journal, go to a dance class, practice yoga, write a few “Love Letters”, make that phone call you have been putting off, pay a bill, clean your house – just take a step (baby steps count) towards letting it go in whatever way seems right for you. Trust the process. You will know what needs to be done.

Let It Go Yoga will give you the tool that brings new awareness to all areas of your life. It will help you have the courage to make the necessary life changes that your body is trying to tell you that you need. Give yourself the gift of time to discover the innate wisdom that your body is holding for you. When you do, you empower yourself – you become the spiritual warrior, willing to listen to your body and use your life experiences as tools for positive change. Illness and pain disappears, new opportunities present themselves.
It will blow your mind, you will see- it’s all connected!

Contributed by Sue Anne Parsons

 

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Click here to view your free Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!