Meditation on the Importance of Expressing ALL Your Emotions

I talk pretty frequently about my dog, Biscuits. Not only do I love her and think she’s adorable, I think we have A LOT to LEARN from her and our other four-legged friends. To tell you what I mean by that, let me tell you a bit about the Psalms. The Psalms is a book of songs/prayers in the Bible. The amazing thing about these bits of poetry is they give EXPRESSION to the FULL RANGE of human emotions. Sometimes the poets shout EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! Other times they weep bitterly. At points they blissfully dance and twirl. While elsewhere they rant and rage, literally singing about wanting their enemy’s babies killed in less than savory ways. They even frequently cry out about how life, or the universe, or the Divine seems to be AGAINST them in that moment. Interestingly, though, after the writers express their sorrows, frustrations, anger, fears, rage, grief, etc., they almost always LAND in a space of JOY.

This brings me back to Biscuits. Whenever something agitates, aggravates, or frustrates her she vents and EXPRESSES her EMOTION IMMEDIATELY. She instantly shakes her whole body or barks to get whatever is in her out of her. This is INCREDIBLY WISE, because things we don’t express gets locked in our bodies and will come back to haunt us later.

Our yoga practices, and really our entire lives are embodied prayers. Everything we do is communicating something. So, today in healthy ways I invite you to practice using sighs, shouts, lip flutters, jumps, or whatever else comes to mind to fully and authentically express whatever you happen to be feeling in that moment. Get the issues out of your tissues and feel the joy that results.