Let the Tears Flow: Why Yoga is More Than Just Poses

Yoga Isn’t About Poses—It’s About Feeling

Yoga is not about handstands or the perfect splits. It’s not about the body at all, really. It’s about coming as you are—beaten, raw, with all your emotions swirling inside you. It’s about shaking up that stuck energy, accepting yourself exactly as you are, and letting go.

Sometimes, yoga cracks you open when you least expect it. One moment, you’re holding a warrior pose, feeling strong, grounded. The next, tears are streaming down your face. Or maybe your stomach is in knots, emotions making you feel sick. But in a good way.

I see it in my classes all the time.

Women walk in, carrying the weight of their lives—careers, kids, relationships, responsibilities. They hold everything together for everyone else, always strong, always pushing through. And then, in a quiet moment in class, when the breath deepens, when the body softens, something shifts. The dam breaks. The tears come.

And it’s beautiful.

Let Yoga Crack You Open

We store emotions in our bodies. The stress of work tightens our shoulders. The heartaches we never processed lock into our hips. The grief we ignored settles deep in our bones. We think we’ve moved on, but our bodies remember.

Then, one day, in a yoga class, we push a little harder—or we surrender completely—and something moves. Energy unblocks. A wave of emotion rushes through, and suddenly, we’re sobbing on our mats. Not broken. Not weak. But releasing.

If you’ve ever cried in a yoga class, know this: you are not alone. In fact, let the tears flow. This is what healing looks like. It’s messy. It’s raw. And it’s real.

The Year I Cried Every Single Weekend

Fourteen years ago, I moved to London to start a new life. I left behind my family, my friends, everything I knew. I had a stressful job in marketing—something I never truly loved but needed to do to survive. Life felt heavy. I felt lost.

Then, I found the Sivananda Yoga Centre in Putney. Every week, I biked there from my little flat in Fulham, thinking I was just going to exercise. I was obsessed with learning to headstand. I wanted to be strong, to master the physical.

But every class cracked me open a little more. My hips. My hamstrings. My heart. I’d fall out of my headstand, laugh it off, go home—and cry my eyes out. Every. Single. Weekend.

For a year, this was my reality. Week after week, I showed up, thinking I was learning yoga. In truth, I was learning how to feel.

The sorrow, the loneliness, the pressure I had been carrying—it was finally being felt. Fully. And once I let it move through me, I started to heal.

Life is Too Much Sometimes—Let Yoga Hold You

Life doesn’t slow down. Work is demanding. Kids need us. The world keeps spinning, and we keep holding it together. But where do we put our emotions? How do we release the stress, the grief, the overwhelm?

For me, and for so many others, yoga is the answer. Not because it’s trendy or looks good on Instagram, but because it creates space. Space to feel. To breathe. To let go.

So, if you ever find yourself in my class, and the tears start to flow—let them.

Let them wash through you. Let them cleanse you. Let yoga hold you.

And know that you are not alone.

You are exactly where you need to be.