Boys don't cry and girls are too emotional. What a load of cobblers!
Life is full of surprises isn't it and sometimes we're more responsive than others. Whilst we can't change the circumstances or situations that happen around us, we are able to affect how we respond. This is one of the main messages in the Bhagavad Gita which I've mentioned in my previous blogs 'Letting go' and 'Sensitivity'.
Feeling the feels and being tuned in, is as much about an emotional recognition as it is a physical one.
Amy Morin says in an article in Forbes Magazine, 'Developing an awareness and understanding of your emotions can be complicated when you’re not used to thinking about how you feel. Just like most skills in life, with practice your ability to recognise, tolerate and regulate your emotions will improve. Increased emotional self-awareness is key to achieving success in your personal and professional life'.
How many more times do we hear people say "I think" rather than "I feel"?
If you want to read more, https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2014/07/18/the-8-myths-about-emotions-that-are-holding-us-back/?sh=1bf324454eb4
You may have heard yoga teachers talk about how we hold emotional stress in our hips and pelvis?
I've been looking at the cobbler pose (baddha konasana) this week in my classes.
Did you know that a cobbler is a repairer of shoes? Often from old scraps or anything they could get their hands on. These workers were (and still are) found on the streets which is where the yoga pose gets its name from.
In English slang it stands for nonsense or rubbish. Apparently coming from 'cobblers' awls', the pointed hand-tools that cobblers use to pierce holes in leather. The rhyme is with 'balls', meaning testicles. This is great.
But on a serious note take a moment to think what happens when in extreme fear. Hugging the knees is an automatic response.
The pelvis is home to the psoas muscle group which link the upper and lower body together from the spine to the front thigh bone. Nestled into the psoas are the kidneys which filter out toxins and adrenal glands which trigger our fight or flight response, as well as regulate metabolism, the immune system and blood pressure. This area is also home to our reproductive organs and in the more subtle body our sacral chakra.
So it's no surprise it's where we store a lot of emotional tension. On top of this in the western world we sit in chairs often for hours on end and this area physically can get very tight.
So, when looking at cobbler pose this week I've new found respect. Learning to modify, noticing where we most feel tension to get the most from the pose. (Check out my reel on instagram vikkiyoga25 for Tips on Tuesday this week). Obviously there are many more ways you can open your hips too.
But for now maybe lets embrace our emotions. Happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger and surprise are our main responses.
Here's to more hip opening action and putting down the 'big boys who do cry'. 'Cobblers' awls' to that! To tuning in rather than tuning out.
Namaste.
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