I remember the first time it happened. I was on the reformer doing kneeling knee stretches. I began my transition from round to arched when out of nowhere I felt a sudden urge to cry. Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face and my voice was cracking. Needless to say the teacher in front of me was extremely shocked and concerned. I felt embarrassed and extremely uncomfortable. Where did this emotion come from? Was there something wrong with me? Has anyone else ever felt what I
was feeling? On occasion, I would muster up enough courage to ask one of my teachers if they had ever experienced this feeling and their response would always be “Oh yes, that happens”.
Two years ago I was fortunate enough to begin to work with Master Teacher Janice Dulak. Early on, during one of my first lessons, the same strong urge to cry appeared and for the first time my concern and confusion was met with grace and understanding. Janice informed me that when the hip opens the illiopsoas may release tension which is a natural process. She confirmed that when we work with deep core muscles a release could cause emotions to surface as well. I felt safe and reassured that this emotional response was completely normal. As time went on I learned about the importance of opening the hips and how that contributes to alignment which then supports better posture and balance in the body. The deeper I went in the work the more I began to feel. I soon began to accept that these feelings that were surfacing were simply an indication of how deeply I was working and how strongly my mind body connection had become. As we know Pilates can be both mentally and physically challenging. During our lesson we may experience a wide variety of emotions. Deep stretching and strengthening of the entire body can result in feelings of happiness, exhaustion, accomplishment, sadness and in my case even tears.
I have since learned to trust that my body is doing what it is supposed to do and I have become stronger mentally and physically. I have learned that putting body parts where they are supposed to be is extremely difficult but also extremely necessary and in doing so we may begin to actually feel something. In the past whenever the emotion would surface I would push it back down and try to hide what I was feeling. Today, I welcome the emotion because I know how important it is to release the energy through the body.
This experience has also helped me see this work through the eyes of my clients. These are people that want to feel better and because of that I now know the importance of creating a safe space for them to work through whatever emotions that may be feeling on any given day without any judgment or fear. I know this nurturing environment will help my clients to feel empowered and to fully accept this powerful mind body connection that we work so hard to find.
Commentaires