Yoga, Mind and Body ?

Do you do yoga? Do you practice religiously? or just every now and again?

I've been going to yoga classes for about 4 months now and I still have a really hard time. Downward Dog is a bitch on my arms,

back bends are no fun. Oh and warrior three? you kill me.

My hamstrings (among other things) are constantly sore. But the first time I correctly did pigeon pose, oh, I was sold on the amazing benefits on yoga.

Apparently I've never stretched my hips before, because MAN were they tight. Needless to say, I feel better about my life, now that I go to a yoga class once a week. I try to practice on my own, but I always seem to get bored, and can't really do much more than 30 minutes. I need the instructor there to push me. (PS if you are in DC go to Yoga District-- Bethany is AMAZING)

I started going more for fitness, more than a mental outlet, but I've quickly realized I need yoga for my mind even more than I need it for my body.

Last night I went to my usual class where my instructor announced we would be focusing on hips (yes!) As always we set an intention for this class, this time focusing on something we want to let go of. I don't really want to go into this now, but I picked a person I've been trying to let go of for a very long time. So, we get going in class, lots of sun salutations, warrior one, two and three. Then we went into a low lunge.

I was very focused on my breathing and deepening the hip stretch. THEN out of no where I got smacked with a wave of emotion and I started crying. I don't even know how to explain it. It wasn't a loud cry, I wasn't making noises, but tears were rolling down my face as if I were sobbing. I was baffled, but somehow I wasn't concerned. I just continued to focus on my breath and continuing my practice. My savasana was like none I've ever had before. I had this deep feeling of calm, and for once my mind was actually quiet.

I briefly spoke to my instructor afterwards about what had happened. She said she's seen it before, it's especially common with hip stretches as we store emotion in our hips. She was so excited for me, as this is the goal I've been working towards, moving beyond a physical release to an emotional one. I thanked her and left. I was still feeling a little upset, and quietly reflected on it the rest of the evening. I'm not really sure how I feel about it this morning. I've never really been one of those mind body hippy kind of people, but how can I ignore what happened? Maybe I'm turning into one?

I don't even know y'all. It was a strange class. Maybe it was my intention? maybe I was just letting go of all the stress from the last few weeks?

Has anything like this ever happened to you? I'm really intrigued by the whole thing. Please let me know!