issues in your tissues

In yoga the energetic trace of every thought, word and action leaves its mark in our bodies, minds and souls. These samskaras affect everything we do, say and feel. The yogi/ni is constantly asking whether past patterns and behaviours are affecting the present moment.

So much has been written of trauma these past few years. People have a better understanding of how the less obvious impact our subconscious ways of being. But for the yogi/ni, life is a constant act of observation and awareness. To really be present means to be constantly leaning into whether we are reacting or acting consciously.

“Mind the gap” and “Issues in your tissues” are famous one-liners to yoga practitioners. Because we know that the issues literally do sink into the tissues. Mindless reactions and sleepily living half-lives of comfort, safety or what’s socially acceptable, are easy ways to live, but how fulfilling are they actually beneath it all? How many of us are in half-loved relationships or completely loveless ones? How many are just plain toxic? Just because it’s the “done thing” or “it’s complicated” or “for the children”? How many of us are in jobs that no longer fulfill us? Or in places that make us unhappy?

Avoidance only makes matters worse. Often, people will delay or pretend to be dealing with issues, yet they aren’t facing them at all. And to burrow an issue away only allows it to sink deeper. Often, people bury these issues so deep, only for them to rear their heads in the most exaggerated, dramatic ways imaginable.

The reason why Yoga makes us feel good is the physical practice is like wiping the slate clean. Twisting, turning, lengthening, strengthening, balancing - all these elements literally drench, wring and sweep the fascia clean. Postures physically knead and release these stagnant, unwanted, misunderstood energies aside. It cleanses the issues.

But there’s so much more to it than that. The practice of sensory withdrawal teaches us to practice patience and observation. We gently learn what is real for us, beyond a teacher’s words, beyond societal rules and inherited traits. We can truly see things for what they are - not as we want them to be. We face our issues head on, without the need for substance or stories to cope. Yoga teaches us to slowly shift the edges, and to see that we can grow, become better versions of ourselves and achieve more than we thought possible. People begin the practice unable to touch toes, stand on skulls and shoulders, or balance on one leg. Slowly, as the body aligns with the heart, and these miracles are achieved, one really believes that they can leave the toxic relationship, say the words they wanted to before being called “dramatic” or told to put the issue “to bed”, and make the positive changes and impact they are gifted to share with the world.

Yoga is empowering and makes us compassionate for self and for others. It has the capacity to be life and world changing because it really deals with the issues in a soft, gentle and unconscious manner.

Talk therapy works for some. And Yoga works for the rest of us because it’ allows the body to do the talking and processing. The issues may sink deep but consistency and practice makes perfect. Yoga is never a space for judgement, competition or ego. It’s the opposite. And it’s much needed in the world.

And though my sankalpa are often versions of my own life experiences and mostly based upon nature, we have to respect that this an ancient practice based on the science of the soul. Its staying power lies in the fact that it works - breath and body are boss. The entire philosophy of Yoga is one where we return to nature, remember our connection to each other, to earth and where we face the issues in tissues and choose whether to hold on, or to release them.