Yoga for Highly Sensitive People: Finding Emotional Balance Through Movement

30 Jun

I first came to yoga when I was at university and joined a small on-campus hatha yoga group each Tuesday. I can remember walking there in the freezing cold with my first yoga mat that my parents bought for me in 2012, and a pair of Onzo leggings which were all the rage back then. I would literally pull myself out of my hovel of a flat to go each week, and I kept returning because each time I learnt something new about myself.

I know a lot of people say this, but yoga has saved me more than once from dark times. As a result, I’ve had a weekly and then almost daily practice for over a decade now. At first, I was drawn to yoga because of the cool poses and the lifestyle it seemed to promote. But as I dug deeper and learnt more about this ancient practice, I soon saw it went far beyond that. It took me inwards, helped me heal, and taught me that my body is more than just a physical experience which I think many of us can get caught up in at times.

Yoga has carried me through breakups, several bouts of anxiety, eating issues, and international moves it has been there with me all the time.

As a highly sensitive person, yoga has helped me regulate my emotions and find more peace in the present moment. As my understanding of myself as a HSP has developed, so too has my ability to lean into the body and use yoga as a healing tool rather than something to boost my ego.

In yoga philosophy, energy is said to move through channels in the body called nadis, as well as the chakras. When this flow of energy (prana) is balanced, we feel calm, centred, and fulfilled. However, as HSPs, we can be more prone to blockages in these areas, which can leave us feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated the prana cannot move freely. This is why yoga is such a powerful tool for us: it helps to release stuck energy and restore balance.

Whether or not you believe in these invisible energy channels, movement itself makes you feel better and helps to clear stuck patterns. Yoga that focuses on feeling into the body and moving intuitively is especially helpful for healing – and this is exactly what I teach.

If you are a HSP and find yourself thinking: I’m not bendy, I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible, or I find it boring – these may actually be signs that you need it more than you realise. Often, resistance to something that causes discomfort is really a resistance to exploring the deeper beliefs and patterns we hold about ourselves. Using movement to explore your current state is a key way of healing the nervous system and reconnecting with yourself.

Yoga happens to be my way of doing this but it’s not about routine or rigidity. It’s about a unique, intuitive approach to movement that allows healing to happen from the inside out.

If you’d like to explore yoga for emotional release, I currently offer 1:1 classes online. Or, book a free virtual coffee with me and we can chat about whether it’s the right fit for you.