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A breakup can leave you feeling a lot of things, whether waves of loss or abject confusion or utter devastation. Although navigating such an emotionally fragile time looks different for each of us, the practice of yoga can provide and even sanctuary as you find your way back to yourself.
“Having practiced yoga for my entire adult life, I can’t imagine going through a breakup without yogic tools to lean back on,” says Radha Metro-Midkiff, a yoga teacher in New York City. “Anyone who has ever cried it out in Child’s Pose knows how powerful it can be to get into a pose and let all the yuck out.”
Although there isn’t a particular yoga for breakups protocol, there are many elements of the practice—both physical and non-physical—that can help you process difficult emotions accompanying the end of a relationship. The following insights span experts across different disciplines, including yoga and meditation teachers as well as psychotherapists and neurobiologists, and can help you better understand why practicing yoga can feel like a balm after breakups.
How Does Yoga for Breakups Work?
1. It Can Stop Intrusive Thoughts
After a breakup, your mind might inundated with thoughts and questions every second of the day. Clinical psychotherapist Courtnay Meletta, PhD, explains that these thought patterns can take different forms: rumination (obsessively thinking about an ex), self-doubt (questioning one’s worth or actions), and fantasizing (idealizing the relationship and imagining reconciliation).
The intentional quieting of your thoughts that you practice on the mat also be practiced in any moment, helping you navigate challenges with greater clarity and resilience. “Yoga interrupts destructive cycles, promoting a deeper, more reflective state of mind,” says Meletta. “When the mind becomes calmer, we can access our true feelings and, over time, release the emotional pain.”
Essentially, she says, “Yoga can lead us back to ourselves and offer a way through.”
2. It Helps You Find a Routine
“It’s easy, when feeling low and depressed, to stay in bed or stuck on the couch or on our phones,” says Jennifer Klesman, licensed therapist and author of You Can’t Stay There: Surviving a Breakup One Moment at a Time.
When it feels like your world has been flipped upside-down, a regular yoga practice can help you create an everyday routine, explains Klesman. A study conducted by Tel Aviv University, researchers suggest that establishing predictable and repetitive routines can have a calming effect and reduce anxiety levels. These routines can also empower you to take control of your daily activities and, consequently, your overall life.
“Yoga is low commitment—as in you can do a few poses instead of a whole class,” says Klesman. Practicing a couple poses that you recall from a studio class or turning to a yoga app or YouTube teacher can help when your energy is low and your emotions are scattered.
3. It Brings the Focus Back to You
Jennifer Kenney-Smith began practicing yoga after her therapist suggested it might help with the anxiety and panic attacks she was experiencing during an intense work situation coupled with the end of a relationship. The breakup, says Kenney-Smith, “absolutely rocked me to my core.”
What began as a self-care ritual evolved into an act of self-reclamation. “Yoga became my sacred space, a place where every pose and every breath brought me closer to the core of my being,” says Kenney-Smith, who later went on to become a yoga teacher and founder of JKS Yoga & Coaching. “It’s a practice deeply rooted in self-discovery, spirituality, and the intricate interconnection of mind, body, and spirit. Yoga taught me the sacred art of coming back home to myself.”
Over time, Kenney-Smith began to foster a kinder relationship with herself. “The more I connected with myself through yoga, the more I fell in love with the person I was discovering,” she says. “It wasn’t just about the physical stretches and poses; it was about breathing life into my weary spirit and awakening to the vibrant potential within me.”
4. It Creates Space for Emotional Processing
Florida-based yoga teacher Veronique Ory says her practice shape-shifted from a traditional vinyasa structure to something less scripted during a rough breakup. “When the thoughts become overwhelming,” she says, “I turn up the music and invite movement.”
Ory explains that her practice might take the form of slower, intuitive movement for emotional processing. She flows through poses, dances, stretches, or practices somatic movement. “I find creative ways to release stuck energy and remind myself that this experience is happening for my growth and transformation.”
Lindsay Monal, a yoga teacher and sound practitioner based in New Jersey, turns to yoga for the same reasons although she particularly appreciates the quiet and space afforded by the longer holds of yin yoga. She finds that lingering in stillness supports processing emotions.
“Yin yoga is a wonderful way to practice resilience,” says Monal. “It teaches us to meet discomfort with acceptance. While breakups can be challenging, they can also give us a chance to grow.”
5. It Calms Your Overwrought Nervous System
A breakup can threaten your safety and stability, or at least that’s how your body interprets the situation. “During emotional transitions like breakups, our nervous system goes into overdrive,” says Echo Wang, founder of Yoga Kawa.
Multiple studies support what you probably already know, which is that slowing the breath can help regulate the nervous system and invite a calmer, more present-focused experience of life. This happens for several reasons. The peripheral nervous system has two divisions, sympathetic (activating responses) and parasympathetic (inhibiting responses). Yoga’s focus on the breath and muscle-nerve connections help us to shift from “fight or flight” (sympathetic), to “rest and digest” (parasympathetic), which promotes relaxation.
“Yoga acts like a giant reset button, calming the emotional storm and giving us some much-needed space to process what’s going on,” says Wang. She is careful to note that “it’s not about ignoring your feelings but creating a safe space to acknowledge them without getting swept away.”
6. It Helps You Release Emotions
Intense emotions can manifest in the physical body. Research has repeatedly shown that prolonged emotional distress can trigger physiological responses that contribute to increased inflammation, heightened muscle tension, and a compromised immune system. These effects result from the body’s stress response of releasing hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. This can cause a cascade of reactions that disrupt normal bodily functions.
Understanding the connection between emotions and physical health underscores the importance of approaches to well-being that address both mental and physical aspects of our emotions. “Consistent movement that is gentle on the body but big on energy movement is essential,” says New Jersey-based teacher Alexandra Plante. “Gentle movement hip openers and chest openers can help us move energy around and unlock places where we’ve been storing our hurt and heartache.”
Plante’s assertion echoes traditional teachings of yoga that emphasize energy channels known as nadis within the body. Emotional pain can create blockages along these pathways, causing emotional and physical imbalance and discomfort. Incorporating gentle movements alongside focused breathwork aids in releasing these blockages and restoring the natural flow of energy or prana throughout the body. It has long been taught that harmonizing movement and breath helps restore balance and well-being, addressing both physical and emotional aspects of our being.
More recently, the role of physical movement in releasing longheld emotions was explored in depth by psychiatrist and researcher Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score.
Although yoga can be incredibly beneficial for managing the physical and emotional effects of a breakup, it may not address all your emotional challenges, especially those related to patterned behaviors. In such cases, consider seeking support from a licensed psychologist or therapist.
7. It Can Help You Make Sense of Your Emotions
There are many neurological implications related to breakup-induced emotional upheaval. Brian Tierney, PhD, also known as The Somatic Doctor, explains that these emotional experiences originate in a dense neural cluster known as the Periaqueductal Gray (PAG), which is situated in the brain’s core. Dr. Tierney highlights how the PAG becomes highly active during emotional intensity, triggering the release of stress hormones while diminishing feel-good chemicals like opioids.
Tierney explains that when we stretch our connective tissues, as we do in yoga, it increases the blood flow in the body, including the brain’s connective tissue. This increased blood flow could help transfer thoughts and hormones from one brain area to another, aiding in processing and understanding pain. This aligns with research from a 2018 study which found that higher cerebral blood flow (CBF) is associated with better performance in executive functioning, attention, and memory.
“If one is open to the feelings that arise from a breakup, the synaptic brain (the neural architecture where electrical impulses travel) is more likely to link core emotional regions such as the PAG with peripheral regions that have more to do with meaning-making, imagination, symbolism, spirituality, and creativity,” he explains. These insights offer a neurobiological perspective on how processing breakup-related emotions can lead to deeper self-awareness and emotional integration.
8. It Can Help You Find a Sense of Community
During periods of emotional vulnerability or isolation, the communal aspect of in-person yoga classes can provide a source of connection and a space where you can feel supported. The collective experience also serves as a reminder that you are not alone in your experience, providing a comforting sense of solidarity and companionship during challenging times.
Kimberly Snyder, meditation teacher and author of You Are More Than You Think You Are, recommends that anyone healing from a breakup set aside time for connection, especially when strong emotions arise, in order to be the anchor to yourself.
Yoga for Breakup Practices
Much of the benefit of yoga lies in how you practice the pose rather than intrinsic traits of the specific pose, although there are poses and techniques that can be particularly beneficial when you’re experiencing emotional overwhelm.
Child’s Pose
For those who find Child’s Pose comfortable, the shape can be exceptionally calming and grounding. It contains you in a forward fold close to the ground in a manner that blocks out external stimuli, which can help you feel safe and quiet “the whirlwind of thoughts” that you might be experiencing, says Snyder.
“In stillness, even if it’s a few moments, you can find your way back to a place of peace that can only be found within, and know that life will go on, as hard as it can currently feel,” says Snyder. “Be the anchor to yourself.
Supine Twists
Sometimes you’re just not ready yet for the intense expansion of backbends such as Camel or Wild Thing. “If you’re feeling too vulnerable for chest-opening movement, stick to twists and forward folds to release energy,” says Plante. She suggests staying grounded in poses such as Janu Sirsasana or Bound Angle Pose, which offer a less-intense way to release tension and experience quiet introspection.
Nadhi Shodhana
Metro-Midkiff relies on alternate-nostril breathing, believed in yoga tradition to help balance the nervous system, anytime she is feeling overwrought. In a study completed in 2023, The Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine found the practice of nadi shodhana pranayama can be helpful in the management of hypertension by immediately reducing blood pressure.
Pratipaksha Bhavana
“The practice of pratipaksha bhavana, or replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, can be transformative, even in its simplicity,” says Metro-Midkiff. It can take a couple of weeks or months of training yourself to catch your thoughts and reframe them, she says, but you will get there.
Savasana
Sometimes the effects of your practice catch up with you the moment you lie in stillness at the end of class. “Crying in Savasana is absolutely expected in the wake of a breakup since you’re moving all the energy around and confronting your feelings in a physical space, not just a logical space,” says Plante. If lying on your back feels too exposed and vulnerable, you can practice side-lying Savasana and take a bolster or pillow between your legs.
Anjali Mudra Meditation
Snyder recommends a simple and short meditation practice to reconnect to your heart space. Come into any comfortable position. Then shift your full awareness to your heart, she explains. Take some deep breaths in and out directed toward your heart space. Let yourself be fully present in the moment. Bring your hands into anjali mudra or prayer position and pause in appreciation of all that you have made it through in your lifetime.
RELATED: Why Is Child’s Pose So Insanely Calming?
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