Yoga for Emotional Healing: 5 Poses to Release Sadness and Anxiety

In my own healing journey—and in the work I do with clients—I’ve learned that the body stores what the mind can’t process. Emotions like sadness, anxiety, and grief don’t just live in your thoughts; they live in your shoulders, your hips, your chest, and your breath.

Yoga, when practiced with awareness, becomes more than physical exercise—it becomes a form of emotional medicine.

At The Heart Centered Being, I often guide people through these exact movements to help release stored emotions and restore a sense of calm. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, heavy-hearted, or anxious, here are five powerful poses to help you move from stuck to soft, from tense to open.

1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

For grounding and inner stillness

This gentle posture offers safety and surrender. It calms the nervous system and invites emotional release without force.

Try it: Kneel on your mat, big toes touching, knees wide. Reach your arms forward and rest your forehead on the mat. Breathe into your belly. Stay for 2-3 minutes, or longer if it feels good.

2. Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana–Bitilasana)

For releasing tension along the spine

The spine is often where we carry the weight of unspoken emotions. This simple flow reconnects you to breath and sensation.

Try it: On hands and knees, inhale as you arch the back (Cow), lifting the heart. Exhale as you round the spine (Cat), drawing the navel in. Repeat for 1-2 minutes, moving slowly and rhythmically.

3. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)

For heart-opening and emotional uplift

This pose counteracts the slumped posture that often accompanies grief or anxiety. It energizes and softens the heart space.

Try it: Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Press into the floor to lift your hips. Clasp your hands underneath and open the chest. Hold for 30–60 seconds, then release slowly.

4. Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)

For quiet introspection

Forward folds help us turn inward. They’re calming, reflective, and allow emotional tension to dissolve without pressure.

Try it: Sit with your legs extended. Inhale to lengthen your spine, exhale to fold gently forward. Don’t force the stretch—this is about surrender, not achievement. Stay for 2–3 minutes, breathing into the back of the body.

5. Legs-Up-the-Wall (Viparita Karani)

For nervous system reset

This deeply restorative pose supports circulation, soothes anxiety, and invites stillness.

It’s one of my go-to prescriptions for emotional overwhelm.

Try it: Sit sideways near a wall, then swing your legs up as you lie back. Let your arms rest at your sides or over your heart. Stay here 5–10 minutes, breathing slowly.

Yoga as Emotional Alchemy

These aren’t just stretches. They’re sacred rituals. Movements that speak directly to the places where words fall short.

The truth is—emotions don’t need to be fixed. They need to be felt. And yoga gives you the space to feel fully and safely, within the boundaries of your own breath and body.

If you’ve been carrying emotional weight for too long, I invite you to start with one pose. Just one. Let your mat become a place of release, reflection, and reconnection.

Need More Support on Your Healing Path?

At The Heart Centered Being, I offer personalized somatic healing and Tantra-based emotional work—sessions that help you listen to your body, regulate your emotions, and reconnect with the wisdom within.

👉 Visit www.TheHeartCenteredBeing.com to explore private sessions, group offerings, and free resources to support your nervous system and emotional balance.

You don’t need to hold it all alone. Your body already knows how to let go. Let me help you remember how.