For me yoga is a form of self-care.
When I am on the yoga mat, I slow down. I re-connect to my body and my breath. While I am on the mat, there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, but be with myself in a space with others. No need to talk, to interact, to worry about anyone else, what they are doing or thinking. It is time to be with me.
I know that trauma get stuck in the body. Over time the body will close and harden around certain parts of the body to keep us safe.
The physical practice of yoga helps me to gently and mindfully expand those parts of myself that I have contracted over time. As I expand into them psychically, the emotions held there are free to move out, in a gentle way.
Reference
Stephen Cope, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self
