PRAYER CAN TOO –

Nov. 2, 2021 – Adam Gallenberg, a sports psychologist with Premier Sport Psychology in Edina, Minn, points out that people often turn to exercise when they are feeling stressed. “So, if they’re using it as a way to cope with all the stressors in their lives, they’re very likely to have their mind go to these things while they’re exercising, and really experience the emotional reaction tied to those stressors.”

Gallenberg believes that “physical vulnerability leads to emotional vulnerability” and that the more we suppress certain emotions — such as shame, frustration or inferiority — the more likely they are to surface when we’re in a physically vulnerable state. “In yoga, we put our body in certain poses that we might refrain from doing in our daily lives,” he says, “like opening up our chest or standing up tall,” or stretching in a specific way. (Hip-opening poses are anecdotally known to trigger crying, perhaps because of all the tension stored in our hip muscles.)

Oriana R. Aragón, a social psychologist who studies emotional expressions at Clemson University, suspects that people who cry during physical activity are deeply immersed in the moment — and, for that fleeting period of time, not obsessing about the future or regurgitating the past. “They’re consuming the moment, and everything else washes away,” she says. It’s “very primal.” Sometimes, people might be overwhelmed by a feeling of awe or achievement, such as when they’ve just completed a marathon. Aragón remembers crying after finishing a half-marathon and feeling proud of herself. “It could be release, it could be achievement, but it’s definitely about stopping in that moment,” she says.

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