Throughout our lifetimes, our bodies will go through lots of wear and tear. The functionality of our bodies is continuously shifting, and when one area in our body is weak, another area will naturally compensate for the lack of function in the weak area. Think about your body right now, there are parts that are strong and open, while others might be weak and tight.

When I was seven-years old, I went over a railing and fell down two flights of stairs and landed on my tailbone. It was a traumatic experience for me. My parents didn't think to take me to the hospital because within a few minutes, I was able to stand up and walk. For a couple of weeks, I experienced a sharp pain in my lower back/tailbone area, but the pain eventually went away, and I forgot about it.

Fast forward twenty years when I discover that I'd been holding much tension in my lower body due to that experience. Through my practice of yoga, I had become more in tune with my body and I noticed that I had a lot of releasing to do, particularly in my pelvic region. Interestingly enough, when I brought my breath and focus into that area, my falling experience as a seven-year old child surfaced. I was holding onto that experience and consequently, other areas of my body were affected because of it: I had very tight hamstrings, tight upper back and I even became a belly sucker (constantly holding my belly in). Armed with that knowledge, I am working hard now to undo the compensating my body did over the last twenty years.

Rarely, when we're experiencing tension in a particular area in our body is that spot the originating cause of the pain. In almost all cases, it is simply an area where the body has chosen to manifest. It could be an old injury, a negative childhood experience or an illness. Whatever the cause, doing yoga helps us become aware of those experiences, and what areas in our bodies need to let go by bringing balance into our bodies and into our lives. Yoga is not static; we are constantly moving. Even as we hold a pose we are breathing, our rib cage is expanding and contracting, our diaphragm moving up and down.

The lesson here is if we don't do the work to release the tension in our bodies, we hold onto it, and our bodies become tight and less functional. If we maintain a lifestyle where we do not practice letting go of stress and tension, it will catch up with us affecting our lives in varying degrees, resulting in pain, illness and frustration.

Michelle Uy is a Certified Yoga Teacher and Owner of LoveActionYoga. She is Co-Creator of the Eat Well Feel Well Program, a yoga and nutrition program, and she is also certified to teach Yoga Thrive, a therapeutic yoga program for cancer survivors.