In yoga, the hips do more than help us stand and move; they store some of our emotional baggage. Loosen them up through a series of physical postures, and you might feel an inexplicable urge to weep.

When it happened to me after a vigorous hip-opening class, I was bewildered; I had no idea where the tears were coming from. But that's exactly why some psychotherapists are using yoga as a mental health tool: The physical poses can lead to unexpected emotional breakthroughs.

For serious cases, such as trauma survivors, the recognition that the body, mind and spirit are all connected — and must all be treated — can be lifesaving. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center is now using yoga to help soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Center for Contextual Change in Chicago uses yoga therapy for a wide range of situations, including trauma stemming from sexual abuse and domestic and family violence, chronic pain, depression, relationship issues, anxiety, grief and eating disorders.

In many cases, the client feels disconnected from his or her body, said psychotherapist Dee Crowley, a yoga instructor who uses meditation, breathing practices and assisted or supported yoga postures with her clients at the center. Yoga, which means "union" by one definition, can help pull things back together.

"A lot of trauma survivors disown their body; they don't feel safe," Crowley said. "In the beginning it's about breathing, being able to go inward to focus on how the body is feeling. Do they feel their hands? Their hips? Are they aware their feet are connected to the ground? Once they feel supported — their legs and feet are firmly rooted — then we can begin doing other work. It's a very slow, respectful process."

Those suffering from eating disorders have abandoned their physical bodies in a different way. They often want to take up less space; to get smaller and smaller. While they might have open hips, a pose like a lunge — or a heart-opening backbend — might create a panicky or tearful feeling.

"Yoga really builds strength and flexibility, which is symbolic of what we need in life," said Ali Buckman, a clinical social worker and yoga instructor at the center who specializes in eating disorders. "How do you take that off the mat into life? As you build physical strength, you build emotional strength."

Buckman recalled one client with an eating disorder who couldn't get through a class because she would break down in tears every time. But she kept returning, making it through a little more each class. Her breakthrough came when the class tried supported handstands against the wall. "She was able to trust that I wouldn't let her fall," Buckman said.

You don't have to be traumatized or seriously ill to reap the mental health benefits of yoga. All it takes is a willingness to get on a mat and the courage to listen to your body's often-strange language.

"The body is with us everywhere we go — the issues show up in the tissues," Crowley said. "We don't have to call it yoga. But let's invite the body into the therapeutic process. The answers are within ourselves. It's finding the right modality to bring them out."

To get started: If you have a serious issue that involves emotional trauma, seek a mental health professional who uses yoga, or what the center calls "body inclusive psychotherapies," which include other modalities.

But if you're curious about using yogic tools to help with everything from asthma, insomnia, heart disease, stress and weight loss, pick up a copy of "Yoga as Medicine" (Bantam Dell) by Timothy McCall, a Western-trained physician and practicing yogi.

"Yoga is strong medicine, but it is slow medicine," he wrote. "Don't expect overnight cures. ... Unlike most drugs or surgery, which often gradually diminish in effectiveness, yoga builds on itself, becoming more effective over time." And unlike other types of medicine, yoga can benefit the healthy as well as the sick.