Spring Equinox Yin Yoga Practice

This gentle practice is crafted to align you with the energy of Spring, invoking balance, harmony, new beginnings, gentle cleansing, and focusing on the organ systems that align with this season - Liver and Gallbladder.

Use this practice as some sacred time just for you on or around the Spring Equinox.

{Please consult your health care practitioner prior to commencing any new practice}

Transcript

Hello and welcome to your spring equinox yin yoga practice. I'm Bec and I'm going to be guiding you through a really slow and gentle and nourishing yin yoga practice to align you with the energy of spring and this spring equinox which really is a beautiful time of us to unfurl into the fullness of ourselves after the slumber of winter. So let's get started. So all you'll need today is your yoga mat. I've got a yoga bolster here. If you don't have a bolster at home you can always improvise by using a rolled up towel or a blanket. So when you're ready let's find a comfortable seated position closing those eyes down to start and just spending the first few moments here fully arriving in the space and in your body in your practice and in this present moment right now anchoring your sit bones to the earth as you rise tall through the spine crown of the head is reaching skyward starting to observe this beautiful free flow of energy through the spine. Just doing a little bit of a scan through your body noticing without judgment how you're feeling in your body today and if you do come across any points of tension or even pain in the body can you begin to invite breath and softness into these spaces allowing any tension in the body to begin to slowly dissolve. Noticing the natural rhythm of your breath feeling your breath as it glides in and out of your nostrils. Feel the rise and fall of your chest and your belly with the breath and see if you can start to breathe a little bit deeper here drawing a breath in through the nose as you feel your entire torso swell. With a long exhale allow the torso to gently contract. Moving through that again inhaling through the nose drawing in prana life-force energy and exhaling to release and let go of anything that's no longer serving you. Let's continue in this way for the next few moments breathing in your own rhythm using that inhale to draw in that beautiful life-force energy and exhaling to release and let go. Really anchoring into your body and into your breath here and using your breath as the anchor as we move through this practice. Let's do three more breaths here. Last breath here together. Just letting go of the control of the breath allow the breath to settle back into its natural rhythm and because we're aligning with spring energy in this practice the practice will really focus on the liver and the gallbladder so both the organs and the energy channels that align with these organs. So we're going to move through a couple of poses that are going to stimulate and nourish and tonify these spaces of the body. So when you feel ready gently blinking open the eyes and let's come into our first pose. So we're going to take supta baddha konasana which is a reclining butterfly. So I'm going to use my bolster here so you could lay flat onto your mat if you wanted to. It's quite nice to lay over a prop though just to get that little bit of extra heart opening as well. So feel what feels good for you today. If you're coming with me we're coming to lay over our prop. We're drawing the soles of the feet together the knees come out wide. Now the closer that your feet are to the body the stronger the hip opening is going to feel. So if it's a little bit too strong what you can do is either press the feet away and make more of a nice wide diamond shape. The other option you could do if you do have yoga blocks at home is to pop some blocks under the knees and that's a really nice option as well just to take a little bit of that weight out of the hips. Now it's up to you what you'd like to do with the arms you could have the arms beside you overhead maybe clasping opposite elbows overhead just feel into what feels good for your body today. And once you have found where you need to be we're going to close those eyes down and fall into stillness. And really just allowing yourself to settle here into our first pose for this practice. So here you want to allow the back of your body to be heavy against the mat and against your prop if you're using one. While the front of the body is light and open and receptive. So here you can feel straight away this is quite a strong opening for those hips so allow your breath to travel down to the hips and down into any parts of the body that really need a little bit of extra love and attention as we hold and breathe. So here what I'm really wanting to you to focus on is the liver meridian that runs through the inner seams of your legs. So if you can visualize here that we are energetically flushing out through these meridians. And the liver resides underneath the right ribcage you might even like to place your hand over the liver and just giving your liver a little bit of love and attention here. As well as the beautiful hip opening you can feel this beautiful opening through the heart as well. Allowing your heart to be open here. See if you can settle in a little bit more into your pose relaxing the body, Relaxing the mind, Allowing the breath to be deep and even and rhythmic as you draw in that beautiful life force energy with every breath. And here as we begin to align ourselves with the energy of spring this is a beautiful opportunity here for us to start to release and let go of anything that's no longer serving, Anything that's accumulated throughout this the winter months. We tend to not move quite as much and eat a little bit more during winter and so spring really is a natural time of cleansing, Of detoxing, Releasing and letting go. So you can set that intention for yourself here in this practice if it aligns with you. Let's take five more breaths here in butterfly. One more breath together. Now to prepare to come out we'll bring our hands to the thighs so we can draw the knees towards one another and when you feel ready slowly roll yourself up into a seated position. We'll pause here for a moment so it's always nice to pause and rebound in between our poses just to allow that time for integration. So noticing and observing any shifts from that first pose. Inhale blink open the eyes coming back. Alright from here we're going to take a wide leg fold. Because we're doing yin I'm not going to ask you to go into full extension of the pose. You want to be sitting at maybe 60 to 70 percent. Use your props if that feels good for you especially because we hold the poses for a long time. So bring your legs out wide like I said to about that 60 or 70 percent. Grab hold of your blocks or your bolster or your cushions whatever you're using. Sitting up nice and tall on the sit bones take an inhale here lengthen through the spine and then as we exhale we'll start to soften. Now I really want this to be a very slow natural progression into the pose so I don't want you to feel like you're pulling yourself down towards the floor and it's like a race to get all the way down there. That's not the intention that's not the purpose and that's not how this style of practice asks you to be. It's more of a natural surrender into the pose. So closing the eyes if you haven't already and just observing how that pose is feeling for you. How is the energy feeling through the inner seams of your legs. You might initially arrive here in this pose and it feels quite strong and you might feel a little bit tight and rigid in the pose and that's fine and that's where we allow the softening and the organic movement and deepening of the pose to happen. And the way that we do that is number one through the art of surrender which in yoga we call Ishvara Pranidhana. But secondly we're using the breath so particularly that exhale is what's going to allow you to soften and surrender and deepen your pose in a natural way in to the degree and to the depth that your body wants to come down into today knowing that your body is different from day to day and it's really important that you honor your body's needs each time that you step onto your mat. So keep breathing here and as we start to release and let go it allows us to create space for something new. So now that we've started to create that space you can start to visualize now what are the seeds of intention that you'd like to plant for yourself with this fresh spring energy. What is it that you'd like to cultivate and tend to in your life? What does the highest expression of yourself want to embody and call in? Take some time now to to sit with that and see what bubbles up for you. Keep softening, Keep breathing, Stay present here. Let's take five more breaths here together inhaling through the nose, Exhale either through the nose or the mouth. All right let's prepare to come out now. As we inhale we'll start to roll up through the spine walking the fingertips back. Now to come out of the pose let's bring the hands to the underside of the thighs, Rock back on the hips, Draw the knees towards each other, Eyes closed and we're finding a comfortable seat. And again we're taking some time to integrate how are you feeling after that last pose. Feel that really strong charge and a bit of a surge of energy through the inner seams of the legs. One more breath. Inhale to blink open the eyes just for a moment. So we've done a quite a bit of work on the inner seams of the legs targeting the liver meridian. Now we're going to move to the outer seams of the legs and then up through the side of the body and this is going to target the gallbladder meridian. So liver and gallbladder are a little pair in our physical and energetic bodies and this is what correlates to springs. So that's why we're working with these two allies today. So what we're actually going to do is just stay in a seated position, Anchor the sit bones to the earth. Take an inhale here and then as we exhale we're just going to fold forward. Now you're just folding to the degree that serves you so that's just going to depend on how open your hips, Your lower back, Your spine is as to how far you can come down. If you start to fold and then your sitting bones come up off the mat, Maybe you've come a little bit too far and then just walk the fingertips back slightly. So you might stay here with the spine long. We're just breathing here into the outer hips, Into the low back. If you are feeling quite open today you might be able to fold all the way down. It's quite nice to fold down onto the bolster as well. So just see what feels good for you. We're not going to hold these ones for quite as long. If you need a little bit more of a deeper stretch or opening, Release, What you can do just for anyone who's got more of an advanced practice, What you can do is just bring that foot or ankle on top of the opposite knee and come into more of this fire log pose and that'll just deepen it a little bit. So that is an option for you here. So choose whatever resonates with you today. Bringing your awareness and your breath and your intention down into the outsides of the hips, Into that beautiful gallbladder meridian. We've been practicing for a little while now so you can start to draw your awareness deeper and deeper within. We've just got a few more moments here before we change sides. Let's take three more breaths. Inhale, Uncoil the spine, Walking the fingertips back and let's change sides. We won't really take a rebound here just yet. So change the cross of your legs. This will likely be your non-habitual side so it could feel a little bit funny, That's okay. So we're either here and cross legs. If you want to take the more advanced option you can bring that ankle over to the opposite knee. So see what resonates with you. This side might feel different than the first and that's okay. You can set up accordingly. It's okay to do that in yin. So inhaling, Lengthening through the spine. As we exhale, Let's come to fold forward. So here again, Just folding to the degree that serves you. This side might feel more open or maybe less open than the other. So just adjusting as you need to. Breathing into those outer hips and calling in that beautiful, Fresh, Clean spring energy. It's all about renewal. I'm gonna leave you here for the next few moments just to be in your own energy with your body and your breath. So keep breathing here, Stay present and I'll bring you back out of your pose very soon. Let's take three more breaths here. Good. And as we inhale, Slowly rolling up through the spine, Keeping the eyes closed and staying here in your seated position for the next few moments to rebound out of that pose. How are you feeling after those last two poses? Notice the space and the energy that you've cultivated there through the hips, Through the lower back, Through the spine, Through the energy body. All right. Inhale, Blinking open the eyes. We've got one more little pose to do on each side. This is a very soft, Gentle, Just a nice little pose to finish with. Nothing too crazy here. So what we're gonna do is use whatever prop we're using. So I've got my bolster here and we're turning to the side. So we're gonna come and lay over the prop and that's just going to help us to get into that side body and into that gallbladder meridian on each side. All right. So let's come down. Find a comfortable position here. So I'm gonna bend my knees. This top arm, The elbows bent here, So you can kind of cradle your head into the elbow. So you can either keep that bent or you can stretch it long. This arm can just rest wherever feels good for you. There's no hard and fast rules here. Eyes are closed if they aren't already. And feeling that beautiful space here through the side body, Getting into that gallbladder meridian, Getting into all of those little lymph nodes under the armpit there. And if you just let your head really soften and hang here, You'll get a beautiful stretch release through the neck as well. Just allowing yourself to rest here to receive any intuitive wisdom or guidance that wants to come through for you. Having the intention here as well of really revitalizing the gallbladder meridian down the side of the body. And the physical gallbladder organ sits right there next to the liver, Kind of on the inside of the liver, Underneath the right ribcage. So you might like to visualize the organ being cleansed here as well. Beautiful deep rhythmic breath. As we come more towards the end of the practice, You're really just allowing yourself to rest at this point. Just a few more breaths here before we change sides. One more breath. Beautiful. And as we inhale, Let's come on up. And all we're going to do is flip ourselves straight over to the other side and set up for this pose again. So laying over your prop, Knees are bent, Find where you want your arms to rest that's going to feel most comfortable and supportive for you. Once you're there, Eyes closed, Falling into stillness, Allowing your body to soften, Allow the breath to flow freely, Calling in any final intentions for yourself, Any intuitive wisdom from within or any guidance that you'd like to call in from the earth or from the universe. Take that time to do that now. And when we have these times of equinoxes and the solstice, A lot of the themes around these special times of the year are around balance and also times of transition. So feel into what that means for you, What feels in resonance with you at this particular point in your life. Let's take three more breaths here. Alright, Inhale, Start to roll on up off your bolster. I'm going to come straight into our Shavasana now, Which is the pose of rest. So we're coming to lay down onto our mat. I like to put the bolster under my knees for extra support, So legs out in front, Arms rest beside you, Palms facing up, Just making sure the spine's nice and long. Allow the feet to really flop out to the side, Eyes closed. Just do a little bit of a scan through the body, Head to toe, Noticing if you're holding any tension in the body and if you find that you are, Can you allow this tension to begin to dissolve. Allow the weight of your body to melt down towards the earth. This is our time to rest.