Metal Element Yin Yoga: Lung Meridian

This practice focuses on postures that target the Lung Meridian line. The lung is connected to the Metal element and the season of Autumn and helps us to let go of what we no longer need.

At the beginning of the practice, you are given the option to make an intention to let go of anything that no longer serves you. We practiced supported savasana, banana asana, child pose, melting heart, and shoelace first with cow face arms and then with a twist, supported fish, reclined twist, and savasana.

Intro Music by Nature Eye
Relaxation Music by Good B Music
Photo by Elina Fairytale

Transcript

Welcome to your yin yoga practice.

Before we begin,

Just take a moment to make sure that you have everything you need for your practice today.

You'll need a yoga mat.

And if you're in a cooler climate,

Make sure you have a blanket to cover yourself with during the relaxation at the end.

You'll also need to support your body with props in some of the postures.

You'll need a rolled up blanket or a bolster or rolled up mat.

And a block or a cushion.

And you might like to have some more blocks and cushions with you in case you need them.

And you'll probably also need a strap,

Belt or tie for one of the postures.

So make sure that you have everything you need before you begin.

Yin yoga is a passive practice where postures are held for several minutes to stretch into the connective tissues.

These tissues are delicate and can be injured if they are stretched too forcefully or intensely.

It's good to be able to feel that something is happening,

But you should never be forcing a stretch or pushing yourself into a position.

And you never want to be feeling any physical pain as you practice.

Pain is a signal from your body that the position you're in is not safe or beneficial for you.

So if you do feel any pain at any time,

Come out of the pose.

You can come into a resting position until the next posture.

Or you can move back into another posture from the class that you didn't experience any pain in.

If you have any injuries or health conditions,

Make sure to connect with your doctor before starting a new practice.

Yin yoga can have many benefits for health and recovery.

But it is important that your body is suitably recovered that the stretches will benefit the tissues and won't potentially make the injury worse.

So do please check with your doctor first for your safety.

As this is an audio session,

I will talk you in and out of the postures verbally.

But if at any time you're unsure of a posture and don't know if you're in the right position,

You can always pause the recording and do a quick internet search to bring up a picture.

I've included names for all of the postures so that you can easily do this if you need to.

We're going to begin the practice today in a supported shavasana.

So take your rolled up blanket or your bolster or a rolled up yoga mat for support and place this support long ways in the centre of your mat.

This is going to support your spine.

Now sit on your mat with the end of your support at your lower back and roll back over the support.

Your spine should be running along the middle of this support,

Allowing your upper chest and shoulders to open.

And depending on your body and what you're lying on,

Your head may be supported already.

Or if it isn't,

Place your block or your cushion under your head.

Bring your arms a little away from the sides of your body with the palms of the hands facing upwards and open your legs to a little bit wider than hip distance apart.

Close your eyes here and take some breaths to come into your body to enter into your practice.

Our practice today is based on postures that work with the lung meridian line,

Which in the Chinese medicine system is connected with the metal element and the season of autumn.

The metal element is about change and letting go.

In the autumn time,

We experience the change from summer towards winter.

And along with the lungs,

Which are considered to be the yin organ of the metal element,

The large intestine is considered to be the yang organ.

Both of these organs are responsible for detoxification from the body.

The lungs through the breath and the large intestine through the digestive system.

So they allow us to let go of things that we no longer need.

The lung meridian begins near the navel and flows down towards the large intestine and then up through the stomach to the throat,

To the shoulders and down the outside of the upper arm,

Down the front of the lower arm,

Over the wrist to the tip of the thumb.

And there's one channel on each side.

And there's one channel on each side.

So now bring your awareness to your arms and on your next breath,

Inhale along the lung meridian in each of the arms.

From the front of the shoulder,

Down the outside of the upper arm.

That's the same side as the outside of your thumb.

Along the front of the forearm,

Over the wrist to the tip of the thumb.

And exhale back up from the tip of the thumb,

Over the wrist,

Up the front of the forearm,

Up the outside of the upper arm,

Over the collarbone to the front of the shoulder.

Continue to send the breath along the lung meridian.

Notice what you feel along these energetic pathways.

You may feel some sensations,

Some feelings of energy moving.

Or you may not feel so much.

There's no right or wrong thing to feel.

Just observe as you breathe.

Working with the lung meridian and the metal element can help us to let go of whatever isn't serving us anymore in our lives.

So if you have an intention for your practice today,

Something you're ready to release and leave behind you,

Gently bring that into your awareness now.

Or if you have a different intention today,

Just take these next few breaths to acknowledge that.

And now bend the knees to bring the feet to the mat and roll over to one side to come off of your support.

Move your support to one side and come back to lying flat on your back in Shavasana.

With your feet open towards the corners of the mat and your arms a little away from your sides.

And take some breaths here to observe how you feel.

Notice any sensations in your body,

Any effects from that last posture.

We're going to move into banana pose.

So from here,

Move your right leg to meet your left leg.

You can either bring the right ankle to meet the left ankle or cross the right ankle over the left.

Now move your upper body towards the left so that your body comes into a curved banana shape.

Bring your arms over your head and you can either take hold of both elbows or take your right wrist into your left hand and relax the arms over your head.

Relax into the posture.

Scan over your body to see if there are any places where you can relax the muscles a little more.

Perhaps around the thighs or at the shoulders.

And feel the sensations that arise for you in this position.

Slowly make your way out of the posture.

Bring your right foot back to the right corner of the mat.

Bring your right foot back to the right corner of the mat.

Release the arms and bring the spine back to straight.

Lying back in shavasana,

Take some breaths here to observe any sensations or any after effects from the posture.

Now let's go to the other side.

Bring the left leg to meet the right foot.

Either bringing the ankles together or crossing the left ankle over the right ankle.

And bring the upper body towards the right.

Either take hold of the elbows over the head or take the left wrist into the right hand.

Relax the arms over the head and relax into the pose.

Observe the sensations that arise for you on this different side.

If there are any places where you feel a little more tension or discomfort,

You can use the breath to help with the release in those areas.

As you inhale,

Send the breath into the place where you feel that tension.

And as you exhale,

Allow the exhalation to carry some of that tension away.

Slowly come back out.

Bring the left foot back to the left corner of the mat.

Release the arms,

Bring the body back to straight.

And take some breaths here to observe.

Bend your knees to bring the feet to the mat and roll to one side to come up onto your hands and knees.

We're going to come into a wide child's pose.

So bring the big toes together and open the knees towards the sides of the mat.

Sit onto your heels and bring your upper body down to the mat.

Stretch the arms out towards the front corners of the mat and rest your forehead down to the mat.

You might want to support yourself here.

If it's challenging for you to sit all the way back to the heels,

Take a block or a cushion to sit onto.

And if your head is uncomfortable or doesn't come all the way down,

Place a block or cushion under your forehead.

Or you can also stack your forearms and rest your head onto your forearms.

Relax into the pose.

The lung,

Organ and meridian are connected to our capacity for understanding and incorporating new ideas.

They allow us to take in new concepts and ideas and discard what isn't needed.

But when the lung meridian is not balanced,

We can experience grief and sadness,

Depression,

Melancholy and an inability to let go of things.

So as we practice today and encourage our qi to run smoothly through the lung meridian,

We're encouraging our capacity for good understanding.

We'll just stay here for a few more breaths.

Slowly walk the hands in to bring yourself back up.

And from here we'll move into melting heart pose.

So now bring yourself onto your hands and knees,

With your knees under your hips and your wrists under your shoulders.

And keeping the knees lined up with the hips,

Walk your hands forwards towards the front of the mat,

Allowing the chest to sink down.

Either rest your forehead or your chin onto the mat,

Or take some support under the forehead.

And relax into the pose.

Observe the new sensations that arise for you in this new position.

Remember to use the breath to encourage the release in any uncomfortable places.

As we begin to stretch more deeply,

It's very possible that we can release stress and tension.

Similarly,

It's very possible that we can release stored emotions from our bodies,

Along with the physical tension.

And one of the main emotions that's connected to the lung meridian is grief.

So if you do feel any feelings of grief or sadness coming up as you practice,

Know that this is a sign that the practice is working.

And that you can watch and feel these emotions moving,

In the same way that you're watching the physical tension moving.

And although we're focusing on the lung meridian today,

All of the postures work with many energy lines.

And it's very possible for other emotions to come up too.

Whatever you may feel,

Remember that this is the practice allowing you to release those stored emotions that you no longer need to carry with you.

And continue to observe.

Slowly walk your hands in to come back to your hands and knees.

Take your time.

We've stretched steeply in this one,

So we don't want to put any sudden stress on the tissues by moving quickly.

Come back to your hands and knees.

And we'll do some cat-cows here.

So inhale to drop the belly.

Move the chest forwards between the armpits and look up.

Exhale to round the back.

Bring the chin to the chest.

Do a few more of these.

Inhale forwards,

Look up.

Exhale to round inwards.

And from here,

Make your way down to sitting.

We're going to come into shoelace pose.

First with Gomukhasana or Cow Face Arms.

And then with a gentle twist.

Shoelace can be quite intense for the hips,

So I'll give you some different options to find where you want your legs to be.

Begin sitting with both legs stretched out in front of you.

And if it feels better for you,

You can sit onto a block or a cushion.

Especially if you find it difficult to sit with the spine straight.

The first option is more of a half-butterfly pose,

But it will feel better for you if you have some tension in your hips.

Bend the right knee and bring the right foot to the left thigh,

So that the right knee opens outwards.

And if you like,

You can support the right leg here by placing a block or a cushion under the thigh.

And if your left leg feels very tight like this,

Or if the left knee is bent,

Place some support under the left knee,

So that both legs can relax.

The next option is to place the right foot on top of the left thigh.

If you do this one,

Your right knee will be floating in the air,

So place some support under the right thigh,

So that the leg can relax.

If you're feeling more flexible,

You can come into half shoelace by crossing the right leg over the left,

So that the right knee sits on top of the left knee,

And the right foot is on the outside of the left hip.

Or for full shoelace,

From here bend the left leg,

So that the left foot is also at the outside of the right hip,

And the knees are stacked.

We're going to have the legs like this for a few minutes,

So make sure that wherever you are,

You are comfortable enough to stay here for some time,

But it's not too intense of a stretch for you.

And now we'll arrange the arms.

We're going to take cow face arms,

So place your strap or belt over your left shoulder,

Lift your left arm up,

And bend the left elbow,

Taking the left hand behind the back,

To take hold of the strap behind you.

Now bend the right elbow to bring the right hand behind you and take hold of the strap.

Remember we're doing a yin version of this posture,

So we don't want to be stretching intensely.

If it feels very easy for you to clasp the hands here,

And doesn't bring you an intense stretch,

You can clasp the hands.

But for most of us,

We're going to be in the best position,

Taking hold of the strap and bringing the hands to a place where we can feel something happening in the shoulders,

But where it's not a huge stretch,

And where we can stay for several minutes.

Once your hands are in place,

If this feels enough for you,

And you're getting all the sensation that you need,

Remain with your spine straight.

Or otherwise,

If you want to fold forwards,

Begin to fold the upper body over the legs until you feel that edge,

The place where you suddenly feel a lot more intensity in your body.

Once you reach your edge,

Stop here and relax into the posture.

Remember to send the breath into any areas of tension or discomfort.

We're going to stay in these next postures for a little bit longer.

As your body gets used to being here,

You might find that you start to lose some intensity and don't feel so much.

If that happens,

Just fold a bit further forwards until that intensity comes again.

And if at any time it starts to feel too intense for you,

You can always come back up or come out of the posture if you need to.

We'll just stay here for a few more breaths.

Slowly bring your spine back up to straight.

Keep the legs as they are,

But release your arms and just put your strap to one side for now.

And from here we're going to move into a twist.

So bring your left hand to rest on your right knee.

And take your right hand to the mat behind you.

Take a breath in to lift your spine up.

And exhale to gently twist towards the right.

Turning your head to the right.

Remember we're coming into a yin twist here.

So we're just going to gently twist towards the right.

Remember we're coming into a yin twist here.

So we're just going to that point where it starts to feel like something more is happening.

And once you feel that edge,

Relax into the twist.

Scan over your body to see if you can relax your hips a little more.

Can you relax your shoulders a little more?

Stay sensitive to your edge.

You might find that after some time here you need to twist a little further.

We'll stay here for another minute.

Slowly unwind.

Bring your upper body back to the centre.

And unwind the legs.

Take your time to come out.

We've been in this position for some time.

Bring the feet flat to the mat with the knees facing upwards.

And rock the knees from side to side.

And take some breaths here to feel any sensations.

Any effects from the posture.

And let's do the other side.

Remember that usually both sides are different.

So this side could be a completely different experience for you.

Find where your legs want to be on this side.

You can have the left foot on the inside of the right thigh.

Or on top of the thigh.

Or you can stack the left knee on top of the right knee.

Or bend the right foot to the outside of the left hip.

And once the legs are in place bring your strap over your shoulder.

Lift the right arm and bend the right elbow to take hold of the strap behind you.

Bend the left arm behind you to take the strap.

And you can stay here with your spine straight or come forwards.

Once you've found your edge,

That place of intensity.

Relax into the posture.

Remember to keep using the breath.

Slowly come back up and release your arms.

Place the strap to one side and we'll move into our twist on this side.

Bring your right hand to your left knee and your left hand behind your back.

Take a breath in to straighten your spine.

And exhale to twist towards the left.

Moving to that place where you start to feel some more intensity arriving.

Check if there are any areas that you can relax.

The thighs,

The hips,

The shoulders,

The jaw.

We've got another minute here.

And slowly unwind.

Release the legs and bring the feet to the mat.

Rock the knees from side to side.

Observe any sensation.

Any effects from those postures.

Our next posture is supported fish.

So you'll need a block for this one.

Or if you don't have a block,

You can use a cushion.

You're going to be lying on your back with the block or support at your upper back.

So that your chest and throat area opens and your head rests down to the mat.

So place your block long ways at its lowest setting.

And lie on to the mat with your block just below the shoulders.

So that your head rests back to the mat.

If this is intense for your neck,

You can also support your head with a block or a cushion here.

And if resting on to a block feels too intense for you,

Rest on to a rolling mat.

If this is too intense for you,

Rest on to a rolled up blanket instead.

With the blanket running long ways across the mat.

So the other way to what we were doing at the beginning of the practice.

Make sure that you're supported in a way that you can feel that something is happening.

But where it's not intense for you in any way.

And where you can stay for several minutes.

Keep your legs straight and have your arms at the sides of your body with the palms facing downwards.

And relax into the posture.

Relax the shoulders.

Relax the legs.

Relax the feet.

We're increasing our hold time for these last few postures.

So we've got another two minutes here.

Bend your knees to bring your feet to the mat.

And slowly roll to one side to remove your support.

And come back to lying flat on your back.

Take some breaths here to observe any effects from that posture.

And we're going to finish with a twist.

So now bend your knees to bring your feet to the mat.

And then bring the knees up to your chest.

Lifting the feet and keeping the ankles and the knees together.

Shift your hips slightly over towards the right to make some space to move into your twist.

And now bring your left hand to your right thigh.

And lower your legs to the mat on the left side.

Once your legs have come all the way down to the mat,

Relax the legs and the feet.

And keep the left hand on the right thigh.

And keep the left hand on the right thigh to keep encouraging the knees towards the mat.

Bring the right arm up to a diagonal angle so the right hand reaches up towards the top corner of the mat.

You can place a cushion under your right shoulder for support here if the shoulder lifts up a long way.

And relax into the posture.

Feel the new sensations that arise for you in this new position.

Relax the shoulders.

Relax the thighs.

We're going to be here for another three minutes.

To come out,

Bring the right arm back to the right side of the body.

And take your left hand to the outside of the left leg.

Push the legs back up to the centre and restraighten yourself.

Take your feet to the sides of the mat and drop your knees in together.

And take some breaths here to observe.

And let's go to the other side.

Bring the knees back in towards the chest and move your hips slightly towards the left.

Take the right hand to the outside of the left leg and drop the legs to the right side.

Keeping the right hand on the left thigh.

Bring your left arm up to a diagonal angle.

And relax into your twist.

We'll be here for five minutes.

Slowly make your way back out.

Bring your left arm back to the left side.

Take the right hand to the outside of the right leg.

And bring the knees back to the centre.

Straighten yourself out and take your feet to the sides of the mat.

Dropping the knees together.

And take some breaths here.

And it's time for our relaxation.

So make sure that you're going to be warm enough.

And if you're feeling comfortable here you're welcome to stay with your knees together.

Or otherwise straighten your legs out into Shavasana.

You can place a rolled up blanket under your knees or your ankles for support if that feels best for you.

Or place a block or a pillow under your head.

And once you've made yourself warm and comfortable give yourself permission to completely relax right now.

Bring your awareness back to the lung meridian.

And notice any sensations along the pathway of the lung meridian in your arms.

From the front of the shoulders.

Down the outside of the upper arm.

Down the front of the lower arm.

Over the wrists.

To the tips of the thumbs.

Rest your awareness on this pathway of the lung meridian.

And observe whatever you feel here.

And now for the next few minutes allow yourself to relax completely and enjoy the effects of your practice.

Slowly begin to reawaken the body by making some small movements with the fingers and the toes.

Circle the wrists and the ankles.

And bring the arms up over your head to give yourself a long stretch down the sides from your hands to your feet.

Take your time,

There's no rush.

When you feel ready bend the knees and bring the knees into your chest and rock gently from side to side.

Massaging the lower back into the mat.

And when you're ready to return to your day.

Roll over to one side.

And make your way back up to sitting.

This brings us to the end of the practice.

Thank you for practicing with me today.

Reviews

Wonderful! Feel very relaxed and very open. Thank you 🙏🏼