Yin Yoga To Cultivate Resilience In Uncertain Times

During times of transition or great uncertainty, we tend to feel like a boat adrift on a rough sea. In this practice, we fortify the organs most affected by anxiety, the Spleen and Stomach. During the Yin Yoga postures, Jennifer unpacks a centering technique called The Three Grounds of Support. The meditative aspect of this practice will help you tap inner resources helpful for meeting the challenges of uncertain times

Transcript

In this yin yoga practice,

I'm going to guide you through a short series of postures designed to nourish the spleen and stomach by stimulating the meridians that supply qi to these important organs.

According to Taoist energetic medicine,

The spleen and stomach work together to perform the important function of extracting not just nutrition from the food we eat,

But also a vital life force energy.

When the spleen and stomach aren't performing well or are experiencing disharmonies,

It has a detrimental effect on our overall health as other organs won't receive the necessary life force that they need to function well.

This is an important reason to take care of spleen and stomach in its own right,

But these organs are also associated with important emotional and mental faculties,

Including feelings of groundedness,

Connectedness,

Understanding,

Insight,

And mental clarity.

During times of transition or great uncertainty,

And when we aren't well resourced,

We tend to feel the opposite of these qualities,

Including anxiety or a sense of being like a boat adrift on a rough sea.

Mentally we tend to lose focus and our ability to stay concentrated on the things we need to take care of.

While a yin yoga practice can't directly help you overcome worry and listlessness,

We can fortify the organs most affected by these emotions by ensuring that the meridians remain open and that qi is moving freely through the body.

After a yin practice,

You may nevertheless feel more centered and content.

During the poses,

I'll also unpack a centering technique called the three grounds of support.

The meditative aspect of this practice will help you to tap inner resources that will help you meet the challenges of these uncertain times.

This practice is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment.

If you feel ill,

Please consult your physician.

You'll find it helpful to have a bolster or firm cushion on hand for one of the postures in this practice.

We'll start with wide knee child's pose with a twist.

Begin on your hands and knees and bring your big toes together and separate your knees as wide as they'll allow.

We're looking for a little bit of sensation in the inner thighs.

Lower your hips about halfway to your heels.

Then take one hand and thread it underneath your body so that your upper torso rotates and allows you to settle the rest of the way into child's pose with the weight of your upper body on your shoulder.

There shouldn't be any weight on your head and neck.

If child's pose is contraindicated for your knees,

You're welcome to lie on your back and do a recline twist by lowering bent knees to one side.

Once you're settled,

See if you can relax any tension or holding in the body that isn't necessary for maintaining this shape.

Oftentimes we squeeze our muscles unconsciously and all we need to do to relax that tension is to lightly scan the body and notice what feels tight and see if it's willing to let go.

It's also okay if there are areas of the body that don't want to relax at this time.

Once you've completed the body scan,

Begin to notice any sensations percolating throughout your body.

Start with the sensations we usually associate with this pose,

Such as compression in the knees,

A light tugging feeling along the inner thighs.

Maybe you feel the stretch and compression around the spine because of your twist or a tug along the upper back and down the arm that's underneath your torso.

Tuning into the sensations of the body is one of the grounds of support,

Which are methods for helping to calm inner restlessness and to make way for a sense of relaxed inner spaciousness.

And once you've taken note of the effects of the pose,

You can ask yourself,

What else is happening in my body?

It's time to switch sides.

To unwind from the twist,

Use your free hand to help press up and out of the fold,

Just a little bit,

Just enough to free the arm and untwist the spine.

Then you can carefully thread the other arm underneath your body,

Settling the weight of your upper body onto the shoulder.

If you're in recline twist on your back,

Slowly lift and lower the legs to the other side.

Now that you're on the other side,

Take a moment to scan the body anew.

Notice if there are any new sensations arising on this side.

What got quiet?

What else is happening now in your body?

As best as you can,

Try to stay connected to the real,

Living,

And loving body.

If there's something new,

On this side,

You can ev Slim is offering for just a bit unfolding right now in your body in this way you stay connected to yourself and to the present moment you you now return to your hands and knees feel free to stretch out one leg at a time to relieve the pressure from the knees when you're ready step one foot between your hands as you prepare to come into the lunge we call dragon pose in yin yoga before you settle into the shape make sure you brought the front foot far enough forward and to test this out bring the hands to the tops of your thighs and your spine up right and see if you have room to move the hips forward if there isn't much movement here scoot your foot forward a little bit more there are a lot of variations of this pose if you're familiar with some and have a favorite feel free to take that a really popular variation is to move the front foot away from the midline of the body maybe even moving the foot off your yoga mat it's okay to allow the leg to lean to one side here and feel free to explore a bit and see if there's a foot placement that feels best for your hip in order to use this pose to target the stomach meridian we're looking for sensation along the top of the thigh and front of the hip of the back leg if you feel sensation while folding over the front leg you can stay there with your hands on the ground or on low blocks if you don't feel much in the back leg try positioning the torso in a more upright position you can place your hands on your thighs or hide locks the slight backbend in the spine that we achieve when we're more upright and dragon better stretches the hip flexors of the back leg now that you're in the shape that you'll hold for a few minutes we'll start again with the first ground of support noticing the sensations in the body start by noticing the most obvious sensation in the thigh a compression in the hip after a while notice the less obvious sensations like the effort it takes to support the upper body or something else that you're aware of try to receive these signals from your body with an open mind free from judgment you the second ground of support is to bring your attention to your breathing at first just notice that you're breathing and soften the impulse to deepen or lengthen the breath as many of us are so accustomed to do just observe the natural breath and all its variations some breaths are long and summer short summer shallow and others are deep you may notice a certain quality of breath particular to being in this pose often the breath can be a signal to how we're doing in a certain experience with short gasps being indicative of stress and slowly flowing breaths being indicative of calm without any judgment what's your natural breath like right now you if your hands are on your legs or on blocks bring them back to the floor so you can support your body while coming back to hands and knees we'll pause here for a couple of breaths this is a good time to observe the after-effects of the pose what's it like in your body right now as your muscles and deep tissues return to their resting state you and notice any changes in your breathing now bring the other foot forward between your hands making sure that it's far enough forward so that the hips can move freely when the stance is too shallow you'll find a lot of pressure on the back knee you want to distribute your weight a little more into the front foot feel free to honor any differences in your hips on this side your front foot doesn't have to be in the same place as it was on the other side so give yourself permission to explore what feels appropriate here and once you've positioned your front foot notice the sensations along the thigh and hip of the back leg do you want to fold over the leg or bring the torso more upright on this side it doesn't have to match what you did before and once you're settled into the shape that you'll hold for the duration of your time here scan the body again taking note of how this pose may feel familiar in some ways but different in others what's most obvious on this side you what's less obvious on this side you you now bring your attention to your breathing again for now continue to let the breath flow naturally as you watch also take notice of your inner environment particularly your mood and any feelings of preferences or aversions while some people really love and enjoy this pose others find it really challenging notice how your preference affects your experience of the pose you now begin to slow your breath down with a slight emphasis on the outgoing breath it may take several rounds to do this don't force yourself to breathe deeper than you can but instead gently coax out a slightly longer breath each round you now take another look at your inner environment notice what if anything has changed since you shifted your breathing you when you're ready bring your hands back to the ground if they aren't already there and step your foot back so you are once again on hands and knees we'll take another short pause here to observe what it's like to no longer be in dragon pose when you're ready and taking your time slide your legs out in front of you so that you're sitting on your sits bones if you find that you tend to slouch in this pose you'll want to sit on the edge of a blanket or cushion so that you can sit up straighter for the supported version of caterpillar or seated forward fold place your bolster or firm pillow underneath your knees your legs will be bent this helps us to target the spleen and stomach because of the compression of the belly on the thighs there's no need to keep the legs together here and they can roll to the side so let the legs settle into a place that feels natural and comfortable take a breath and sit up a little straighter as you breathe out slowly fold over the legs your back will round as your torso settles onto the tops of your thighs and once you're settled we'll start again by noticing how the pose affects your physical body what sensations are strongest here you what sensations are present but quiet notice how you feel about the pose and how that affects your overall experience of the pose you notice how the pose affects your breathing once again slow the breath down it'll likely feel a bit different in this shape but remember that you can breathe into the sides and back of your torso you might not be able to breathe as deeply as you did before but that's okay it just needs to be a little slower than your natural breath bring your attention to the pressure on your lower abdomen this area of the body is auspicious in many Eastern wisdom traditions in the yoga tradition we call it the spotty stanchakra in Taoism it's referred to as the lower dantian and in Japan it's called the Hara while the details may vary the overall view of this area of the body is the same across traditions it's the body's home your ground of being when we bring our internal gaze to the lower abdomen we tap root a well of internal support that helps us to feel grounded and calm if you need a little help finding this area slide one of your hands to the lower abdomen it will feel like the edge of your fingers are just above the hip crease as you breathe you'll feel a bit of pressure on your hand even though much of your breath is expanding into the sides and the back body you stay here with your Hara a little longer if the mind wanders gently bring it back to this well of inner resources that is always available to you whenever you need it you now slowly sit back up and use your hands to help you lower down onto your back stretching yourself out in shavasana you can keep the bolster under your knees or slide it out to the side one more time let your mind wander through your body and notice the sensations that are present when we're in a more neutral shape like this start to lean into the more subtle experiences that we often overlook you might notice the streaming pulsing sensation of Chi flowing through your body particularly in the areas that we targeted in this practice when you get quiet you'll have a more intimate experience of your breath and the Hara you you as you rest here for a little while longer try to keep your attention gathered in your body in the present moment you you you you

Reviews

Lovely 😊

Hello beautiful 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺Thank you so much for the wonderful yin yoga practice 🎈it nourish my body mind and soul and gives me a deep feeling of serenity 🧡 be well 🙏Namaste

Great shorty