Hey Yin Lovers and Yin Curious:
These have been crazy and complicated times, with so many moments of pivoting that have been both peaceful and painful. We have all coped with the changes, the adaptations, the modifications and all the spaces in between. I want to remind you that: YOU ARE DOING GREAT.
These are unprecedented times and we are all navigating uncharted territory. I want to tell you, you are doing SO WELL. I mean, here you are. Reading, curious and ready to add some yin to your life. Welcome. This practice is both super easy and kinda hard. Its both fantastic and super frustrating. The beautiful awkwardness of this world and practice all centralize around the idea that moving towards the uncomfortable, unknown and unhealed is the most potent journey to long lasting change. These times are breeding grounds for greatness – when we can compost the crazy parts, find the glorious moments, harvest happiness and burn down the old feelings/systems/stories that no longer serve us. We are writing new collective times together. Yin is perfect for these times. Finding more stillness, less distractions and hella time with oneself. I love the deep moments at late hours, when I can sit with my seat and sassy sides.
I am biased though. I have practiced this philosophy and the shapes of yin for over a decade. I also spent nearly three years struggling with the ever-awkward and painful healings of two concussions. The forced change, the total overhaul and the no chance but to modify, pivot and preserve. Resiliency becomes your essence and it becomes clear that moving towards and accepting the new normal is the best way to move forward. The wanting what was, is no longer possible. Things have changed, and you are changing with them.
I always laugh when people comment about one’s strength or perseverance. It is really the intensely hard times that push these needed shifts. In my own spiritual practice, I am ever reminding myself that following the calls of one’s heart will lead you in the right direction. To listen to your heart and soul and slowly walk that walk is a lifetime’s work. It also takes the sharpening of the our listening tools, and learning the languages of our hearts, and the old stories of our bodies shine to the top, so we can shift, learn and reorganzine our worlds around these things timings.
These moments in time are unique. The loving guides, spirits and ancestors are absolutely in control, participating and cheering you on… What is for you will find you. What is not your will finds ways to run, fly and free from you. What is lost was lost for us. What we want and need is looking for you. Remember these lessons when in your shapes – in these still moments, remember to listen to other spaces, places and calls. I hope this practice brings you peace, love, happiness and the radiance to remember you are truly these things AND I hope they poke at the tigers and bears within you and let you roar out all the big feels and ride the waves of change. The Feels are real, but you must feel it to heal it.
Looking for something practical? Here are three poses you can add to each day, to help smooth out the spirits, unwind the mind and help you cope with any Covid crazies in your being. Yin is a practice that is seated with long slow holds on the ground; sometimes with props, always with the full and sweet breath. There isn’t one way to do it. It is your exploration and liberation of the holding patterns in your body, and your consistent practice of clearing the mind. Do your best to relax your muscles while slowly deepening the breath. Take these moments to move energy, free frustrations and shift the form.
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Seated Forward Fold.
Sit with your legs extended out long in front of you. Consider taking a little pillow under your bum to lift and tilt the pelvis slightly forward. Let the feet be about hips distance apart. Inhale and stretch the arms tall over head, exhale and fold forward over the legs. Let the back relax and round. Soften the head and neck. If it doesn’t feel good to let it hang, add some pillows so there is support. Let the feet relax and do their thing. Soften the knees. You might even add a little blanket under the knees. Breathe slow and all along the length of the spine, soften and melt on the exhales. It is totally ok if you feel ancient and sticky. JUST breathe. Consider taking your feet wider or more narrow as you feel the add to make more space and bring more awareness to your legs. Stay here in the 2-7 minute zone, and don’t mush, but do soften. Let these shapes do you as much as you think you are doing them. When you come up. You can use your hands to lift your head, and consider taking a shoulder roll, ankle circles and some long sighs.
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Reclined Butterfly.
Bring the soles of your feet together and your knees wide. The pinky toe edge of your foot is one the ground and the distance between your heels and your pelvis is up to you. The closer the feet to the body, the more inner thigh feels often. You can also add any props or pillows under the knees, hips and thighs. Think less effort. Let the body feel supported, and also let it seek out and drop into the tension out of the body and into the world. Stay here for 2-10 minutes. Use your exhales to soften. Let your spine feel long on the earth. Keep shifting the shoulders and pelvis untilt it feels like they’re in the right place … take this breath by Breath.
3. Supine Twists.
That is fancy talk for a twist on the ground. Starting in the centre line of the body, with your knees bent and feet on the earth, press into your feet, and shift your hips over to the right a few inches, and then let your knees fall all the way over to the ground on the left side of the body – knee on knee, ankle on ankle. Think of a chair that fell over and you left it on its side. Slide the knees so they are in a line with your hips, and look to see your heels are not close to your bum, but are moving to the left. The arms will be spread out wide to the side of the body, palms face up (like a ‘T’ shape). Shoulders sliding under the body. Breathe into the ribs, and along the side of the body. You can stay there for 2-10 minutes. The head and neck can look toward the knees, and when it feels right, you can change sides and repeat on this side. Make space in the spine. And get comfy seeing different perspectives and getting into the sticky sides of the body.
We know these times will forever change, and we know we are capable of the great changes. We are being pushed to expand, grow and heal at speeds we can barely believe. Change demands that we drop what we know and want, and see what is directly in front of us.
Taking a small handful of moments each day to feel these changes, embrace the awkward and find ways that ground the body and also free up wild energy and currents.
These are the times where we learn ALL new things about ourselves – day by Day. Sending you love to continue to grow, change and shift as the times call. We have been training for moments like this in the world.
