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Water element and Winter inspired practices.
THANK YOU JOINING THE FULL SERIES
All our practice recordings will live on this page and you will have access to them until the end of the series.
This is also where I will collect all the resources that I share during the classes - quotes, playlists, poems.
If you miss the in person session on Sunday, you are welcome to join the Livestream
that takes place on Wednesdays at 8pm (CET).
All our practice recordings will live on this page and you will have access to them until the end of the series.
This is also where I will collect all the resources that I share during the classes - quotes, playlists, poems.
If you miss the in person session on Sunday, you are welcome to join the Livestream
that takes place on Wednesdays at 8pm (CET).
Your Zoom link for the Wednesday livestreams is :
us02web.zoom.us/j/88339010666?pwd=TmNzOC9aL0JRYnBjc1ljU2ZobE05Zz09
Meeting ID: 883 3901 0666
Passcode: 550555
us02web.zoom.us/j/88339010666?pwd=TmNzOC9aL0JRYnBjc1ljU2ZobE05Zz09
Meeting ID: 883 3901 0666
Passcode: 550555
HONORING THE WINTER'S DOMAIN & WATER ELEMENT - I keep circling back to this, reminding both you and myself that despite of the start of the New Year, in the seasonal wheel we are still very much in the depth of Winter's domain. Even though the pressures of the dominant culture and capitalism are pulling us in the direction of action at the start of the year - resolutions, intentions, promises of self-improvement, goals of increased productivity - nature's cycles are not following that calendar and most likely, neither are our bodies. As we slow into our bodies and connect to a more natural rhythm, I want to offer these sessions as a way to keep simmering, marinating, hibernating together with our dreams, wishes, intentions and visions!
WINTER YIN - "slow and down are modes of the soul"
PROPS: optional blanket to support the knees.
The overall arching theme in these first sessions of the year is to stay hibernating. To honor the wheel of the year and winter as a time to listen more deeply rather than to go along with the forward movement too quickly. I wish for us to hold sacred the liminal space, the time inbetween when something old has ended and the new hasn't arrived yet. This is the phase of being a seed in the ground, a time of patience and waiting for the right timing.
What a great passage by Michael Meade:
"Slow" and "down" are modes of the soul; they are connective modes, ways of keeping connected to oneself and to one’s environment. "Slowing downwards" refers to more than simply moving slowly, it means growing down towards the roots of one’s being. Instead of outward growth and upward climb, life at times must turn inward and downward in order to grow in other ways. There is a shift to the vertical down that re-turns us to root memories, root metaphors, and timeless things that shape our lives from within. Slowing downwards creates opportunities to dwell more deeply in one’s life, for the home we are looking for in this world is within us all along. The lost home that we are seeking is ourselves; it is the story we carry within our soul."
And second passage I shared was by Ben Okri (from Famished road):
"In the beginning there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And because the road was once a river, it was always hungry". Our lives have become more like roads with schedules, goals, to-do lists, we follow an external rhythm.
Winter time belongs to the Water element and with it comes the invitation to find our way back to a more fluid, organic natural way of being. This time symbolises a call back to the mystery, signifies a time to explore our depths, invites us to be courageous and dive below the surface and appearance of things and to reconnect to our natural rhythm.
Culturally we often either don’t allow space or value the "yin movement" - the darkness, the unknown, the breaking apart, the unconscious and the shadow. Yet - like very often this where we can hear life speaking to us, where integration and healing happens.
I also read a passage by Matt Licata where is describes darkness as dissolving:
"It is a very human thing to want to fix this, put it back together, to et back to “normal”. It is uncomfortable to stay in that dissolved place. A loss/death/falling apart has happened, but where’s the re-birth. It’s a human impetus to get out of these complex, contradictory, unresolvable, unborn places and scramble as quickly as we can back to sort of rebirth - putting it all back together. To actually be willing to be fully in the state of falling apart, this dissolving state - there is wisdom and clarity within the dissolution that we short cirrcquit if we rush it. Premature movement from dissolution back into an organised state."
And finally - I don't remember if I read this poem or not during the online class, but it is my favorite one for this time of year where many of us think about change:
The overall arching theme in these first sessions of the year is to stay hibernating. To honor the wheel of the year and winter as a time to listen more deeply rather than to go along with the forward movement too quickly. I wish for us to hold sacred the liminal space, the time inbetween when something old has ended and the new hasn't arrived yet. This is the phase of being a seed in the ground, a time of patience and waiting for the right timing.
What a great passage by Michael Meade:
"Slow" and "down" are modes of the soul; they are connective modes, ways of keeping connected to oneself and to one’s environment. "Slowing downwards" refers to more than simply moving slowly, it means growing down towards the roots of one’s being. Instead of outward growth and upward climb, life at times must turn inward and downward in order to grow in other ways. There is a shift to the vertical down that re-turns us to root memories, root metaphors, and timeless things that shape our lives from within. Slowing downwards creates opportunities to dwell more deeply in one’s life, for the home we are looking for in this world is within us all along. The lost home that we are seeking is ourselves; it is the story we carry within our soul."
And second passage I shared was by Ben Okri (from Famished road):
"In the beginning there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And because the road was once a river, it was always hungry". Our lives have become more like roads with schedules, goals, to-do lists, we follow an external rhythm.
Winter time belongs to the Water element and with it comes the invitation to find our way back to a more fluid, organic natural way of being. This time symbolises a call back to the mystery, signifies a time to explore our depths, invites us to be courageous and dive below the surface and appearance of things and to reconnect to our natural rhythm.
Culturally we often either don’t allow space or value the "yin movement" - the darkness, the unknown, the breaking apart, the unconscious and the shadow. Yet - like very often this where we can hear life speaking to us, where integration and healing happens.
I also read a passage by Matt Licata where is describes darkness as dissolving:
"It is a very human thing to want to fix this, put it back together, to et back to “normal”. It is uncomfortable to stay in that dissolved place. A loss/death/falling apart has happened, but where’s the re-birth. It’s a human impetus to get out of these complex, contradictory, unresolvable, unborn places and scramble as quickly as we can back to sort of rebirth - putting it all back together. To actually be willing to be fully in the state of falling apart, this dissolving state - there is wisdom and clarity within the dissolution that we short cirrcquit if we rush it. Premature movement from dissolution back into an organised state."
And finally - I don't remember if I read this poem or not during the online class, but it is my favorite one for this time of year where many of us think about change:
CHANGE THE LIGHTING
~ Brooke McNamara
If you can’t change yourself, after all
the efforts, change the light
by which you read your story.
Exchange overhead for something softer -
a lamp, a candle, a vine of shining
holiday lights - and feel yourself
become hugged by the fabric of shadows.
You see the darkness here has wisdom too.
You see these objects around become related
by the pregnant emptiness that holds them,
and you. Let this light reveal the rapture
of being just this. Then, further still, try
moonlight, or no light, until, at last,
this open, sourceless incandescence
which you are
no matter who you think you are
will follow you from the inside
wherever you may go, however
you may change, or not.
~ Brooke McNamara
If you can’t change yourself, after all
the efforts, change the light
by which you read your story.
Exchange overhead for something softer -
a lamp, a candle, a vine of shining
holiday lights - and feel yourself
become hugged by the fabric of shadows.
You see the darkness here has wisdom too.
You see these objects around become related
by the pregnant emptiness that holds them,
and you. Let this light reveal the rapture
of being just this. Then, further still, try
moonlight, or no light, until, at last,
this open, sourceless incandescence
which you are
no matter who you think you are
will follow you from the inside
wherever you may go, however
you may change, or not.
YIN WAY TO CHANGE
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PROPS: optional rolled blanket
We start this session with a calming and soothing self-care ritual. We stroke along the Yin channels of the body - starting with Conception Vessel (see the picture and I've included a bit more info about it below for those who are keen*). Interestingly, as we stroke the Conception vessel pathway along the front-body, we are also stimulating the vagus nerve (see the picture) which is a big part of our parasympathetic nervous system, the hearth-lungs-diaphragm-gut-brain axis, a major communication highway between the body and the brain. We then continue the self-care touch to include the Lung (Metal element, Autumn) and Heart (Fire element, Summer) channels along the arms, and the Kidney (Water element, Winter), Liver (Wood element, Spring) and Spleen (Earth element, Late summer) meridians along the inner thighs. And here are the quotes that inspired this session: "I don't know" - I find that the ultimate wisdom" Andrea Gibson "You can't close yourself off to grief without also closing yourself off to joy", my therapist said. Imagine it like a kink in a hose. And I realized every attempt I'd ever made to stop the flow of my despair, anger and fear - had stopped the flow of my bliss at the same time." Andrea Gibson |
Ren Mai - Conception Vessel
Ren Mai - Conception Vessel - one of the extraordinary meridians not connected to an organ. Another name for it is "Sea of Yin" as it nourishes the Yin channels. Together with a Governor Vessel running along the blackbody, they form an energetic circuit called Micro-Cosmic Orbit.*
Vagus nerve pathway 
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Andrea GIbson (the entire entry on their Substack)
"How did I change so much, and so quickly? I learned to love the me who hadn’t changed at all. The me who worshiped worry. The me who made a complaint department of my mind. The me who turned my wounds into microscopes through which I saw the worst in people, especially myself. The me who got it all wrong. The me who was so afraid of death I couldn’t help bury our dog.
This I now know for certain: I do all of growing during the times in my life when I am offering compassion to the parts of myself that have not yet grown. I never once managed to shame myself into a version of me I loved more (and trust me, I spent decades trying). As Meg says, “shame is never fertile soil for growth”. A better world is not created from a planet of people hating themselves, but hate’s opposite. Sweet community, I hope as you read this today, you can scan yourself, look deep within, and decide every part of you is good news. And I would love to hear about a time where loving a part of you that felt harder-to-love was the seed of some incredible shift."
"How did I change so much, and so quickly? I learned to love the me who hadn’t changed at all. The me who worshiped worry. The me who made a complaint department of my mind. The me who turned my wounds into microscopes through which I saw the worst in people, especially myself. The me who got it all wrong. The me who was so afraid of death I couldn’t help bury our dog.
This I now know for certain: I do all of growing during the times in my life when I am offering compassion to the parts of myself that have not yet grown. I never once managed to shame myself into a version of me I loved more (and trust me, I spent decades trying). As Meg says, “shame is never fertile soil for growth”. A better world is not created from a planet of people hating themselves, but hate’s opposite. Sweet community, I hope as you read this today, you can scan yourself, look deep within, and decide every part of you is good news. And I would love to hear about a time where loving a part of you that felt harder-to-love was the seed of some incredible shift."
“Doing those deeply unfashionable things—slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting—is a radical act now, but it is essential. This is a crossroads we all know, a moment when you need to shed a skin. If you do, you’ll expose all those painful nerve endings and feel so raw that you’ll need to take care of yourself for a while. If you don’t, then that skin will harden around you.”
by Katherine May, from her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
by Katherine May, from her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
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*Few more word about the Conception Vessel:
There are vessels in the body referred to as the Extraordinary Meridians, which help regulate flow of energy through the body. These meridians are not directly connected to any of the organs. Two of the most important Extraordinary Meridians are the Governing Vessel and the Conception Vessel. The Governing Vessel runs up the back of the body, from the perineum to the crown of the head, while the Conception Vessel runs down the front of the body, from the crown to the perineum. Thus, together, these two meridians encircle the body (see the picture). Both run very close to the surface of the body. The path of these meridians also coincides with the network of the central nervous system (CNS). Stimulating the CNS will fill the vessels, and by extension all the meridians the vessels supply. There are vessels in the body referred to as the Extraordinary Meridians, which help regulate flow of energy through the body. They do this in two ways. These Extraordinary Meridians connect the main meridians and therefore ensure that energy flows smoothly throughout the body, and this in turn will facilitate communication between the organs, supporting their proper function. The Extraordinary Meridians also serve as reservoirs of energy, which means they can supply deficiencies or absorb excesses in the main meridians (it's because of this function, they are called vessels). Governing Vessel that runs through the back-body is supporting all the Yang channels and is therefore sometimes called the "Sea of Yang" and the Conception Vessel running through the front-body supports the Yin channels and is called the "Sea of Yin". |
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"BE WATER, MY FRIEND" - effortless action
PROPS: Bolster or pillow or folded blanket
We start this session again with a little bit of movement. One reason I often bring is some movement before a slow and still practice is to help mobilize any stored charge or activation from the body. Through gentle movements aimed are shaking off and releasing pent-up survival energy you allow the nervous system to finish its stress response cycle. In this session we use "heel drops" - that will also stimulate the bones*, turn that into shaking and follow it up with 'Knocking on the Door of Life" to add some Kidney stimulation to the mix.
*Another (fun?!) TCM fact for you - Jing (essence) that is stored in the Kidneys is responsible for the production of marrow, which in Chinese Medicine consists of bones, bone marrow, brain, and spinal cord. Therefore, a person’s growth, maturation, and aging process is governed by the Kidneys. I will talk a bit more about Jin in our next session.
After inviting a bit more activating energy to move through our body, we come to a grounding shape of "Belly Shavasana" all the way down on the ground. We have now worked with both up-regulating and down-regulating practices - let yourself notice the effect.
The moving section in the middle of the session is Feldenkrais method inspired and our North star in this session is to find ways to move with more ease and with least amount of effort.
As food for though (or for embodied experimentation) I introduced a term from Taoism Wu Wei that gets translated as effortless action, non-action, doing by not-doing, non-striving, not forcing. Just like water element Wu Wei invites us to flow (I think Alan Watts said that Wu Wei is "sailing instead of rowing"). It is a mistake to think of Wu Wei as being passive, complacent, lazy or not participating in life. Quite the opposite, Wu Wei is skillful action or timely action, action that does not resist the flow of life, but moving in harmony with nature and higher guidance. On a surface layer - like I invite you to do in this session - is to experiment moving with more ease, finding pathways of least amount of effort, noticing when you are forcing or striving for an outcome. It is being present, receptive and open for the next step to emerge. On a deeper level Wu Wei is action that is aligned with the "Will of Heaven" or in other words when we are moving in sync with a larger rhythm of life.
I shared some lines from Lori Dechar's book Five Spirits:
Taoist sages saw that, paradoxically, the more they followed the way of the receptive yin, the more they surrendered the potent yang striving of their will to the infinitely more potent will of Tao, the more vitality, spontaneity, compassion and joy they attained. As they surrendered their limited personal will to the greater will of the divine, their capacity to do, to be, to illuminate and to manifest increased rather than decreased as they aged. In the life of the sage, energy value increased as will transformed to an even more potent substance called wisdom."
And also words from Bruce Lee:
"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind. Be formless. Shapeless like water. If you put water in a cup it becomes the cup. If you put water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. If you put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
We start this session again with a little bit of movement. One reason I often bring is some movement before a slow and still practice is to help mobilize any stored charge or activation from the body. Through gentle movements aimed are shaking off and releasing pent-up survival energy you allow the nervous system to finish its stress response cycle. In this session we use "heel drops" - that will also stimulate the bones*, turn that into shaking and follow it up with 'Knocking on the Door of Life" to add some Kidney stimulation to the mix.
*Another (fun?!) TCM fact for you - Jing (essence) that is stored in the Kidneys is responsible for the production of marrow, which in Chinese Medicine consists of bones, bone marrow, brain, and spinal cord. Therefore, a person’s growth, maturation, and aging process is governed by the Kidneys. I will talk a bit more about Jin in our next session.
After inviting a bit more activating energy to move through our body, we come to a grounding shape of "Belly Shavasana" all the way down on the ground. We have now worked with both up-regulating and down-regulating practices - let yourself notice the effect.
The moving section in the middle of the session is Feldenkrais method inspired and our North star in this session is to find ways to move with more ease and with least amount of effort.
As food for though (or for embodied experimentation) I introduced a term from Taoism Wu Wei that gets translated as effortless action, non-action, doing by not-doing, non-striving, not forcing. Just like water element Wu Wei invites us to flow (I think Alan Watts said that Wu Wei is "sailing instead of rowing"). It is a mistake to think of Wu Wei as being passive, complacent, lazy or not participating in life. Quite the opposite, Wu Wei is skillful action or timely action, action that does not resist the flow of life, but moving in harmony with nature and higher guidance. On a surface layer - like I invite you to do in this session - is to experiment moving with more ease, finding pathways of least amount of effort, noticing when you are forcing or striving for an outcome. It is being present, receptive and open for the next step to emerge. On a deeper level Wu Wei is action that is aligned with the "Will of Heaven" or in other words when we are moving in sync with a larger rhythm of life.
I shared some lines from Lori Dechar's book Five Spirits:
Taoist sages saw that, paradoxically, the more they followed the way of the receptive yin, the more they surrendered the potent yang striving of their will to the infinitely more potent will of Tao, the more vitality, spontaneity, compassion and joy they attained. As they surrendered their limited personal will to the greater will of the divine, their capacity to do, to be, to illuminate and to manifest increased rather than decreased as they aged. In the life of the sage, energy value increased as will transformed to an even more potent substance called wisdom."
And also words from Bruce Lee:
"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind. Be formless. Shapeless like water. If you put water in a cup it becomes the cup. If you put water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. If you put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
SOMATIC YIN FOR LOWER BACK
Kidneys, vitality & aging
Kidneys, vitality & aging
Physically when creating this sequence I had lower back health in mind (which in Chinese Medicine view is governed by Kidneys). This does not at all mean that we'll be mainly working with poses that directly affect the lower back. We actually start with a sweet sequence that brings movement into the upper back and thoracic spine, which of course indirectly will free up other parts of the spine and back-body. Later in the sequence we connect the soles of the feet to hips, pelvis and lower back with a sequence from therapeutic somatics. We'll target the freedom and mobility of the hips as another area that influences lower back health.
As a backdrop for the lower back care, I offer you another concept from Chinese Medicine and Taoist that is connected to the Kidneys - Jing. Jing is one of the Three Treasures - Jing, Qi and Shen, therefore when talking about Jing we need to understand that it is inherently connected to Qi (energy, life-force) and Shen (Spirit, Consciousness).
Kidneys store "Jing" - which can be translated as "essence". There is pre-natal Jing which we are born with and inherit from our parents (like our generic constitution). We are born with a certain amount and the regular processes of living, growing, developing, maturing and aging use up Jing. That's just the natural process of aging - part of being alive. But the way we live can "burn up" Jing more slowly or more quickly.
There is also post-natal Jing which is acquired after birth affected by what we eat and drink, the air we breathe but also our environmental and social conditions.
As you might guess, things like unhealthy eating, alcohol, drug use, but also stress and not getting enough sleep are behaviors that use up our essence (Jing) more quickly. I've been thinking about this a lot - in connection to burnout, chronic stress and overworking as these dip into the Jing storage for sure!
Whereas activities like - slowing down and prioritizing rest, living in harmony with nature and the seasons, meditation, eating healthy, activities that uplift and "light you up", and yin yoga (I'm sure) help to conserve Jing.
In her book 5 Spirits Lori Dechar writes that "Jing is our instinctual will to live. It is the spark of our life force. It is the same potency that causes the seed to sprout, leaf to unfurl, flower to blossom. She also talks about entropy which is the energy of disintegration, decay and deterioration. Even though the total amount (quantity) of energy cannot be destroyed, but the quality, potency and vitality will inevitably decrease. So - all organic systems eventually reach their fullest, most complex expression and at that point their Jing begins to lose its potency.
Interestingly this circles us back to the theme of the previous class (WuWei) and our whole exploration of this deep Yin phase of Winter. Lori Dechar writes: "Taoist alchemists discovered that they could actually use entropy - the energy of gravity, matter and yin - the energies of stillness, receptivity and surrender - as away to gain rather than deplete energy value. The secret to this alchemical reversal was to surrender the natural strivings of the will and align ones life and actions with Tao..." (I used the same quote to talk about WuWei above).
The etymology of the word surrender is interesting to ponder. It comes from the French word surrendre = sur + rendre = sur (over) + rendre (deliver, hand over, yield). To give our small self over to something larger....
Lastly I wanted to add here something that I did not mention in class. Andrea Gibson has inspired me again with their recent post on aging: "The surprising gift of the "old age" filter". Fits with the theme!
As a backdrop for the lower back care, I offer you another concept from Chinese Medicine and Taoist that is connected to the Kidneys - Jing. Jing is one of the Three Treasures - Jing, Qi and Shen, therefore when talking about Jing we need to understand that it is inherently connected to Qi (energy, life-force) and Shen (Spirit, Consciousness).
Kidneys store "Jing" - which can be translated as "essence". There is pre-natal Jing which we are born with and inherit from our parents (like our generic constitution). We are born with a certain amount and the regular processes of living, growing, developing, maturing and aging use up Jing. That's just the natural process of aging - part of being alive. But the way we live can "burn up" Jing more slowly or more quickly.
There is also post-natal Jing which is acquired after birth affected by what we eat and drink, the air we breathe but also our environmental and social conditions.
As you might guess, things like unhealthy eating, alcohol, drug use, but also stress and not getting enough sleep are behaviors that use up our essence (Jing) more quickly. I've been thinking about this a lot - in connection to burnout, chronic stress and overworking as these dip into the Jing storage for sure!
Whereas activities like - slowing down and prioritizing rest, living in harmony with nature and the seasons, meditation, eating healthy, activities that uplift and "light you up", and yin yoga (I'm sure) help to conserve Jing.
In her book 5 Spirits Lori Dechar writes that "Jing is our instinctual will to live. It is the spark of our life force. It is the same potency that causes the seed to sprout, leaf to unfurl, flower to blossom. She also talks about entropy which is the energy of disintegration, decay and deterioration. Even though the total amount (quantity) of energy cannot be destroyed, but the quality, potency and vitality will inevitably decrease. So - all organic systems eventually reach their fullest, most complex expression and at that point their Jing begins to lose its potency.
Interestingly this circles us back to the theme of the previous class (WuWei) and our whole exploration of this deep Yin phase of Winter. Lori Dechar writes: "Taoist alchemists discovered that they could actually use entropy - the energy of gravity, matter and yin - the energies of stillness, receptivity and surrender - as away to gain rather than deplete energy value. The secret to this alchemical reversal was to surrender the natural strivings of the will and align ones life and actions with Tao..." (I used the same quote to talk about WuWei above).
The etymology of the word surrender is interesting to ponder. It comes from the French word surrendre = sur + rendre = sur (over) + rendre (deliver, hand over, yield). To give our small self over to something larger....
Lastly I wanted to add here something that I did not mention in class. Andrea Gibson has inspired me again with their recent post on aging: "The surprising gift of the "old age" filter". Fits with the theme!
YIN WITH QIGONG AND SOMATICS
Kidneys & the emotion Fear
Kidneys & the emotion Fear
PROPS: bolster or bigger pillow
We start with couple of QiGong flows: 'Fountain', 'Phoenix Spreads its Wings' and 'Sweeping Water'. The last two are often offered to release fear as fear, fright, shock and trauma are what affect the Kidneys according to TCM. We then move into a floor practice that keeps combining gentle somatic rocking movements with Yin shapes. I will also add a few self-regulation tools that involve the vagus nerve (which I already talked about above in one of the previous sessions).
With this practice we have reached a point of mid-winter in the Seasonal Wheel. In Celtic calendar, the first days of February are celebrated as Imbolc. This time marks the beginning of the first stirrings of spring as the sap begins to rise, small buds reveal themselves on trees and the days are palpably and visibly longer. So there's a hopefulness, anticipation, even excitement in the air. And at the same time, it's February...it's still winter ... we can feel tired, heavy, wintery.
In our inner world, this season marks a time when we feel something internally beginning to shift, signals of expansion and growth which often is accompanied by some (or a lot of) resistance to or even fear of change. We all know that there are plenty of inner and outer forces wanting to keep us small.
The emotion that is associated with Kidneys and therefore has the most impact on the Kidneys (according to TCM) is fear (fright, shock, trauma). In her book "The Atlas of The Heart" Brene Brown categorizes fear under a chapter titled: "places where we go when things are uncertain or too much" and fear is groups together with other flavors of a similar emotions like overwhelm, anxiety, worry, stress, dread, avoidance...
Fear shows up in our bodies differently. It is a response to a perceived threat (keyword being perceived, because whether the threat is imagined or real, our physiology won't know the difference). It's a rapid fire emotion and our physical response often occurs before we are even realize that we are afraid. Also - our rational mind cannot "figure out fear", fear needs to be felt in order for us to be able to release its charge.
Just like we all have unique fingerprints, also the reactive and protective patterns of our nervous system are unique from one person to the next. I will not go into the nervous system theory here too much (this is a whole other course), but I simply want you to know how vital it is to understand your own nervous system patterns, as fight, flight, freeze, fawn energies show up completely differently in our physiology and also the ways we would soothe or self-regulate will vary depending on whether your protective mode takes you more towards and activated or freeze/collapse state.
As with all emotions - fear carries certain energy but also it also carries wisdom. Once we have enough capacity to feel fear, we can begin to inquire what message it carries. In fact, in his podcast Art of Accomplishment (I know, it's a very misleading name) Joe Hudson talks about how fear can be a direct path to freedom. A lot of our modern pre-occupation of the mind and fear is tied to our identity - an idea of self that we have built and then feel the need to uphold. As we start to dismantle that, to really look at where are we scared to be attacked or misunderstood or for a certain identity to fall away, it can begin to point us towards a more authentic self or way to engage with the world.
We start with couple of QiGong flows: 'Fountain', 'Phoenix Spreads its Wings' and 'Sweeping Water'. The last two are often offered to release fear as fear, fright, shock and trauma are what affect the Kidneys according to TCM. We then move into a floor practice that keeps combining gentle somatic rocking movements with Yin shapes. I will also add a few self-regulation tools that involve the vagus nerve (which I already talked about above in one of the previous sessions).
With this practice we have reached a point of mid-winter in the Seasonal Wheel. In Celtic calendar, the first days of February are celebrated as Imbolc. This time marks the beginning of the first stirrings of spring as the sap begins to rise, small buds reveal themselves on trees and the days are palpably and visibly longer. So there's a hopefulness, anticipation, even excitement in the air. And at the same time, it's February...it's still winter ... we can feel tired, heavy, wintery.
In our inner world, this season marks a time when we feel something internally beginning to shift, signals of expansion and growth which often is accompanied by some (or a lot of) resistance to or even fear of change. We all know that there are plenty of inner and outer forces wanting to keep us small.
The emotion that is associated with Kidneys and therefore has the most impact on the Kidneys (according to TCM) is fear (fright, shock, trauma). In her book "The Atlas of The Heart" Brene Brown categorizes fear under a chapter titled: "places where we go when things are uncertain or too much" and fear is groups together with other flavors of a similar emotions like overwhelm, anxiety, worry, stress, dread, avoidance...
Fear shows up in our bodies differently. It is a response to a perceived threat (keyword being perceived, because whether the threat is imagined or real, our physiology won't know the difference). It's a rapid fire emotion and our physical response often occurs before we are even realize that we are afraid. Also - our rational mind cannot "figure out fear", fear needs to be felt in order for us to be able to release its charge.
Just like we all have unique fingerprints, also the reactive and protective patterns of our nervous system are unique from one person to the next. I will not go into the nervous system theory here too much (this is a whole other course), but I simply want you to know how vital it is to understand your own nervous system patterns, as fight, flight, freeze, fawn energies show up completely differently in our physiology and also the ways we would soothe or self-regulate will vary depending on whether your protective mode takes you more towards and activated or freeze/collapse state.
As with all emotions - fear carries certain energy but also it also carries wisdom. Once we have enough capacity to feel fear, we can begin to inquire what message it carries. In fact, in his podcast Art of Accomplishment (I know, it's a very misleading name) Joe Hudson talks about how fear can be a direct path to freedom. A lot of our modern pre-occupation of the mind and fear is tied to our identity - an idea of self that we have built and then feel the need to uphold. As we start to dismantle that, to really look at where are we scared to be attacked or misunderstood or for a certain identity to fall away, it can begin to point us towards a more authentic self or way to engage with the world.
The worlds that I shared by Andrea Gibson were:
You fear you are not strong enough
to do the hardest thing only because
you don't yet now that doing the hardest thing
is exactly that will help you know your strength.
You fear you are not strong enough
to do the hardest thing only because
you don't yet now that doing the hardest thing
is exactly that will help you know your strength.
And by Anais Nin:
And the day came
when the risk to
remain tight in a bud
was more painful
than the risk it took
to blossom
And the day came
when the risk to
remain tight in a bud
was more painful
than the risk it took
to blossom
"Nobody ever talks about this part
You know the part where you’re no longer a caterpillar and not yet a butterfly.
You don't know who you are and you don’t know where you’re going.
All you know is that
Every fiber of your being is calling for transformation
For disruption. For a revolution of spirit.
So surrender, break down.
This is not the death of you
This is the dying of who you once were.
This is your rebirth, darling
And these are called “growing pains”
(I've had this quote for years, but cannot find who it's by)
YIN FLOW WITH WATER AND FIRE SPIRITS
PROPS: bolster or pillow or folded blanket or block for the beginning pose (mild chest opener)
WATER has a dual nature, containing within itself the polarities of yin and yang. Water's phase symbolises the disintegration, the death as well as the rebirth, re-integration, the emergence of something new after "holding steady in the darkness". That dual nature of water is represented by Kidneys and also by an acupressure point called MingMen - Door of Life/Gate of Life in the lower back (between the two Kidneys). A lot of my inspiration for this session comes from Lorie Dechar's book "Five Spirits - Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing". I'll include the quote I read during the session below.
The practice itself will play with the collaboration of Fire and Water - we'll stimulate Heart and Kidney energy channels and will use active pulsing stimulation of those pathways in combination with the Yin holds. This truly is a Yin FLOW :-)
We stimulate the Ming Men - Door of Life acupoint (GV 4), that is located on the Governing Vessel channel (see above the description of the Micro-Cosmic Orbit), which is one of the strongest points to strengthen your overall constitution. (The Governing Vessel represents “the sea of Yang meridians, regulating the rise and fall of Yang Qi and balancing Yin and Yang"). This point (like the Kidneys) represents the balance between the cooling yin and the warming yang, life and death, the water and fire energy. It is located right on the level of the belly button, but on the backbody, behind the Lower DanTian. Stimulating this point - either through tough, movement or simply conscious breathing into that lower center in the body - is said to lower stress and leave you more refreshed and energetic, yet also helps to calm emotional disturbances. It fuels the Heart Yang and helps with circulation, in fact when MinMen lack fire, all systems will be affected - metabolism and elimination slows, there's lack of energy and libido, breathing issues, the Dampness in the organs and tissues can lead to swelling and water retention.
A QiGong practice "Knocking on the Door of Life" is something that is great for stimulating the MingMen point and a great one to add to your daily routine.
The Water - Fire imbalance can manifest either as: yang hyperactivity, fiery and compulsive overacting (think adrenal glands and living in a chronic fight/flight response) or a yin collapse, stagnation in yin lethargy, exhaustion, fatigue (in nervous system terms we would call this hypoarousal - the freeze, shutdown, collapse, dissociation).
In her book Lori talks about the two phases of the Water element and Yin. The first phase being about wu wei - non-doing, effortless action, non-straiving. This the path of Yin where one surrenders to the unknown, moving beyond the rational mind, the liminal space of inbetween that asks for patience, receptivity and trust. This is where after a long struggle of resistance, one is finally able to let go.
Each of the 5 elements has a spirit that is housed in the Yin organ. You can think of the 5 spirits like "archetypes of our psyche", a bridge between the psyche and the body, which can guide us in our self-inquiry. The spirit house in the Kidneys is called zhi which is translated as willpower. The spirit housed in the Heart is called shen and is translated as consciousness, awareness, insight.
So when talking about this first phase of Water element and surrender, what we are also talking about is letting go of our personal will and learning to trust that a larger wisdom will emerge to support and guide us.
Here's the passage I read from Lori's book:
WATER has a dual nature, containing within itself the polarities of yin and yang. Water's phase symbolises the disintegration, the death as well as the rebirth, re-integration, the emergence of something new after "holding steady in the darkness". That dual nature of water is represented by Kidneys and also by an acupressure point called MingMen - Door of Life/Gate of Life in the lower back (between the two Kidneys). A lot of my inspiration for this session comes from Lorie Dechar's book "Five Spirits - Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing". I'll include the quote I read during the session below.
The practice itself will play with the collaboration of Fire and Water - we'll stimulate Heart and Kidney energy channels and will use active pulsing stimulation of those pathways in combination with the Yin holds. This truly is a Yin FLOW :-)
We stimulate the Ming Men - Door of Life acupoint (GV 4), that is located on the Governing Vessel channel (see above the description of the Micro-Cosmic Orbit), which is one of the strongest points to strengthen your overall constitution. (The Governing Vessel represents “the sea of Yang meridians, regulating the rise and fall of Yang Qi and balancing Yin and Yang"). This point (like the Kidneys) represents the balance between the cooling yin and the warming yang, life and death, the water and fire energy. It is located right on the level of the belly button, but on the backbody, behind the Lower DanTian. Stimulating this point - either through tough, movement or simply conscious breathing into that lower center in the body - is said to lower stress and leave you more refreshed and energetic, yet also helps to calm emotional disturbances. It fuels the Heart Yang and helps with circulation, in fact when MinMen lack fire, all systems will be affected - metabolism and elimination slows, there's lack of energy and libido, breathing issues, the Dampness in the organs and tissues can lead to swelling and water retention.
A QiGong practice "Knocking on the Door of Life" is something that is great for stimulating the MingMen point and a great one to add to your daily routine.
The Water - Fire imbalance can manifest either as: yang hyperactivity, fiery and compulsive overacting (think adrenal glands and living in a chronic fight/flight response) or a yin collapse, stagnation in yin lethargy, exhaustion, fatigue (in nervous system terms we would call this hypoarousal - the freeze, shutdown, collapse, dissociation).
In her book Lori talks about the two phases of the Water element and Yin. The first phase being about wu wei - non-doing, effortless action, non-straiving. This the path of Yin where one surrenders to the unknown, moving beyond the rational mind, the liminal space of inbetween that asks for patience, receptivity and trust. This is where after a long struggle of resistance, one is finally able to let go.
Each of the 5 elements has a spirit that is housed in the Yin organ. You can think of the 5 spirits like "archetypes of our psyche", a bridge between the psyche and the body, which can guide us in our self-inquiry. The spirit house in the Kidneys is called zhi which is translated as willpower. The spirit housed in the Heart is called shen and is translated as consciousness, awareness, insight.
So when talking about this first phase of Water element and surrender, what we are also talking about is letting go of our personal will and learning to trust that a larger wisdom will emerge to support and guide us.
Here's the passage I read from Lori's book:
"TRANSFORMING WILL TO WISDOM
In seeking Tao, the sage follows the way of water, the path of least resistance, the path of wuwei. The sage understand the mystery of matter, the pull of the yin. She gives up the struggle to make things go her way, but waits and watches until she can see the way of the rivers, of the land and sea. And then she flows. Through the understanding of the yin, the sage, like the river flowing to the sea, returns to origin....In this way she aligns her personal will with a greater power, the way of Tao."
The second phase, Lori calls stabilizing Zhi, finding the yang within yin, when fire joins water, when shen joins zhi. "The power and potency of our instincts is stabilized and guided by the knowing of our hearts". It is about using our heart as a compass, guiding us towards our own inner truth, clarity and direction. And she writes:
"WAYS TO CULTIVATE THE ZHI SPIRIT
Healing the zhi must include learnign to listen to the voices of the po (spirit in the Lungs) and the shen (spirit in the Heart) - the wisdom of the body and of the heart, rather than acting solely out of our own will. In this way, we can learn to bring the will into alignment with our true strengths and capabilities."
At the very end I tied the practice up with another passage from Five Spirits, that relates this session to our last session about Fear (the emotion related to Kidneys and the Water element:
"Get familiar with your fear. Sit next to it. Ingest it in small doses....Becoming familiar with fear and being willing to live near the unknown on a daily basis is like learning to swim in a river. Once we are used to swimming in these currents, we no longer resist them. Once we become used to this place of surrender, then we no longer expend energy in trying to control the outcome of our lives. As we surrender our will, another power enters our lives and we discover a wisdom we never knew we had."
BONUS - WINTER THEMED YOGA NIDRA
This is a recording of livestream Yoga Nidra at the end of a Yin yoga class. The intention of this Nidra is to embrace, trust and follow the wisdom of Winter - external and internal phase of stillness, pause, depth and mystery. The Nidra draws inspiration from Chinese medicine, where Winter is ruled by Water element and lives in our bodies as the energy of the Kidneys.
For the practice, make sure you are comfortable:
*pillow or blanket under the head
*bolster/pillows under knees to release lower back
*blanket to cover
*something to cover the eyes
For the practice, make sure you are comfortable:
*pillow or blanket under the head
*bolster/pillows under knees to release lower back
*blanket to cover
*something to cover the eyes