Have you heard the saying, there are issues in our tissues?
Ever since my burnout in 2012 I am intrigued by shifting energy and how to go about doing that. I’ve tried out many different restorative and alternate holistic therapies and loved them all. Retreating has become a way of life for me and so has my regular yoga practice. So much so, that I am now teaching Yin Yoga. What drew me to this practice is the calming effect on my nervous system and the energetic shift experienced after every single session.
What causes the shift of energy in a Yin Yoga session?
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) regular practice of yin yoga stimulates our meridians and with that our life force energy or Qi.
The practice is also said to harmonise and balance emotions.
What exactly are meridians?
Simply put, meridians are ‘energy highways’ in the human body. Qi flows through the meridians, accessing all parts of the body and fueling organs.
There are twelve major meridians that run on each side of the body, one side mirroring the other. They all correspond to internal organs and get paired with an emotion.
Hence the saying, “there are issues in our tissues”.
So, what exactly are the 5 major emotions that may need balancing according to TCM? And what organs and meridians do they get paired with?
1. Fear
There is the fear to keep us safe and help us stay alive and then there is the unhealthy fear that keeps us stuck in life. Stimulating the kidney and urinary bladder meridians may help to harmonize and balance excessive fear with willpower.
2. Anger
Anger energy in itself is life force energy. When channelled consciously this energy can serve us well. However, more often than not it shows up as “flying off the handle”, fuelled by frustration, irritability and bitterness. Working with liver and gallbladder meridians may harmonise and balance excessive anger with motivation.
3. Grief
Excessive grief, sadness and detachment correspond with our lung and large intestine meridians. Certain yin yoga poses, for example Broken Wing, may help harmonize and process these emotions.
4. Worry
Focusing too much on a particular topic is draining and depleting. This includes pensiveness, dwelling or excessive worrying. Stimulating the spleen and stomach meridians may harmonize and balance this emotion.
5. Overjoy
Interesting enough, being overly joyous or excited is also seen as an imbalance in TCM. This emotion corresponds with the heart and small intestine meridians. Imbalances can lead to lack of enthusiasm and vitality, mental restlessness, depression, insomnia, and despair.
Nowadays I find myself recommending Yin Yoga sessions to my coaching clients, friends and family or any other practice that helps create shift in energy and space in body and mind. This is so that they too can develop the mental fitness to stay clear and focused, and become very deliberate in manifesting the life they love to live.
Read more about the benefits of Yin Yoga here.
Sibylle is a Consciousness Coach™ and trainer. She empowers her clients to become very deliberate in creating opportunities for themselves and a life they love to live. She encourages them to “rewire instead of retire” in life and to discover their true calling by aligning passion and expertise with purpose. Sibylle is passionate about consciousness and mental fitness. Her clients pursue goals because they “say so” and bring back WHO they are into what they are doing.
Sibylle hosts her own Conscious Retreats, teaches Yoga Calm (Yin Yoga) at Virgin Active South Africa and online on Tuesday nights at 7pm (SAST). All her classes are designed to harmonise and balance the 5 major emotions as identified by TCM.