Yin yoga for anxiety, fear and anger
Imagery Melanie McLaughlin // @theyinspace
Words Emma Vidgen // @emma_vee
Melanie McLaughlin // @theyinspace
Caterpillar pose is a great antidote to fear
We’ve made no secret of her love of Yin yoga. When we’re feeling anxious, panicked or frightened, there is perhaps no better salve for the soul than a few long yin poses.
Taurus energy is ALL about slowing down, reconnecting with your body and working with patience and steadiness. So what better way to honour the Taurus new moon (24 April AEST) than to drop in to some juicy Yin poses.
Pandemic or not, Yin yoga is a gift to ride the waves of overwhelm. “Even though Yin is a slow drip medicine done at your own speed, you are creating a perfect environment for your body to do what it does best and bring you back to the best health you can have in any given moment in mind body and spirit,” says Mel McLaughlin, Yin yoga educator and founder of the The Yin Space . “Your mind is calm and focused and your nervous system is in the parasympathetic zone of rest /digest/ heal and there is time and space to go through the healing process.”
We asked Mel to share her favourite poses for working with challenging emotions.
POSE #1 CATERPILLAR
THE BEST YIN YOGA POSE TO … CALM FEAR
This ‘water’ based pose (pictured above) gives us access to our back body and spine (home of the kidneys and urinary bladder channel and producers of some of our strongest fight or flight hormones). This pose brings some tangible groundedness very quickly – like dropping anchor in a stormy sea! A great PM pre-sleep pose or when you return home after being out and about...after washing your hands
HOW TO DO IT
Sit on the floor with your legs out in front of you (propping up your sit bones if its hard to sit upright with a straight-ish spine here – a small towel will work)
Let your legs relax to their natural rotation – just let them flop.
Breathe in and lengthen your spine and lean forward, and when there’s no more ‘lean’ because a stretch sensation show up anywhere along the back of your body, then ‘drape’ over your legs and relax your neck shoulders spine & arms
If you are pregnant or have bulging disc issues then keeping a straighter spine and concentrating on the legs only stay for three to five minutes and prop your head if its too much for your neck – you should be able to relax and breath around any sensation that comes up for you slowly release and lie down to feel the ‘rebound’ of the tissues and the beautiful fresh flush and energy and fluids throughout your body.
Reclined butterfly is a great way to boost energy
POSE #2 RECLINED BUTTERFLY
THE BEST YIN YOGA POSE TO … EASE ANXIETY
This ‘earth’ based pose gives us access to the front side of our bodies (home of the spleen and stomach channels). It brings a sense of space to our bellies chests and a a balance in our digestion. It is nurturing and can release pent up tension in these areas from the inside out. This can help with negative thoughts. A great AM pose as its quite uplifting and expanding in nature and allows honesty of feeling, also great as midday refresher break. Backbends in them selves are naturally awakening and uplifting out of any quagmire we might feel stuck (a typical imbalanced feeling of our Spleens in Traditional Chinese Medicine).
HOW TO DO IT:
Recline backwards over a bolster or pillows or rolled up beach towel through your spine or across your shoulder blades and as you draw your knees up and let your feet stay close while your knees go out to the sides take your arms wide or overhead whatever your hips and knees allow and stay for three to five minutes .
Bring yourself over to one side and away from the back bend as you SLOWLY draw your knees closer to your chest. Stay until the big rebound flush has passed and then rollup through your spine head out last.
Frog pose is excellent for processing anger and frustration.
POSE #3 FROG
THE BEST YIN YOGA POSE TO … WORK WITH ANGER
It’s difficult to see clearly or make good choices, feel compassion or kindness if there is anger swirling in our system. This is a wood-based pose and wood quality in us is both flexible and stable – a balance! There can be a lot of heat as we balance and release the liver (think red angry faces and steam coming out ears) so it can be therapeutic to take long deep exhales, sighs, lions breath and any other breath release in lieu of screaming. That said, screaming is great if you’re alone as a deep release too! Crank up the music or grab a pillow and let rip.
HOW TO DO IT
Take your legs apart and put your feet on the wall as if you wanted to a do a squat and then toe-heel your feet apart and down the wall until you feel and long inside stretch on your inner thighs and groins ..there’s no pain here in the knees, but a stretch feeling, particularly on the inside knees is not only ok but beneficial.
Put your arms wide /overhead or short circuit your own healing energy in hands back into yourself by resting your hands somewhere on your body comfortably
Use your breath to move any uprising emotion or feeling up and out of your body
Stay three to five minutes or longer if you got something juicy going on!
One leg at a time back up the wall and rest with legs up the wall or curl up onto one side knees hugged in for as long as you need