Spring is in the air. The days are starting to have a different light quality, brighter. There are daffodils about waving their beautiful yellow heads. Blushing pink blossoms are starting to pop on previously bare branches. Hooray!
Spring is a time for rebirth, new growth and renewal. Our energy level and activity level naturally start to increase. Our resistance with / during our slower more interospective practice, such as yin yoga and meditation, can also increase. Resistance can show up as boredom, distraction and frustration.
In our yin yoga practice we are starting to incorporate more Liver and Gall Bladder meridian nourishing asanas and directing our attention to these ancient Daoist energy lines.
Spring corresponds to the Wood element in TCM which corresponds to the Liver & Gall Bladder meridians. It is believed these meridians are more vulnerable during Spring (and the lead up to Spring), they are more susceptible to imbalance or blockage. Physically Liver chi imbalances can manifest as eye problems, bloating, flatulence, breast tenderness and breast cysts, painful and irregular periods, PMS, allergies, headaches, nerve pain, dizziness, cramping, muscular weakness or stiffness, fatigue, arthritis and types of paralysis. Emotionally we can be more susceptible to anger, frustration, irritability and resentment.
Liver chi coordinates and regulates the overall healthy flow of energy within us which is responsible for creating an easygoing disposition and internal atmosphere.
Even though we are still in “lockdown”, we are fortunate (here in Melbourne) to be able to go outside and relish nature for an hour each day. The healing power of nature is not to be forgotten, and it is oh so helpful during these unsettling times. I have been sharing a beautiful poem in class this week called “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry. I have added it below for you to enjoy.
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night with the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
- Wendell Berry
I wish you all the best with your practice.
Many thanks,
Freya x