Improve your energy with Spring yoga and Chinese medicine
Introduction: Your Special Spring Yoga
Spring is finally here!
Can you feel your energy coming back?
In this article, I'm giving you my tools to get your body moving and help your energy flow, so that you can enjoy spring with a great smile.
Spring is the perfect time to pay more attention to your lower limbs, hips, neck, and traps. In this article, I'll explain why and how. So, let's dive in!
Spring: A Transition from Yin to Yang Energy
For the past few days, you've seen little flowers popping up, you can hear birds singing, and you notice that daylight lasts longer.
You, too, are slowly emerging from the winter slump, driven by this new enthusiastic energy, known as yang in Chinese medicine and pingala in yoga.
Yet, you might still feel a bit tired, rusty even. That's just because the energy of winter - yin in Chinese medicine and ida in yoga - hasn't completely left you yet.
In spring, we're transitioning from the calm, reflective energy of winter to the expansive and enthusiastic energy of summer.
Our energy is returning, but we still have remnants of winter.
It's time to gently bring movement back into your body, and keep up with nature's momentum.
Spring: The Best Time to Improve Your Adaptability
In Chinese medicine, each season is associated with an element.
Spring is the season of the wood element, perfectly represented by bamboo: it's rigid & strong enough to stretch upwards but also flexible to adapt and not break when swayed by the wind.
You might see an imbalance in the wood element if you have some of these traits:
You're impatient, easily get annoyed, or a tad irritable, even angry.
You're highly sensitive to stress.
You're rigid.
You can't see your goals anymore.
You suffer from headaches.
If you resonate with any of these points, this article is for you! By following my advice, you'll be able to cultivate the quality of the wood element: adaptability.
Once the wood element regains balance, you regain your patience. You're no longer impatient to reach your results. You can be more flexible because you see your options and choose the best one for yourself. You no longer feel tossed around by the wind. You sway gently to adapt, removing all pressure.
So, here are my tips and tricks for developing your adaptability and staying mobile without exhausting yourself, so you can let your energy carry you towards your goals with a clear vision.
My 3 Approaches to Release Rigidity and Flourish with a Smile: Yoga, Myofascial Release, and Acupressure
Sequences of yoga specially designed to balance the wood element
Movement and rejuvenating postures to get your energy flowing without exhausting yourself
For good health, the wood element needs a balance between rejuvenating postures and movement.
So, in your sequences, I recommend alternating between flowing yoga postures in the vinyasa style - and that doesn't mean you have to sweat - and restorative yoga postures where you can take the time to rejuvenate.
This alternation between flowing yoga poses and comfortable poses will help the qi or prana - your vital energy - to circulate well.
Preferred Yoga Poses to Harmonize the Wood Element
The wood element is connected to the liver and gallbladder meridians. So, the idea is to prioritize poses that stimulate these two meridians.
The liver meridian runs through the ribcage, groin, adductors, and the inside of the tibia to run along the groove between the 1st and 2nd toes to the inner corner of the nail of the 1st toe.
The gallbladder meridian, on the other hand, starts from the outer corner of the eye to pass around the ear, over and behind the skull, along the neck and down in front of the clavicles, along the ribs, at the waist, hip, middle of the buttock, along the outer thigh, calf, foot, and along the groove between the 4th and 5th toes to reach the outer edge of the 4th toe.
Liver meridian
Gallbladder meridian
Here are the 3 poses I recommend prioritizing in spring:
Butterfly Pose: This pose stimulates points in the adductors and groin area.
Figure 4 or Pigeon Pose: These poses stimulate points in the piriformis (the point in the middle of the buttock), as well as along the iliotibial band that runs along the outside of the thigh to the knee.
Twists: Twists stimulate points along the ribs.
Myofascial Release
Myofascial release is a technique that helps relax the fascia, the membrane that acts as a sheath for our muscles. Working on the fascia, we help the body regain its natural mobility.
This technique complements yoga practice very well because it helps recreate the energy flow we seek with our practice.
As mentioned above, the spring season is associated with the wood element. This element is sensitive to stress, which can often tense the trapezius muscles around the shoulders and the muscles that elevate the shoulder blades (the levator scapulae), causing headaches (hell I know what I’m talking about!).
In this case, the best myofascial release technique I've experienced is massaging the area between the base of the skull and the neck, right at the occipital angle.
How to Massage the Area Between the Base of the Skull and the Neck to Release Tension
To massage this area, you can use a yoga block on its medium height (or the edge of a chair's back).
Place the base of your skull on the edge of the block or chair’s back and let your shoulders and head become heavy.
Then, lower your chin towards your chest and turn your head to one side until you reach the angle of your jaw.
Release your shoulders and head.
Breathing normally, slowly turn your head back to the center. Take your time and pause at each sensitive point. You can stay on each point for 15 to 30 seconds while breathing calmly. However, if the point hurts too much, don't push it!
Note: Some points may feel like you have ping-pong balls there ;)
Once you came back to the center, take a few deep breaths and repeat on the other side.
Another Myofascial Release Technique to Relax Upper Back Muscles
You can use a tennis ball or a myofascial ball to massage the area from the shoulder blades to the top of the shoulder by leaning against a wall.
Stand back to the wall and place the ball just above the shoulder blades. Roll the ball in the area, following the points you feel. You can move along the shoulder blade, into the groove between the spine, towards the ribs, or follow the line between the shoulder and the neck. Follow your intuition here. Again, you can stay on sensitive points (but not those that hurt too much) while breathing for 15 to 30 seconds.
Note: No need to press like crazy :)
Acupressure
Continuing with the idea of releasing tense points and circulating your energy, you can use acupressure.
Acupressure is a massage technique where you use your fingers (rather than needles like in acupuncture) to apply pressure to acupuncture points.
It's a technique that works pretty well (personally tested and approved) and is easy to perform on yourself.
The easiest points to reach to balance the liver meridian are those in the groove between the big and the second toes.
Simply use your thumb or index finger to make back-and-forth motions along the groove with some pressure. You can also apply pressure just at the beginning of the groove between the big toe and the second toe while breathing for a few seconds.
Conclusion:
And there you have it, you know the different techniques that you can apply during your yoga sequences in the spring season.
The recommended poses, the suggested myofascial release techniques, and the described acupressure points will be super beneficial, especially if you find it difficult to adapt to the changing season, which may manifest as irritation, and impatience, especially when stress arises, but also as rigidity (mental or physical), a feeling of not knowing your goals anymore, all of which can lead to headaches.
By incorporating the techniques mentioned in this article into your day, you'll prevent the energy accumulated during the winter months from getting stuck and you'll be able to use it to move forward calmly to enjoy the beautiful days.
I wish you a smooth spring transition, and if you feel stuck, close your eyes, focus on your spine, and observe it gently swaying to adapt to the atmosphere allowing you to sit calmly. Take a deep breath and continue your day.
Everything is alright!