Yin Yoga isn´t Chinese medicine, in a way that it isn´t acupuncture. But Chinese medicine gives us an amazing framework, to help us bring an understanding of the body, and what´s happening in the practice. In my opinion, that´s where the strength lies in merging Chinese medicine and Yin Yoga.

The main emotion of the heart is joy. When that emotion becomes too much, it goes into excitement. This makes the spirit/Shen to rise up, and leave to body. And this slows down the heart qi. With daily meditation we need to bring our mind back into our heart/body, to ground our mind and calm our spirit.

Spreads Liver qi, nourishes Liver blood and Liver yin, clears the head and eyes, regulates menstruation, and is used for example headache, dizziness, and hypertension. But most of all, in class, we work with this point to support the Liver in its job to control the smooth flow of qi in the body. And to calm emotions and stress.

Bladder 40 activates the bladder channel and helps to alleviate pain along the channel - and especially when it comes to knee and lower back pain. BL 40 is equally effective for acute or chronic lumbar pain, and for sciatic pain radiating down the bladder channel.

While practicing yin yoga it’s hard to target only one organ system specifically, since the poses will affect many tissues and organs simultaneously. Although, with mental awareness we can be a bit more specific in therms of directing our energy and focus into specific areas of our bodies - and today we did a class to stimulate kidney, liver and gallbladder channels, while adding some acupressure for calming our spirit and unbind the chest.

So rather than being an organ which is a solid mass, or a hollow receptacle, the Triple Warmer can be seen as a passageway, allowing free movement in the channels (meridians), the waterways and the bowels. And although it has no physical form, it does play a crucial role in maintaining the health of the entire body, and the modern interpretation of San Jiao is the lymphatic system.

In summary acupuncture point GB34 can be used to treat any pain, stiffness, cramping or muscle spasm or contraction anywhere in the body, from over use or an external trauma. It can be used to treat whiplash Syndrome or sports injuries, and as prevention to keep the qi flowing freely in the body.

Anxiety from excess worry most often stems from spleen and stomach imbalance, and anxiety is seen as the spleen’s emotion. When we worry, we tend to digest some thoughts over and over again, having difficulties resolving or letting go of it. This can have a direct impact on our digestion.