5 ELEMENTS YIN YOGA: THE FIRE ELEMENT
Yin Yoga is a practice that seeks to mindfully lengthen and lubricate the connective tissues and approach Equanimity in the subtle and emotional body. Practicing the methods of stillness, mindfulness, and loving kindness, Yin Yoga empowers practitioners to coax Prana into particular healing and rejuvenate pathways.
In a world that’s ever shifting, may you use this practice to find stillness.
In thought patterns which engender suffering, may this practice allow you to see the unity of all things, from the shifting of the seasons to the suppleness of the spine.
Xoxo,
Kali Durga
Fire Element & the Heart Meridian: Illuminating Bhakti, Devotion
“IF FIRE ENERGY IS BALANCED, DISAPPOINTMENTS AND DISILLUSIONMENTS IN RELATIONSHIPS ARE ABLE TO BE PART OF OUR MATURING AND LEARNING, AND IN THEIR CONSCIOUS REFLECTIONS CONTINUE TO OPEN OUR HEART”
The yin meridians of the fire element run from the chest down the arms and into the hands. They relate strongly to touch, intimacy and connection. Its through touch that we affirm friendship, warmth, communicate our live, give and receive, share. An inner pathway penetrates the tongue and extends down through the diaphragm to connect heart center with lower energy centers that empower sexual responsiveness.
Emotional harmony from the heart results from opening from heart center and acceptance. If fire energy is balanced, disappointments and disillusionments in relationships are able to be part of our maturing and learning, and in their conscious reflections continue to open our heart
Ask Yourself: What engenders an authentic feeling of expansive joy in my heart? How do I deal with disappointments and disillusionments in relationships – do they help me to mature, or do I shut down?
Season: Upwards energy, stimulation/excitement, full moon, midday, heat of summer
Organ Functionality: Oxygenation- Dark red blood low in oxygen enters the right atrium of the heart and pumped outward into the lungs. Bright red oxygenated, pranic blood then returns from the lungs into the left atrium of the heart and distributed to the entire body. Heart is the gateway to pranic distribution of the entire system. Notice how you feel when you breathe from the heart, with compassion and love, versus non-integrated breathing that may feel staggered and poorly distributed.
Constitutional Personality Types
Imbalanced Fire: Imbalanced fire types can experience lack of self-compassion, self-love, manifesting in a need to ensure they are loved and have someone to love. They often feel lonely, or socially/sexually overactive (yin/yang). Often feels lonely, unloved. Inability to authentically connect but always searching to fill that
Physical symptoms of imbalance:
Heart palpitations, chronic stiffness or tension in chest, excessive thirst, poor circulation, BP problems (low/high) hardening of arteries, neck/shoulder pain, Anemia
Emotional symptoms of imbalance:
Lack of self-love, poor self-esteem
Emotionally oversensitive – easily hurt
Withdrawn and shy or overly communicative
Difficulty integrating sociall
When fire is in balance, fire types are loving, spontaneous and joyful. Life is full of laughter, fun and creativity. Feeling of being in sync with the self and others. Emotional warmth and radiance.
Fire element postures can include:
Melting Heart (Anahatasana)
Dragonfly (Upavistakonasana)
Supported Backbend-Chest/Heart Openers
Sphinx/Seal (Bhujangasana)
About Kali:
International yoga teacher Kali Basman (kalidurgayoga.com) enriches the paradigm of Yin Yoga to integrate distinct aspects of Self into an innate wisdom practice to awaken a rich inner life and radiate with ritual. Her offering honors Yin Yoga as a tool to surrender to our intrinsic wholeness. On the textured path of mindful healing, Kali is celebrated for her integration of the 5 Elements and Chinese Meridian Theory with self-inquiry, embodied Anatomy, Buddhist Philosophy of Equanimity, and sharp intellect.
WANT TO PRACTICE WITH KALI? Learn more about her upcoming 5 Element Yin & Restorative Yoga Teacher Trainings.