Sitting Is The New Smoking
Late summer is one of my favorite times of the year. It's so mellow, soothing, nourishing and grounded.
These qualities happen to be the energy we feel when the stomach and spleen chi are balanced. Late summer corresponds to the earth element, which relates to the energy of the spleen and stomach. And it makes sense: The gardens are abundant and ripe for the picking, so digestion is at high tide this time of year.
This time of year can be so soothing that we may feel lethargic and not want to move much. Sitting for hours can create stagnant chi flow, which affects us emotionally and physically.
I have been working with a student who suffers from achy joints and sits behind a desk most of the day. She is prone to overthinking and obsessed with worry. She has difficulty motivating herself to exercise and then falls into a victim mentality. She makes excuses about everyone needing so much from her and blames them for her issues.
This is classic imbalanced earth chi.
Observing our emotions can help us diagnose whether we are in or out of balance with the organs' energy. Emotions are energy and are key indicators of our energetic well-being.
A person with balanced earth chi is grounded, kind, trustworthy, hardworking, nourishing, and joyful.
The qualities of an imbalanced spleen and stomach chi are feeling 'stuck in the mud' physically and emotionally, feeling lethargic, worrying, analysis-to-paralysis thinking, blaming, self-absorbed, and victim mentality.
I worked with my student's breath to stabilize her emotions, as when we regulate our breath, we regulate our emotions.
The box breath is a pranayama technique that is grounding to the nervous system and is great to start meditation:
Inhale for 4 counts
Suspend the breath for 4 counts
Exhale for 4 counts
Suspend the breath for 4 counts
Repeat for several minutes
We started moving slowly with this 4-count breath to unite the mind and breath.
A few of the poses that help activate the meridians with an acupressure effect while moving the spleen and stomach chi with the mind and breath are:
Goddess Pose:
Inhale up the spleen meridian, from the big toes up the inner legs to the arm pits.
Exhale the stomach meridian from the cheek bones down the front body and legs to the 2nd toes.
Warrior 2 Pose:
Breathing up and down the meridians like golden threads of light is an ancient chigong technique known as Yi Qi Li, moving energy with consciousness.
Bow pose:
One of the safest backbends for the lower back.
The spleen energetically feeds the lungs which provide discipline and emotional resiliency, which she needed. Inhaling up the spleen meridian and exhaling down the lung meridian from the collar bones to the thumbs.
Working the meridians physically and mentally relieved her hip pain and helped her feel grounded. After the practice, she was smiling and noted how much lighter she felt in her body and mind.
Try adding these poses to your daily routine while breathing up and down the meridians. This will provide a smooth and balanced flow of chi and give the mind an anchor to focus on, making it a meditation in movement.
We will practice this in the 300-hour teacher training and Masters Path weekend on August 24-25, and we invite the community to join us. We will be specifically focusing on stomach and spleen energy.
This is the best time of year to get unstuck and move the earth chi, which is prone to becoming heavy and lethargic when sitting too much and worrying!
Lighten the load by getting up every few hours to do a few yoga poses and holding them for a minute while focusing on guiding your chi.
You'll feel so much better.
From my heart to yours~
Namaste,
Maggie