Yin Yoga - Summer, Fire, Heart & Zen

In Yin Yoga and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Summer is the season of Fire and Heart. The Heart is paired with the Small Intestine and is associated with the season of Summer, the element of Fire, the sun, light, warmth and activity. Summer is the season of abundance, when things mature and life is in full bloom. In the warmer months we focus our Yin postures on the heart meridian, which runs across the chest, down the inside of the arms to the fingers. A sequence includes opening postures that spread the arms & opens across the chest. The heart and breath are affected by changes to the emotional climate of our body. Changes are inevitable. When changes are forced upon us, when we become stressed, anxious or angry, our heart beats differently and we breathe differently too. Negative emotions affect our breath, our pulse - or heart's rhythm, and therefore has a direct effect on our nervous system.

Training ourselves to notice and flow with change is part of what meditation and yin yoga is all about. When we are resistant to the natural movement and changes in our life we may experience feelings of frustration.

In many cultures the heart is a symbol of love and affection. Heart is also known as the source of courage (a brave heart). In Yin, Zen & meditation we use the expression 'heart-mind' because the mind and body are believed to be inextricably linked. Some time ago, I read that in Chinese the same character is used to convey “heart”and “mind,” and that the two are seen by the Chinese as one inseparable thing: “heartmind.” The understanding is that there exists no separate thought without accompanying physical feeling, no separate feeling without thought. No heart without mind or mind without heart. When we practice heartmind, in yoga or meditation, we are both being and doing. In TCM and Zen there is no distinction between doing and being. You are what you do, and what you do is what you are. Our heart is reflected in what we say, what we do and how we see. I read some beautiful words by Kathy Keenan earlier this week: “The eyes are the sprouts of the Heart reflecting our spirit and impulse to live, and the tongue is the off-shoot of the heart, reflected in the words we use to communicate.”

The summer, fire, heart energy - our "heart spark" or heart-mind encourages us to be awake to our life, to open up. This “heartmind” is what radiates out into the world as our personality

And all yoga and meditation practice is ultimately about heartmind. Sometimes we call it love or compassion. And if our life isn't about working towards love and compassion, then what are we doing with our life?