breathing space yoga

Water element: Kidneys and Bladder

Winter is all about stilling the mind, nourishing our cooling bodies and maintaining inner warmth, allowing time for deep reflection. It’s now appropriate to journey inwards, pool your resources and allow the natural process of contemplation, release and restoration, to unravel.

This is the season for turning our attention inward – nature herself begins to cool down, quieten and prepare for the hibernating months ahead. Ki FUSION Yoga sequences are designed to help soothe the nervous system and draw warmth into the core/hara/belly, to sustain and ground you. When the Water meridians of Bladder and Kidney are unsettled, any aspect of fluidity within our body, mind, emotions and spirit begins to stagnate. Our ‘flow’ becomes blocked. Headaches, swelling, constipation, loss of libido and memory to name a few, can all manifest. By focusing on postures that govern the movement of fluids around our bodies, primarily the urinary, lymphatic and reproductive systems, we can create healthy elimination through our skin and lungs as well as support production of hormones, tears, saliva and sexual secretions. Literally get your juices flowing again.

Foods that maintain the fluids in our body also help to strengthen nervous system function and nourish mineral balances for lasting hydration and energy.

All types of kelps (seaweeds), sustaining soups made with beans, legumes and lentils, porridges of brown rice, oats, barley and millet are suggested.

Avoiding dairy, breads, sweet fruits and excess sugar and salt will serve to nurture your kidney and bladder energies and help clear your digestive system and build immunity. This is why it is so important to target, cleanse and strengthen the mucosal linings of the lungs and large intestine during Autumn to create clear channels, otherwise attachments and germs can coagulate and lead to weakness, creating the perfect environment for recurring habits
and infections.

As well as the usual colds and flus, fear, anxiety and depression are also common imbalances that tend to rise during winter. Fear stems from the kidneys, anxiety from the bladder, depression from the central nervous system. By clearing and aligning our Kidney and Bladder meridians and making the organs themselves strong and functional, we can quickly and safely restore balance, warmth and a sense of emotional courage. You can feel strong and brave and buoyant. You can have a clear head, be receptive, energized and motivated to clear your inner stories, express your sexuality and follow your creative drive. Winter Ki FUSION Yoga will nourish and free your spine; release the juices that loosen cold, achey joints and muscles; hydrate your skin from the inside out; strengthen bones; banish fatigue and invoke calm, positive thoughts. All good reasons to climb out of bed or get off the couch (even
when it’s raining!) and go to yoga!!

You can even increase your sense of personal strength and integrity by working with the energies that govern how adaptable you are, how supported you feel and how you deal with life’s challenges. Find your FLOW and connect with the deepest sense of WHO YOU ARE. These are Winter’s gifts to you! You will find that working in cohesion with Nature rather than against Her, surrendering into the current of life instead of resisting it, will not only keep your body resilient, your mind sharp and ignite your spirit, but it will inspire your whole being out of illusion and into truth – the truth that we are all a reflection of the earth around us and vice versa.

Practicing yoga with this awareness will make your soul sing in every season…

Namaste

Written by Denby Sheather – May 2010
Yoga therapist, Reiki Master, Writer and Mum