Latest / The MODERN YIN Podcast / How Yin Yoga Can Improve Gut and Mental Health

Transcript

How Yin Yoga Can Improve Gut and Mental Health · The MODERN YIN Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey, hey, Yinning at Life Gang. It's Kimberly Roberts of the
• 0:03
  Soulful Yin brand. I'm here to dish out all things
• 0:07
  about traditional Chinese medicine, yin yoga, reflexology.
• 0:12
  And of course, I'm here to disrupt your mind.
• 0:16
  So thanks so much for pressing play on today's episode.
• 0:20
  Let's do this. You've been wondering how can I
• 0:27
  improve my gut health really easily without having to
• 0:33
  radically change my lifestyle? Maybe tweak my food a little
• 0:40
  bit, but mostly do it on my own in a really simple way and also
• 0:50
  improve my mindset and gain flexibility all at the same
• 0:56
  time. If you're wondering how could I
• 0:59
  possibly do that? Is there something that actually
• 1:02
  exists that can help me do all of that?
• 1:06
  Yes, there is. And that's all about today's
• 1:09
  podcast episode. We are diving into how yin yoga
• 1:15
  can help improve your gut health and your mindset.
• 1:21
  So let's dive in now. My background, if you don't
• 1:27
  know, is in Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese medicine.
• 1:31
  I am an acupressure practitioner.
• 1:33
  I'm a reflexology therapist and a yin yoga teacher.
• 1:37
  And when I started yin yoga many, many years ago, I wasn't
• 1:45
  in it for the bendy stretch. I was already bendy.
• 1:49
  I was already stretchy, there was something else that was
• 1:52
  pulling me towards it. And when I dove in really deep,
• 1:56
  I started to realize and understand the connection
• 2:00
  between our organs, this magical Meridian system, traditional
• 2:06
  Chinese medicine Meridian system that we have in our body that is
• 2:10
  stimulated in yin yoga poses. And it kind of blew my mind.
• 2:15
  So I'm not going into a huge discussion about the link
• 2:19
  between meridians, emotions, and your organs.
• 2:23
  You can check that out. I have a podcast episode.
• 2:26
  I'll link it here in the show notes for you.
• 2:28
  It's all about that relationship between those three pieces
• 2:33
  together, that kind of form, like a triangle almost.
• 2:37
  It was actually a #1 rated episode in health and Wellness,
• 2:42
  So go and check that out today. What I want to talk about is how
• 2:48
  yin yoga really works in terms of helping improve your organ
• 2:54
  health and your mindset at the same time.
• 2:58
  So if you're not aware, there is a connection between our gut and
• 3:03
  our brain. This has been scientifically
• 3:05
  proven. There is so much evidence out
• 3:07
  there. There is a link.
• 3:08
  We do have a second brain in our gut and it's always listening
• 3:14
  and corresponding to the brain up in our head.
• 3:18
  And so in yin yoga, not only are we, you know, coming into more
• 3:24
  passive hoses where we're holding a stretch for, you know,
• 3:29
  a pose for a long period of time to stretch out the connective
• 3:32
  tissue and the fascia layers. And of course, it's calming our
• 3:35
  mind, right? If we can get into a really deep
• 3:38
  rhythmic breath, we can kind of just like zone right into the
• 3:42
  vibe of like, yeah, I'm here, I'm present, I'm calm, I'm
• 3:49
  riding the sensations that I'm feeling and I'm starting to
• 3:54
  discover a little bit more about myself.
• 3:57
  What kind of thoughts come up, especially the ones that come up
• 4:01
  on repeat. Why am I thinking them and how
• 4:05
  can I serve myself best to release these?
• 4:09
  So this is 1 aspect of what I love about yin.
• 4:12
  It's just the awareness. So I say this all the time in my
• 4:17
  yin yoga classes that I teach on my app, the Soulful Yin app, I
• 4:22
  say this all the time. You cannot change what you are
• 4:26
  not aware of. And here's the thing, the pause,
• 4:30
  the stillness in a pose. I don't care whether it's 2
• 4:33
  minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 8 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever.
• 4:38
  That awareness is key. It's golden.
• 4:42
  It's an incredible tool that you can use because most of our day
• 4:46
  is spent on autopilot. So meaning like we don't even
• 4:50
  notice the thoughts that we're thinking in the 1st place, never
• 4:55
  mind the ones that are on constant repeat.
• 4:58
  But when we can really zone in and get present and again,
• 5:03
  practice, this is when all of a sudden it's like a light bulb
• 5:07
  over your head goes off and you're like, wow, I I just
• 5:11
  thought that, Oh, I just thought that again.
• 5:14
  What? What the fuck?
• 5:16
  Again, that thought, why do I keep thinking that thought?
• 5:21
  And it starts to create like an inner contemplative discussion,
• 5:27
  if you're into that, about like, well, why am I thinking that?
• 5:32
  Like where did that thought even come up with come up with in the
• 5:35
  1st place? Like, why did I even start
• 5:37
  thinking about this? And so this is beautiful because
• 5:42
  when we become aware, then we have choices.
• 5:46
  So with choices, you have the option of like, well, OK, I'm
• 5:51
  thinking this thought all the time, whatever, I don't care.
• 5:54
  I don't care. It doesn't mean anything or I
• 5:57
  don't need it to mean anything and I move on.
• 6:01
  That's one option. Another option is complete
• 6:04
  denial. I don't want to even think about
• 6:08
  this anymore. This isn't even really true.
• 6:11
  I don't even think my mind is really saying this or option #3
• 6:20
  what if I contemplate this thought a little?
• 6:24
  I wonder what it would be like if I thought about this a little
• 6:29
  more. I wonder what would happen if I
• 6:32
  started to change my inner dialogue around this thought.
• 6:36
  And so it's almost like you're having a discussion with
• 6:38
  yourself, which in essence you are.
• 6:42
  And so I love that aspect of the practice.
• 6:45
  But at the same time, here's the other thing that's helping and
• 6:49
  happening with this stretch I want you to think of.
• 6:53
  OK, so there's these beautiful Meridian channels in our body.
• 6:58
  They run through the connective tissue in the fascia layers.
• 7:02
  So think of them like little garden hoses.
• 7:05
  And some of them start in the feet, and some of them start in
• 7:08
  the hands. For example, the liver, the
• 7:11
  gallbladder, the stomach, the spleen, the kidneys, and the
• 7:16
  bladder. All of those Meridian channels
• 7:18
  start in the feet, whereas the heart, the lungs, the small, and
• 7:24
  the large intestine Meridian channels start in the hands.
• 7:27
  If you think of a garden hose, there's always a starting point
• 7:30
  to the garden hose and there's an ending.
• 7:33
  So think of it when you go into a yin yoga pose, what's
• 7:37
  happening is it's like you're turning the tab on of a hose,
• 7:41
  OK, And that's at the source. So whether it's at the hand or
• 7:44
  the foot and it's starting to activate and stimulate that, AKA
• 7:50
  garden hose. And so energy is starting to
• 7:54
  move through the hose, OK, through this channel, clearing
• 7:58
  out blockages, aiming so that the energy flows freely, just
• 8:04
  like water flows through a garden hose freely.
• 8:06
  OK, we don't want kinks and a garden hose because that that's
• 8:10
  no bueno, right? Because when we have a kink and
• 8:12
  a hose, then the water doesn't flow properly or it even just
• 8:14
  downright stops. And the last thing we want is
• 8:17
  for the energy in our body to not be circulating.
• 8:22
  It's always supposed to be circulating all the time.
• 8:24
  It's never supposed to be stagnant.
• 8:26
  When it's stagnant, there's dis ease and potential disease.
• 8:31
  So getting back to these channels that get stimulated,
• 8:35
  depending on whether we're working with ones that are lower
• 8:38
  body or upper body, meaning are they starting from the feet or
• 8:43
  starting from the hands, we're stimulating certain channels,
• 8:45
  which means we're stimulating certain organs.
• 8:48
  Now the end point isn't necessarily the organ itself.
• 8:52
  These Meridian channels, you know these, they move throughout
• 8:55
  the whole body. But let's just take the liver as
• 8:59
  an example. OK?
• 9:01
  So it starts in the foot and it runs up through the inner legs.
• 9:04
  And of course it heads up into the into the liver itself.
• 9:07
  OK, so I want you to think of like the liver is almost like a
• 9:14
  light switch, like a light fixture.
• 9:16
  OK, So what happens when you hit the light switch?
• 9:20
  All of a sudden there's a current, right, that you can't
• 9:22
  see. There's an electrical wire,
• 9:24
  obviously, because eventually the light turns on.
• 9:27
  Well, it's the same kind of thing when you do a yen pose.
• 9:31
  So if we're working at like trying to improve organ health,
• 9:36
  what's happening is as we're stimulating these Meridian
• 9:39
  channels, especially for like digestive organs, then we're
• 9:44
  starting to improve the function of that organ by making sure
• 9:50
  that the energy is traveling through the Meridian channel
• 9:53
  properly. Kind of like water flowing
• 9:55
  through a hose properly ending up in like whatever your pot of
• 9:59
  like that plant or the ground with the plant in it, whatever.
• 10:03
  But what is always happening is this continuous circulation of
• 10:10
  energy moving through the channel.
• 10:13
  So it's like there's no cars on the highway that are stopped in
• 10:16
  a traffic jam. It's just as beautiful
• 10:18
  continuous flow. And this is how we can really
• 10:22
  simply begin to improve our organ health.
• 10:28
  Now, this is also going to improve the not only just your
• 10:33
  gut, but the brain that lives in your gut, obviously.
• 10:38
  And then, of course, with the more meditative, contemplative
• 10:41
  side of yin, we're also calming the mind and regulating our
• 10:47
  nervous system. We're staying more in that
• 10:50
  parasympathetic state so that there's more deeper healing
• 10:53
  that's happening. And anytime that the body is
• 10:56
  healing, this is a good thing. Like, we want healing.
• 11:00
  We want to be, you know, continuously healing.
• 11:04
  But how cool it is that like, say for example, your liver
• 11:08
  isn't functioning optimally? Well, if you've been told that
• 11:12
  by a medical professional, then you know what you could do.
• 11:16
  Yinyoga poses to stimulate the liver.
• 11:20
  Same thing for your Gallblad, same thing for your stomach,
• 11:24
  your spleen. Now here's the even more super
• 11:28
  cool part. Because each organ, according to
• 11:31
  Chinese medicine, has an associated emotion that works
• 11:35
  with it. Not only are you improving the
• 11:39
  function of the organ on a physical level, OK, but you're
• 11:44
  also improving the function of that organ on an emotional and
• 11:49
  mental level, as well as energetic, right?
• 11:51
  The energy is always flowing through the channel.
• 11:54
  And then of course, mentally and emotionally, you know, with the
• 11:57
  liver as an example, it holds frustration, irritation, anger,
• 12:02
  resentment, rage. So if we're feeling a lot of
• 12:05
  those emotions and we're having a hard time releasing them, we
• 12:08
  could do a yin pose to stimulate the liver Meridian channel and
• 12:14
  the liver organ system as a whole, and we will be improving
• 12:19
  its function physically as well as releasing emotion.
• 12:23
  Like how super cool is that? Like you could do a 15 minute
• 12:29
  practice and give your lover your liver some love at the same
• 12:37
  time. And of course, because the liver
• 12:41
  is also kind of like the master organ and it regulates all the
• 12:47
  emotions, even though it has a primary emotion that it sits
• 12:50
  with, it's also helping your mind as well.
• 12:56
  So, you know, one of the myths that some of my students have
• 13:00
  said to me is like, well, if I don't have an hour to practice
• 13:04
  yen, that it's probably not worth it, right?
• 13:06
  No, that's just absolute pure 100% bullshit because I will
• 13:12
  tell you that if you did one pose for 5 minutes every single
• 13:17
  day, that would be better than you sitting for an hour once
• 13:20
  every couple of weeks or even once a week doing a practice.
• 13:24
  It's the consistency that matters.
• 13:26
  It's not necessarily the duration.
• 13:28
  I mean if you had an hour to practice every day, well then go
• 13:32
  for it. I mean I don't know too many
• 13:33
  people that do. But if you did, great.
• 13:36
  But I want to just assure you that it doesn't require a lot of
• 13:43
  time to get the benefits, the consistency.
• 13:50
  And The thing is, is with the consistency comes regular
• 13:53
  stimulation of the Meridian system as a whole, depending on
• 13:58
  which, you know, organs you want to work with.
• 14:00
  So you're also, you know, ensuring that you're creating
• 14:05
  homeostasis, like balance in the in the Meridian system, as well
• 14:10
  as your organs and your mind. Like seriously, like this is a
• 14:14
  this is a win win all the way around.
• 14:18
  And you don't even have to go anywhere.
• 14:20
  You don't even have to leave your home to do this.
• 14:24
  Like you can come and join my app, the Soulful Yin app.
• 14:28
  I have an entire section that is devoted just to emotional
• 14:32
  intelligence and organ health. And you can tap into practices
• 14:37
  that are like for the liver, the gallbladder, the stomach, the
• 14:41
  spleen, the heart, the small intestine, the lungs, the large
• 14:44
  intestines, the kidneys, the bladder.
• 14:46
  And of course there's associated emotions with each one of those.
• 14:49
  So you know, you're building upon that.
• 14:52
  There's meditation and breath work practices.
• 14:54
  And then I've got short practices like anywhere from
• 14:57
  like 5 minutes to like 60 minutes.
• 15:00
  And I even have acupressure practices that have been sort of
• 15:05
  morphed in with Mayan yoga classes, not all of them, but
• 15:08
  some of them where we actually stimulate, you know, a specific
• 15:12
  acupressure point to help improve the function of a
• 15:16
  certain organ or to help release certain emotions.
• 15:20
  And I even have, because I'm a reflexology therapist, I even
• 15:23
  have reflexology practices up on there.
• 15:26
  So you can learn how to do reflexology on your own.
• 15:29
  So all of that for a monthly membership, like if you were to
• 15:35
  go to, you know, a studio somewhere or a clinic to do all
• 15:40
  of that, it would cost you hundreds and hundreds of dollars
• 15:44
  every single month. For like 20 bucks a month, you
• 15:49
  can literally take care of yourself mentally, physically,
• 15:54
  emotionally, spiritually, energetically.
• 15:58
  You don't even need fancy props. A couple of blocks will do you
• 16:01
  good. You can use blankets, you can
• 16:03
  use pillows. You don't need any fancy like
• 16:05
  Lululemon leggings. Like you don't even need a yoga
• 16:10
  mat. You could just roll out like a
• 16:12
  couple of blankets depending on what your surface is like.
• 16:16
  It is so accessible. And for those of you that are
• 16:19
  starting to, you know, age and you're concerned about and
• 16:24
  mobility and flexibility and maintaining that, then, you
• 16:29
  know, yin yoga is perfect for that as well because it's
• 16:33
  lengthening our connective tissue in our fascial layers,
• 16:37
  which keep us flexible. Because as we age, it starts to
• 16:40
  stiffen, it gets shorter and then we get tighter.
• 16:44
  And then as we get tighter, that creates more potential for
• 16:49
  falling for injuries of, you know, all kinds which we want to
• 16:53
  avoid. And I'm going to be honest, I
• 16:56
  love that we have a Western medical system.
• 17:00
  But I will tell you that since the pandemic, more and more
• 17:05
  people's eyes are being woken up to more alternative Eastern
• 17:11
  approaches to healthcare. And this is really cool because
• 17:16
  I will tell you that years ago, everyone like immediately just
• 17:20
  dove into if there was a problem, they would go the
• 17:22
  Western route. Now we're starting to see even
• 17:26
  some of the medical industry is beginning to shift and they're
• 17:31
  starting to look at Eastern more traditional Chinese medicine
• 17:36
  approaches to serving the body. And I mean, traditional Chinese
• 17:42
  medicine existed long before Western medicine ever came
• 17:46
  around. And it's still here.
• 17:49
  And now it's like, I find this kind of funny because the other
• 17:52
  day I was on Instagram and I was looking at something and there
• 17:54
  was a guasha tool. And they weren't even promoting
• 18:00
  it for its facial benefits. They were promoting it for like
• 18:06
  stimulating acupressure points and stimulating Meridian
• 18:09
  channels. And I thought, how freaking cool
• 18:12
  is that, that we're starting to almost reverse and we're going
• 18:17
  backwards to Eastern medicine, which is where it all started
• 18:21
  from. And Yin yoga is a part of that
• 18:26
  lineage of traditional Chinese medicine.
• 18:29
  So it is such a simple practice, even if you can't do the pose
• 18:37
  specifically, maybe how the teacher teaches it.
• 18:41
  I will tell you that the way that I teach yin yoga, it's
• 18:46
  accessible for anybody because I always have variations of every
• 18:50
  single pose. So it doesn't matter what it
• 18:54
  looks like. All that matters is how it
• 18:59
  feels. That's the only thing.
• 19:01
  That's the only thing that matters.
• 19:03
  If you're sitting and everybody else is lying down because they
• 19:07
  can't do a seated variation of a pose, I don't care.
• 19:12
  I care about if there's something in your body that's
• 19:16
  misaligned that's really causing you a lot of dis ease and you're
• 19:22
  concerned about creating disease, then you know what?
• 19:28
  I'm more concerned about you working with that then how you
• 19:31
  look in the pose. I don't care how many props you
• 19:34
  have. I don't care what clothing
• 19:36
  you're wearing, it's all that matters to me is that you're
• 19:40
  connecting with your body and connecting with your mind and
• 19:46
  starting to become like an awareness activator and really
• 19:54
  tuning into what is happening in your body and what your mind is
• 20:00
  saying as its inner dialogue. Because it's all connected.
• 20:04
  The body and the mind is all connected.
• 20:07
  And your body cannot disregard what your mind says.
• 20:14
  So if you're really looking to improve organ health, maybe some
• 20:21
  of you are, you know, working with a Western doctor.
• 20:24
  And yes, you're on medication for a certain thing, but it
• 20:28
  doesn't mean that you still cannot incorporate an Eastern
• 20:32
  approach. They are totally complementary
• 20:35
  to other. In fact, for 10 years I worked
• 20:38
  at a cancer hospital and I did reflexology treatments and most
• 20:43
  of my patients did Western and Eastern.
• 20:48
  So they would do chemotherapy, they would do radiation, they
• 20:51
  would take medications that were prescribed by their oncologists,
• 20:55
  and then they would also work from from a more Eastern
• 20:57
  traditional Chinese medicine approach to manage symptoms and
• 21:02
  side effects. So start to think, start to open
• 21:07
  up your mind that yin yoga can be so much more than just a
• 21:11
  physical stretch. So I'm going to link in the show
• 21:17
  notes the episode where I go really deep into the connection
• 21:22
  between meridians, organs and emotions.
• 21:27
  And then I'm also going to link to you the Soulful Yin app that
• 21:31
  you can download and you can start 7 day free trial unlimited
• 21:36
  practices. There are well over 200
• 21:38
  practices on there and we are scaling up to 1400 students on
• 21:44
  our app. And it's just a beautiful
• 21:47
  community. You can be as connected in the
• 21:52
  app as you desire, or you can be just come on in, hop in, take a
• 21:57
  class, and then be on your merry way.
• 22:03
  But it's a beautiful space to be in to cultivate an extraordinary
• 22:09
  life in a flexible body, a calm mind and happy organs, and even
• 22:17
  a happy pair of souls. So thank you so much for
• 22:20
  pressing play on today's episode.
• 22:23
  I will see you guys next week.