The Five Elements in TCM and Yin Yoga: Wood

In mid-March the Spring Equinox is celebrated. This seasonal transition is where the axis of the Earth aligns with its orbit and both northern and southern hemispheres get an equal amount of sunlight. The Spring Equinox illustrates perfectly the meaning of the tai chi symbol. It is a time where we get to enjoy equal parts Yin (night) and Yang (day). From the Spring Equinox onward, yang energy becomes more prevalent, reaching its maximum expression on the yangest of all yang days – the Summer Solstice. This growing, exuberant energy is the energy of the wood element. How can we incorporate such uplifting yang energy into our yin yoga practice during the season of Spring?

Wood Element and Spring

‘Spring drew on…and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.’ ― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Spring is such an exciting time of year. Mother Nature is about to show us the dream she has been having all winter. Her creativity knows no bounds as she bursts forth everywhere with brilliant, beautiful exclamations of color, scents and tastes. The energy of this time of year is up, up, up. It’s represented by the element wood, the color green, the liver and gallbladder organs, and the emotions of patience or frustration, kindness or anger.

Spring has two phases. The first phase is wet, watery and cooler – necessary for the growth we find in the second drier, warmer, and windy phase. In early Spring we continue to experience the water element of winter and our yin yoga practice welcomes this downward, grounding energy.

Gradually the rains of early spring give way to more sun and warmth, nourishing the upward growth of plants, trees and flowers. The winds of Spring pollinate and populate to stimulate even more growth. It is this second phase of Spring where we tune into the wood element’s upward, expansive energy of stimulation, growth, reproduction, and creativity. This will begin to inspire a little more lift in our yin yoga practices. A lift of the heart, a lift of the throat, a lift of our chin, a lift of our eyes, a lift of our spirits.

Wood Element and Udana Vayu

‘When Prāna with a thunderous voice shouts his loud message to the plants, they straightway are impregnate, they conceive, and bear abundantly. When the due season hath arrived and Prāna shouteth to herbs, then all is joyful, yea, each thing upon the surface of the earth’. – Atharva Veda

Vayu is the Sanskrit word for “wind.” The earliest mention of the five vayus of Prana occurs in the 3,000 year-old Chandogya Upanishad. Later, in the 15th century, Hatha Yoga Pradipika outlines the five vayus in great detail. Prana-vayu has an inward quality, apana-vayu a downward quality. Udana-vayu an upward quality, samana-vayu a contractive quality and vyana-vayu a pervasive, circulating quality. Udana Vayu is the quality that most resembles the upward quality of Spring’s wood element.

Udana Vayu governs the throat and head. Sound and imagination are the realms of Udana. The upward quality of Udana reaches up from the lower chakras of desire, creativity and purpose. They burst forth in the the higher chakras of expression, intuition and connection.

It is easy to access and utilize this upward, lifting, yang energy in our more yang style vinyasa yoga practices. For example, with the inhales in sun salutations, when we reach to the sky in standing and balancing postures, and when pressing away from the earth in postures such as full wheel or floor bow. In our yin yoga practice, we can utilise Udana Vayu’s upward energy in poses where we need a bit of a lift. These might include as sphinx, seal, shoelace with eagle arms, and fish.

Wood Element, Liver and Gallbladder

The wood element’s yin organ is the liver and its yang organ is the gallbladder. In the 24-hour Chinese body clock gallbladder is 11pm-1am and liver is 1-3am. This is the time of rest and sleep. The gallbladder is considered the organ of dreaming, goal-setting and planning action steps. The liver is seen as the organ of action. The liver takes what the gallbladder whispers into its ear and runs with it, makes it happen and turns dreams into reality.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the liver is in charge of the smooth flow of qi through out the entire body. When qi gets blocked somewhere in the body – especially the upward quality of qi represented by the wood element – we can experience anger and frustration. Thwarted plans, quashed dreams, being told no are examples of stuck qi and we may quickly feel frustrated. Frustration unresolved, ignored or repressed turns to resentment, anger and if continued to be unprocessed, even depression.

This stagnation of liver qi can be felt as a tightness in our tendons and restriction in our ligaments as both the liver and gallbladder present to these connective tissues. When we find our joints stiff and inflamed due to frustration and anger our yin yoga practice can be very beneficial.

Liver Meridian & Yin Yoga

The liver meridian, along with the spleen and kidney meridians, is an inner leg meridian. The liver meridian begins at the big toe. It has 14 acupuncture/acupressure points traveling along the path of the inner foot, inner calf, inner knee, inner thigh, hip crease, groin. They travel up the belly to the lateral bottom rib and end in the 6th intercostal space below the chest. Poses such as sleeping swan and dangling yoga squat are great for bringing awareness to the liver meridian and the free movement of liver qi.

Gallbladder Meridian & Yin Yoga

The gallbladder meridian is one of my favorites, encompassing both the lateral and spiral lines of fascia and lots of rotator muscles. Starting at the fourth toe, the 44 acu-points run along the outer foot and ankle, the outer calf and thigh. They then zig-zag from outer hip to belly to outer ribs to base of sternum. Then they travel to the outer ribs near the armpit, across the chest to the upper trapezius, and the lateral base of the skull. Finally zig-zagging once again – this time up and over the ear and side of head before traveling across the cheekbone to end at the outer eye.

All the muscles along this line are responsible for the entire rotational system of the body when we are walking. In our yin yoga practice we can access the free flow of qi along this meridian with postures such as Banasana and Shoelace with a side bend.

Stimulate the flow of chi in this Yin class for Wood Element

During this short practice, we will work with the liver and gall bladder meridians to help stimulate the free flow of chi for your Wood element – the element associated with the season of Spring in Traditional Chinese Medicine. We’ll practice some hip openers, side bends and a little relaxation.

Making plans in Spring

‘Where focus goes, energy flows. And where energy flows, whatever you’re focusing on grows. To get what you really want in life, you need a clear goal that has purpose and meaning behind it’. – Tony Robbins

Whereas winter was a time of hibernation, self-reflection and dream-tending, spring is a time of action. Once we take the time to know who we are, why we are here, what we need to do, and how we need to be, it is then time to plan and focus on the necessary action steps for fulfillment and actualization. In TCM, the gallbladder intuits our desires, our dreams, our visions and then starts planning (at night when we are falling into a deep sleep) the step-by-step actions for a successful outcome. Once formulated, the gallbladder will hand this plan over to the liver who then ensures the free flow of upward and expansive energy needed to make our dreams a living reality.

Do your January intentions still ring true?

In your next yin yoga practice, check in with your resolutions you made for the new year. Do they still ring true here at the beginning of Spring? Do you still really desire that which you thought you did at the beginning of winter? What about your goals can you edit and refine? Who are you today, right here and right now, and what do you want? That’s your gallbladder asking you. It’s ready to plan and, with your liver, spring into action to make all your dreams come true!

Spring is such an exciting time of the year. I look forward every year to see what Mother Nature has in store for us. My senses excitedly anticipate the spectacular show she has been dreaming up for us all winter. Magnificence is about to burst forth for all of us.

Happy Spring!

Love, Jennilee x