If you’re new to Yin Yoga and the concepts behind it, I suggest you have a quick read of this and this to familiarise yourself with its basic tenets.

With the arrival of June, we transition firmly into summer territory, despite what last week's storms would have us believe.

Yin yoga is the perfect complementary practice to a busy summer calendar, helping to really restore and balance our energy by encouraging us to turn inwards and towards stillness to counteract the late nights, long days, and lust for life that summer carries with it.

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the season of summer is associated with the element of Fire and the organs of the heart and small intestine.

The heart is considered as the “king” of the organs by TCM for the vital role it plays in controlling our circulation and distribution of blood, and the consequent dependence of all other organs on it for good health. It is also said to house the body’s spirit and therefore plays an integral role in our emotional world.

The small intestine is responsible for sorting the pure from the impure matter that it receives from the stomach, assimilating the necessary nutrients, and passing on anything unnecessary to the large intestine to be eliminated.

As ever in the TCM context, the organs of the body play a bigger part than their anatomical function and are endowed with energetic properties. The balanced flow or energy/chi/prana through the heart and lung meridians/energetic channels is associated with a feeling of joy and enthusiasm for life, being well balanced emotionally and treading the line between vulnerability and resilience with ease, there is genuine warmth in our interactions and a relaxed and satisfied taste to life.

“When heart chi is healthy, we feel warm, nourished, and nourishing, able to contact innate joy, inner peace, and harmony, and able to build healthy relationships.” – Sarah Powers

Conversely, when heart/small intestine chi is unbalanced, we may experience sadness, issues with our circulation, and feel disconnected and emotionally cold, and turned off from life.

The yin yoga sequence below is a selection of poses that target the heart and small intestine meridians to encourage the healthy flow of chi through these channels and organs to find balance this summer. Savasana isn't pictured because it is included as standard in every yoga practice we do. Please make sure you leave time for at least 5 minutes at the end of the sequence.

As always when practicing yin, remember these things;

Find an appropriate edge, feel enough sensation for the pose to tug at the connective tissue and the meridian lines housed within it.
Stay in the pose for an extended amount of time, somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes (or maybe more)
Try not to fidget unnecessarily, this applies to the mind too, keep the attention on the breath.

For your reference, here are the meridians of the heart and small intestine which this sequence targets

Extended Child's

Meridians targeted

Heart meridian along arms

Physical Focus

Massages the internal organs
Stretches the spine and the chest

Hold for

3-5 mins/as long as you want. Make sure to swap the turn of your head

Make it work for you

Knees could be narrower
Pad the knees either under the knees of in the knee crease

Twisted Child's

Meridians targeted

Heart meridian along top arm
Small intestine along bottom arm

Physical Focus

Massages the internal organs
Stretches the spine and the chest

Hold for

3-5 mins on each side

Make it work for you

Knees could be narrower
Pad the knees either under the knees of in the knee crease
You don't have to bind the top arm, if it feels like too much for the shoulder then just release the top arm to rest anywhere that it's comfortable.

Quarter Dog

Meridians targeted

Heart and Lung meridians in arm
Urinary Bladder in back
Stomach and Spleen in the chest

Physical Focus

Back bend for the upper back
Opens the shoulders

Hold for

3-5 mins on each side

Make it work for you

You could use a bolster/brick/folded blanket under the chest or armpits. Make it high enough to feel supportive, so that you can relax down into it
Place a folded blanket under the knees if they don't like the pressure
Watch out for any tingling in the extended arm- it could be a sign of nerve compression. If you experience it then please adjust the arm or come out of the pose completely
Taking the arm wider may help to alleviate any pinching/compression in the shoulder

Lateral Half Dragonfly

Meridians targeted

Heart and Lung meridians in arm
Gall Bladder in side seam of body
Stomach and Spleen in the chest
Urinary Bladder in backs of legs
Liver and Kidney in the groins

Physical Focus

Lovely way to open the side body
Stretches hamstrings

Hold for

3-5 mins on each side

Make it work for you

Use any prop under the bottom arm to bring the floor closer to you
You could use a bolster on its end to support the head
If the top arm gets tired and is causing tension in the neck then release it and rest

Bridge Pose

Meridians targeted

Heart and Lung meridians in arm
Urinary Bladder in back

Physical Focus

Stretches the whole of the front of the body

Hold for

3-5 mins

Make it work for you

If it's too intense having the legs outstretched, bend the knees and plant the soles of the feet on the floor.

Tips for all postures

We are looking for sensation- not pain. If you feel pain at any point then please come out of the pose and either try again with props to alleviate the pain, or if the pain persists then skip the pose altogether