Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

journey inward, giving yourself over to gravity, and moving your body to a greater range so that you
can feel the greatest sensation of stretch in the pose. This is where you’ll move your focus past the
exterior sheath of your muscles to the fascia underneath, contacting the sensations you find there.
I can guarantee that this will be a “Holy sh-t, what have I done?!” moment, when you can’t
believe that you’ve actually signed up for this. Now you’ll need to decide on your optimal position.
Choose one where you don’t feel scared or overwhelmed, for example, by a stretch in your outer hip,
but are sufficiently intrigued; let’s say that you’re suddenly alert and attuned. (I say this with a
compassionate smile.) The sensations you’ll feel in the yin practice are surprisingly intense and will,
without question, demand that you give your full attention to what is going on inside your own body.
What “wakes us up” also awakens our energy.
Breathe deeply into the sensation that’s arising, and do it gently and lovingly. Do it without
judgment, so that you can appease that rude awakening, which is a singular combination of your own
natural reaction of shock and awe at just how much such a simple pose can elicit and, of course, the
nervous tension that inevitably will ensue when you first come into the pose.
While your muscles are starting to release, breathe directly into the specific body areas being
stretched in the pose. Know that if you just allow yourself to breathe into what you are feeling and
allow your body to start to become heavy, sink, and befriend gravity, rather than resisting or fighting
it, tension will melt away. Sensations that were so intense just seconds earlier will dissipate. The
more you allow yourself to let go, taking comfort in the idea that the earth supports you, the faster
your body’s wisdom will take over. Before you know it, you’ll start to trust, and your muscles and
fascia will respond. Your subtle body will start to celebrate and do what it knows how to do best and
the meridians, organs, and chakras will all start to flow, sing, and spin beautifully under your
guidance and care.
Step 3: Go Deep
After you’ve acclimated yourself to the pose, your mind starts to slow, and you’ve come to understand
and accept where you are and that getting into this position was in fact a voluntary act, you’ll go deep,
the next step in our yin sequence. Going deep or dropping down (allowing your body to melt into the
floor) happens sixty seconds to two minutes into the pose, when you’ve really started to connect to
your breath and the way it flows into your body as well as to the sensations you are feeling. Here,
you’ll start to feel willingly seduced by the idea of giving over to gravity and begin to believe that
maybe this is a good thing.
You’ll continue to direct your breath into the areas of greatest sensation in the body, knowing that
as you breathe into them, just like the weather, they will change. You’ll be here for a minute at least.
Each time you inhale, breathe new life and energy into your body. As you exhale, let go of holding and
tension. Offer what you no longer need to the earth below you. Tune in to your body using your
intuitive listening skills. If your muscles and fascia are starting to melt and open, you can increase
your range of motion ever so gently and slowly by making adjustments in how far away from the floor
you hold yourself, either with your body or with props.
Give your weight over as much as possible to the props and to gravity. As you do, you’ll create
the space to release even more, and the intensity of sensation will likely increase when you adjust