“our world is needing more yin-action takers”
I’m sure most of you know the Yin/Yang sign. That cool symbol you drew in your journal along with your peace signs when you were a kid (or was that just me?!)
“Yang” energy is the solar, fiery, outward moving energy. In the tantra world this is sometimes described as the “masculine” energy- that penetrative force that takes action. (Has nothing to do with being a man or woman- we all carry both polarities within us).
In the yoga world “yang” yoga would be a power vinyasa flow- lots of movement and working the superficial muscles of the body. Quicker, shallower breaths are taken as your blood and heart pumps quickly as you move from pose to pose.
“Yin” energy is an inward, dark, lunar, watery, receptive, “feminine” energy that is known for being deeper, slower and more internal.
In the yoga world this would be “yin yoga”- a class that would be darker, cooler, and less movement as you work into the deeper parts of the body- the ligaments, facia (connective tissue that spans the entirety of the body) and joints. Poses are held for a long time to access these deeper parts.
Breath is slow, full and deep into the belly. Less doing- but many people struggle in these classes because collectively we have a problem slowing down and actually feeling what’s going on inside of us.
Now that we got that [super brief!] lesson out of the way– I’ll share what I posted to my IG during a week where our country was showing it’s true mess and the chaos of “wtf is happening” was spinning through everyone’s heads.
Because when one is looking at how to take action to better show up in their lives, relationships and collectively on this planet, we need to look at what kind of action is actually needed to create the change we are wishing to see…
So here is goes…
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There’s yang action. There’s yin action.
And there is self care.
Today I realized yin action ≠ self care.
Yang action is having a hard conversation, taking a class, working with a therapist/coach, doing ‘the thing’.
Yin action is doing the inner work to see what you did to create the reality you’re living in, or the relationship challenge you’re experiencing, or the pattern you keep trying to break free from.
Oftentimes I think people connect yin work to doing a face mask or taking a bath.
But I realized today that I would put that in the ever-so -popular ‘self care’ category.
Because if anyone has ever done yin yoga (which I did religiously every night for 6 months once I started dancing again after my hip surgery) they know–
that shit is NOT easy!
It CAN be relaxing… but it takes a lot of focus, intention and s u r r e n d e r to the weight, to gravity and the willingness to breathe into all the pain/tightness/emotional gunk that comes bubbling up from finally being still.
It can be challenging as hell.
There isn’t a lot of movement, there isn’t a lot of DOing (which can be the hard part for many restless ones) but that practice goes DEEP- into the physical body- and the emotional body.
It gives you the chance to feel things you would much rather not feel.
To hear the parts of you that are aching, screaming, numb, scared or filled with shame and confusion.
I feel our world is needing more yin-action taking/takers.
We live in a world that only celebrates the yang action-the do-ers.
(I get it- there is a lot of do-ing that needs to be done in our world.)
And…
When shit hits the fan many run around trying to do all the yang action steps and then burn out and go hide under the covers and ‘self care’ and then when it looks like it has calmed down we go about our lives until shit hits the fan again and the cycle repeats. Is it really working?
I think it is because we are forgetting a key component to lasting change-the subtle, the-ever-so-subtle yin work that goes deep into our bodies and our unconscious and subconscious minds to see how we as an individual contributed to the problems we are seeing in our lives (personally and collectively).
🖤
If you are wanting to start taking action to better understand yourself- so you can show up in the world and in your relationships with integrity, clarity and confidence- reach out to me and let’s get on a call. I can’t want to support you.
