Fave yin poses for Autumn

The first public yin class I ever taught was a seasonal special, autumnal yin-vin workshop. Yin feels particularly appropriate for autumn, since it’s a time of turning inwards, slowing down, and letting go of the excitement of summer. The energy really invites us closer to the ground, but still there’s a yearning to let things move through us, as we transition into the darker months.

Yin yoga is really informed by Chinese five-element theory, which tunes deeply into the turning of the seasons and how it affects our bodies and minds. In this system autumn is associated with the metal element, which represents qualities of clarity and value (think precious metals - what is gold to you) but also knowing when to release. It’s a melancholy time but also one for refinement. In this season we work with the Large Intestine (yang) which is all about elimination and letting things go, and also the Lungs (yin) which are associated with temporality. After all the breath is constantly coming and going. But also, healthy lungs allow for a single moment in time to become complete. Think taking a full breath, feeling into the fullness of our lungs - this is being totally present. We breathe in - process, and breathe out, let go.

When we practice with an intention to create alignment with the seasons, we cultivate the qualities of the season - holding space for letting go, sitting with the melancholy and letting it pass through us, and tuning in towards what we value the most and want to take with us into the winter - but we also connect with these elements by directing our energy to the organs of the season by working with meridians. The following postures let us stimulate the meridians by putting pressure on the connective tissue pathways and energetic channels, letting energy (qi) flow more smoothly and nourish the organs in question.

What follows is a series of postures that I have been loving this autumn, and will continue to share until we move into winter in a few weeks. You’ll find some insights into why we can choose these shapes, and tips on how to make them work for you.

Child’s pose is always a cosy place to start. When we curl in like a pebble, our spine returns to its ‘first curve’. When we are just being formed in the uterus, our spine is rounded just like in this posture (hence the name.. balāsana, child’s pose), the lumbar and cervical curves of the spine haven’t developed yet, so it’s really soothing for the nervous system to return to this shape.
We’re curling in, belly and thighs come together, and so we can feel the soft undulations of the belly that come with the waves of the breath.

We’re also compressing the actual large intestine with this posture which is helpful for nourishing this organ and helping with elimination. It might also feel like the lungs are closed in, but here we can remember that the lungs shine out the back of the body, too. When we breathe a little deeper into the posterior side, the back of the ribs, we can feel into parts of the lungs that we maybe haven’t accessed throughout the day.

Resting the hands on a bolster in front of the body puts some pressure on the shoulders as they move into flexion - this creates a sensation of opening and maybe a little bit of vulnerability even as the torso and legs are in the compact, nestled shape. We can find openness while holding ourselves tenderly at the same time.

How to get into it: Come to kneel in the middle of your yoga mat, and place a bolster (or a couple of pillows piled up) in front of you. Let your wrists rest on the bolster so that the shoulders come into flexion especially as you sit back onto your heels. If your shoulders feel tight, I like to turn the palms to face each other to support some external rotation and let the shoulders open away from the ears.
If your knees feel tender here, place a blanket or cushion between your seat and your heels to lessen the flexion in the knee joint.

Stay for 3 minutes or so, and breathe.

suggested counter pose: after this you can take the arms back towards the feet in childs pose which lets the shoulders rest. Let the shoulder blades relax towards the floor. You might like a wee gentle cobra pose to stretch out the front body.

Slowly we start to open things up. Open wing is close to the ground but it starts to open up the front of the shoulder, the front and side of the chest, around the pec minor myofascia in particular. This is such a useful shape for those of us who work at a desk during the day, but generally we often find ourselves in a rounded shoulder position in life as the shoulders round inwards towards the chest in a protective gesture. With this shape we carefully unpick some of those patterns, inviting more breath into the front and sides of the lungs. The inner arm lays across the floor and as we roll open, the arm moves into an abducted position relative to the ribcage. This is useful from a biomechanical standpoint (counteracting the rounded position we spend so much time in) but it also puts pressure on the meridians that run down the inside of the arm - Lung, but also heart and pericardium.

How to get into it: start lying on your belly on the floor (I like to place a blanket on the yoga mat for padding, but also for cosy vibes.. ) Take the arms out to the side at shoulder height. Working first with the left arm, we can bend it a little and slide it forward a few centimetres. This will help target the pec minor area more specifically. Having a straight arm puts on a little less pressure here so you can do that if having a bent arm is too much. Next, bend the knees, and let them fall over to the left as well so that the body opens up to the right. The feet might touch the floor, letting the left hip stack on top of the right, but they might not. They don’t need to - you’ll still feel the stretch happening in the front of the left shoulder. If the head is hovering off the floor you can support it with your right arm, or place a block or cushion under the left temple.

Stay and breathe for just 2 minutes. Because we’re working with smaller tissues here you don’t need to stay for a super long time.

To come out, roll back onto your belly and if you like, let the arms rest back alongside you in between sides. Or let the arm you were working with rest on your low back, palm facing up.

suggested counter pose: first move into child’s pose, and then you can come onto your back and lift the hips into an active bridge for a couple of breaths, especially if you take the arms underneath the body, clasp the hands and press the triceps into the floor. In open wing the arms are in external rotation, and in bridge if the hands are clasped, the arms are more in internal rotation which can feel like a nice relief. It’s also another nice way to open up the chest from the other side.

Anāhatāsana is often translated as ‘melting heart pose’ although the word anāhat actually means ‘unstruck’, referring to the secret sound that resonates from the heart space. Regular anāhatāsana is a beautiful openner for the heart and the lungs, but I also love this variation to target the back of the body, the back of the heart, the space between the shoulder blades where so many of us hold tension (that’s my spot! I always want more release here).
Because the back of the arm is resting on the floor and the weight of the body is mostly supported on this area, we put pressure on the Large Intestine meridian which runs down the back of the arm.

How to get into it: you can enter this from a table top. Walk the hands forward of the body until the hips are over the knees. If you start with the left arm, reach it under the right armpit and let the back of the hand rest on the floor. Let the chest drop towards the floor until the shoulders are stretched. The right arm can either reach forward (like in the picture) or stay close to you for support.
As in the picture, I like to have a rolled up blanket at the hip creases, as it gently engages the low abdomen and hip flexors, which stops us overextending into the low back. If you have a lot of mobility, this is key. It keeps us supported and balanced in the middle.

If you feel undue pressure in your knees, place a blanket underneath them. The low body should be comfortable here.

Breathe for 2-3 minutes here, directing the breath and your attention to the back of the body in a spiral way.

To come out, draw the arm that’s in front of you back in and use it to push the floor away and unwind the arm to the sky.

suggested counter pose: start with child’s pose and then move into a cobra, or a śalabhāsana (locust) variation - clasp the hands behind you and lift the shoulders off the floor as you draw the fist down towards your feet. release the arms and be a splat (rest on the floor, arms alongside the body :)

The images for the next two postures show more advanced variations of classic poses - if these don’t work for you, don’t worry, I’ll describe different options in the instructions below.

Supported fish opens the lungs, stretching the tissues across the front of the chest, so there’s more space to breathe. I also like that the prop (you can use a block here, or a bolster, or even a rolled up blanket for a subtler effect) supports the lungs from the back so you can feel held here. Also breathing into the back of the body so the lungs expand into the prop put pressure on the upper back which can also help disentangle this area.

I learned this variation with gomukhāsana arms from Katonah yoga and while I enjoy the cosy wrapped-in vibe of it, I appreciate it isn’t for everyone. It depends on the mobility of your upper spine and also your shoulders. The reason I include it here is for the stimulation of both Lung and Large Intestine meridians that happens as a result of the arms being intertwined. You can practice the arm position on its own to reap these benefits, or simply reach each hand to opposite shoulders and press the elbows against each other.

How to get into it: Lying on the floor, place a block, bolster or rolled up blanket underneath your shoulderblades. The top of the shoulders should roll off the top of your prop. Depending on the height of your prop you can also place something underneath the back of your head. It’s good to have your jaw perpendicular to the floor, so that the back of your neck and space between shoulderblades are both long.
The arms can fall out to the sides here, if you bend the elbows it will open up the front of the shoulders again like open wing. Or you can reach the arms overhead and hold opposite elbows. If you’d like to try the gomukhāsana arms, cross the arms over the body and reach around to press the palms together. If possible, the hand of the bottom arm can grab the other wrist. Then the hands reach to the floor overhead.

All of this is of course optional! With yin, less is so much more.

Breathe here for about 3 minutes.

suggested counter pose: release the arms, whatever position they are in, then carefully roll to the side to come off your prop. Come back to lie on the floor so that the back rests against the Earth. Breathe into the back of the body, if you like draw the knees into the chest for a huggle.

It’s the ultimate coorie-in pose. Snail is yin’s version of halāsana in yang practice. This isn’t usually listed as an autumn pose, it’s very wintery as it works with the Kidney and Urinary Bladder meridians, and makes loads of space for the kidneys. But I love it in autumn too. The thighs are in to the belly, compressing the large intestines, and if the knees make it to the armpits then we are stimulating the Lung meridians too. And of course we place a lot of pressure on the back of the lungs and stretch the tissues of the back body, letting us breathe more into the back of the ribs.

The second bolster is one of those options that isn’t for everyone - and I appreciate you might not have a second bolster at home! (I never tell anyone to buy anything, but I do fully endorse owning one bolster at home not just for yin but for general cosy sprawling on the floor :)) I only have one big bolster myself so I usually support the low back with a couple of cushions and roll the bolster over the back of my ankles once I’m in. This is also something a teacher (like me!) can help you with practising in the studio, if it’s appropriate for you.

For most people, the bolster under the pelvis is enough, we roll back off it to create flexion in the spine and let the knees move in the direction of the armpits.

How to get into it: Lying on the floor, lift up your hips to slide a bolster or couple of cushions under the pelvis. Stay here for a while if you like, it’s lovely to support the sacrum and let the front of the hips open.
To make it into snail, draw the knees towards the chest and let the bolster slip away a centimetre or two so that you roll back off it a little. The more you roll onto the upper back, you can draw the bolster closer to lift the pelvis and create more flexion in the spine. If the upper back and neck allow, you can see if the feet can come close to the floor behind you. Here’s where a teacher can help place a second bolster over the backs of the ankles, to weigh the feet down. For some it’s really lovely. It’s completely okay if that’s not you! Wherever you’re at, the arms can come overhead to rest under the feet to open up the armpits and shoulders.

Stay here for 4 minutes, slowing the breath right down and listen as the body and mind get quiet.

To come out, use the hands to move the second bolster away if you used it. Let the knees move back away from you, and slide the bolster back underneath your sacrum. Rest here with the legs in the air for a moment if you like then place the feet on the floor again, resting in supported bridge pose. When you’re ready, lift the hips to slide the bolster away and let the hips come back down to the floor, and readjust to the Earth.

suggested counter pose: now is a wonderful time to move into śavāsana - extend the legs and arms, cover yourself with a blanket, use an eye pillow if you like. Let the body and mind unfurl. The breath will settle into a quiet rhythm of its own. Let it be and let the attention rest lightly on the breath, as the body drops into the floor. ॐ

If you’d like to learn more..

This year I’m celebrating autumn with a lovely yin and prāṇāyāma pop up at Merchant City Yoga. We’ll have two hours to dive deep into a yin practice like the one above, and we’ll have time and space for a dedicated breathwork practice to access subtle layers of energy and mind. It’ll be magical and such a cosy way to spend an autumn afternoon.

If you’re interested, learn more at the workshops section of my site.

I also teach a weekly yin class at MCY, on Mondays at 7.30pm, both online and in the studio. Come along any time - these classes are suitable for beginners to yin or yoga generally. I’ll be there to support you all the way.

Either way, I hope you have a beautiful autumn of subtle presence and cosiness. See you soon x