Yin Practices for Winter

Of the five seasons in the TCM view of the year, winter is the most yin. Associated with the element of Water, winter is quiet, slow, and invites us inwards. And yet, the way life is now, winter seems to place more pressure on us than ever, between the hustle bustle of the festive season, to the rush of activity in January to ‘get going’ for the year, kickstart positive habits, and make things happen in a schedule that never seems to slow down.

The schedule presses on, but the body still yearns for hibernation mode. At this time of year, all I want to do is answer the body’s call to stay quiet and turn inwards. So yin feels like a balm, a homecoming, falling back into the rhythms of nature.

Below I’m sharing some of my favourite yin practices for this yin time of year. The winter poses are some of the most classic yin shapes - the return to basics and finding depth and beauty in simplicity and stillness. They also mostly work with the lower body - which is considered more yin than the upper body, as well as nurturing and restorative inward curls of the spine. The descriptions below will give some background on why we can choose these shapes, and tips on how to make them work for you.

Butterfly is the most classic of all the yin poses. Bernie Clark says that if you only practice one yin pose, butterfly is it. The body yields into butterfly gradually but consistently, softening the back line of the body and all around the hips. This pose is perfect for winter as it offers us the chance to curl inwards and be quiet, all while supported by the firmness of the Earth. I always suggest a blanket or cushion underneath the seat here to support the tilt of the pelvis and the forward motion of the spine. If the low back feels tight you can elevate the hips more using a block or more padding.
Sometimes the neck and upper back can feel tight here so it’s really nice to support the head with a block or a bolster. When we are supported, we can let go - so if hanging the head doesn’t feel good, let it be held, and give the tissues space to soften.
The flexed position of this pose places tensile stress on the whole back line, stimulating the Urinary Bladder meridian which runs along both sides of the spine. If we position the legs to feel a stretch in the inner legs, we stimulate the Kidney meridian, which is the yin Organ associated with the water element and winter time (its yang pair is the Urinary Bladder). The Kidneys store what TCM calls the Essence (Jing), the origin of life which processes of reproduction, growth, development, sexual potency, conception, pregnancy, menopause, and ultimate physical decay of the body. It is the root for constitutional strength, vitality, and immune system. When we nourish the Kidneys, we support our body’s ability to store and replenish our energy - exactly what is needed in the dark and quiet of winter.

Sphinx is the other classic yin pose in my mind. I love its simplicity and also how much variation you can add to it. I love any posture that brings the abdomen in contact with the floor, so that the belly can soften, open and spread to meet the Earth. And then there’s the quiet opening of the thoracic spine, letting the lungs open forwards in the tenderest of ways. Again, I love supporting the forehead with a block or bolster here to let the neck be suspended with care and let the mind get quiet.

The backbend of sphinx places compressive stress on the lower back, which helps the connective tissue soften and release - but if there is discomfort or pain in the lumbar, we should pull back or come out of the pose (you can get a lot out of resting closer to the floor too). The stimulation of the sacral-lumbar arch, between L2 and L3, stimulates the point known as the Mingmen, the ‘Door of Life’. This is considered the ‘gateway’ that Jing flows through, and when we support this area it can help nourish the kidneys and ensure the smooth flow of energy throughout the body.

I love placing a bolster over the sacrum in this pose to ground the pelvis, and it also adds extra activation to the Mingmen point.
Another nice variation is to add a ‘frog’ leg, taking one bent knee out to the side so that the inner leg rests against the floor, further stimulating the Kidney meridian which runs up the inner seam of the leg.

Dragonfly pose, a wide-legged fold, works again with the Kidney meridian running up the inner legs, and can be so rejuvenating for tired legs and creates space for the low back.

Sometimes the inner knee can feel undue strain in this pose, in which case you can either take the legs a little closer together, or I like to place blocks or rolled up blankets under the knees to create a little bend and let things flow better. If your low back feels stressed in this position, you can try turning the pose upside down by lying on your back with the legs up the wall. I love how this lets the spine rest while taking the pressure off the legs at the same time.

Dangling is so good for non-doing. The legs hold us up while the upper body hangs - you can either rest the hands on the floor if they reach or grab opposite elbows, or use props for support. I also love placing something under the head to ‘close the chain’ and create a sense of containment. I always imagine rainwater falling onto the sacrum and tumbling down the spine and running off the back of the head (or gently pooling at the Jade Pillow point at the base of the skull).
I like this pose for making the mind quiet, and opening the Jade Pillow can help with brain function and create a sense of joy and peace.

This pose creates a lot of stimulation for the whole posterior chain from the legs through the spine to the crown, which works the Urinary Bladder line.

I almost always place a blanket under the heels for this pose - it helps with the tip forward and also supports the arches of the feet, which creates a sense of buoyancy and wakes up the inner thighs to support us in the pose (and touch the Kidney flow too from the centre of the foot up through the inner legs).

I often have unofficial names for the yin postures, and I call this one “give yourself a goddamn break”. Especially if you let the seat rest on a block or a bolster to support your foundation. Flexing into the hip we close in and let the spine hang, while the legs compress into the outer sides of the abdomen. It’s curling inwards, resting away from the world for a moment, while close to the floor.
We’re flexing the spine again, which feels so quieting for the nervous system, while working with Urinary Bladder and Kidneys again ( stretching the back line, activating the soles of the feet, and also opening up the inner legs).

Sitting up in baddha konasana, bound angle, we can take our thumbs into the centre of the sole of the foot to stimulate the first point of the Kidney Meridian, K1, called ‘Bubbling Spring’ or Yong quan. As the beginning of the Kidney meridian, activating this spot can be powerful for grounding your energy and stimulating vitality. Pressing or massaging here helps calm the mind, reduce feelings of fear and bring the body’s energy back to its root, especially during periods of emotional or physical depletion, which might be the case in the middle of winter.

More ‘give yourself a goddamn break’ vibes. Yin against the wall is just so nice - using the structures of our space to let us feel held. In these poses we are still working with the same energetic lines, but using gravity to take pressure off the lower body and create some lightness in the legs which hold us up all day long.
The secret to wall poses is to get properly close to the wall. To do this, sit down at the wall with your hip touching the wall and then spin around to take the legs up. Then if you like you can press the wall with your feet to lift the hips and slide a bolster under your pelvis.
When I was pregnant I so missed halasana and I discovered that waterfall at the wall with a bolster underneath was a wonderful alternative.

This practice has included a lot of forward folding, so we finish with a supported backbend to open up the front of the body. It feels lovely to open up the heart while held by props from below, but we’re still stimulating the Kidney meridian which runs up through the centre of the chest, plus the extension in the lumbar stimulates Mingmen, and we can add more activation by taking the feet together to make a butterfly shape with the legs.

I love using an eye pillow at the end of practice to turn inwards even more, to settle into the beauty of the darkness.

Often in winter we can feel impatient for the warmer months to come, but being able to settle into quiet and rest, we can find great wisdom in connecting with the quiet and secret parts of ourselves. What we gather in the stillness can then blossom into something marvellous once the sun returns.