I’ve decided I’m going to go back to “yoga” school and undertake my 500 HR in Yin Yoga. Those of you that know me, know that I’ve always LOVED Yin Yoga. The whole science behind it just makes sense to me. So I wanted to share a little bit about it and how it relates to speaking your truth.
We have both yin and yang (think lunar and solar) energies within us. Yin energy is feminine and receptive, so imagine your yin energy as listening to something or someone; and then yang energy is masculine and forceful, so think taking action in the outer-world. When we blend the yin and yang, we balance both energies and find our middle path.
Picture the yin and yang symbol: there is a little dark within the white and a little white within the dark. Can we bring more yin energy into our yang activities? Can we integrate more yang energy into our subtler, yin states? My practice is to act (yang) without aggression (too much force), and to listen (yin) in a more active way (instead of dull).
It’s amazing that in the present time we have so many different ways to communicate with each other. We have so many ways to express ourselves and share with the outside world! We can video tape ourselves and put it on YouTube or make a political statement on Instagram by sharing a post. The troubling thing is, is how easily we can exploit ourselves and overuse our throat chakra.
The throat chakra (for all the nerds out there) is the energy center located in (you guessed it) the throat. Each energy center going up the spine alternates between yin and yang energy. The heart chakra is yin and then the throat chakra follows with yang. The throat chakra governs out creativity. This is different from the creativity from the second chakra, which is more about creation and birthing new things into the world. Our throat chakra’s creativity is more about expressing ourselves and sharing out inner world with the outside one.
The reason I bring this up is that I feel we (and I say WE because I’ve done it too) are over expressing ourselves through social media and various platforms. For the first time, we can express ourselves and not witness immediate rejection or judgement because we’re doing it safely behind a screen. The problem I find with this is that we are sharing with aggression.
I find that sometimes we share (yang) with too much force and control (more yang). I was just on my instagram feed and read a person’s caption that was sharing an idea, but sharing it in a way that was “the answer” for everyone else. Isn’t that egotistical? To think that something learned applies to everyone (despite how different we are) and that anyone who doesn’t agree is wrong.
We learn things all the time and we get excited! This is the age of knowledge and information. We have it available to us everyday at our finger tips. So, how can we share what we’ve learned in a more yin way?
a less aggressive way?
a way that keeps the heart open?
a way that says, “this may be right for me but I’m not sure if it is for you… I honor your path… so if it feels right… give it a try”?
I guess, just overall more welcoming and humble. None of us have all the answers. I love to share my ideas but I always want to make sure I share them in a way that invites someone to a new way of thinking. I don’t want to share in a way that demands someone to agree with me or feel shame and inadequate. I believe intelligence is measured by how big your heart is and not by how many “answers” you have.
What’d you think?