10 Minute Yoga Practice to Release Your Neck & Shoulders

Where do you carry your stress?

If you're like most people, you accumulate a lot of tension in your neck and shoulders. And with more Zoom calls and time behind a desk, this tension can accumulate to a point that can leave you feeling stuck.

Luckily, something as simple as this 10 minute Yoga warmup sequence can help you open your neck and shoulders — and shift your mood.

We often think making a change in the body or mind takes time that we simply don't have.

But the reality is that doing a simple practice for just 5-10 min daily is all it takes to make a difference.

It's the little steps you take towards your self-care that lead to the biggest transformations.

Once you've practiced, let me know in the comments below how this short sequence left you feeling.

Want to learn more practices like this? Join the waitlist for the From Surviving to Thriving online course and be the first to know the details as soon as enrollment opens for a very limited time on March 16th.

Easy Exercise for Lower Back Pain

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.

I’m sure you've experienced lower back pain at some point in your life. You may even be experiencing it right now.

In a society where we spend most of our time sitting on chairs and couches, tightness and pain in the lower back is all too common, and one of the most popular complaints from patients in our clinic. And while more chronic cases may not resolve so quickly, my hope is this article will empower you to better understand your pain as well as to provide you with a simple exercise to alleviate some of the discomfort right away.

Why You May Have Lower Back Pain

There are many reasons why you can develop lower back pain.

One cause is too much compression from excessive sitting or standing that causes the area around the lumbar spine to tighten up.

As we get older, not only do the Yin or fluid components of the body naturally diminish, but your spine (byway of gravity) also starts to compress. This is why it’s so important to preserve and replenish your Yin constantly through proper diet and rest and to prevent this compression in your spine through elongation exercises and movement practices like Yoga and Qi Gong.

By elongating your spine through these various practices as well as by hanging upside down or front a pull-up bar regularly, you’ll maintain the integrity of the intervertebral spaces in your spine. This helps prevent abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal or neural foramen, which can lead to spinal stenosis resulting in pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots causing pain, numbness or weakness in the limbs.

Another cause of lower back pain may be related to burnout from a lack of sleep, excessive work, exercise or sex, or a diet filled with processed foods — all of which contribute to adrenal fatigue.

If you’ve been pushing your body too hard for too long or you’re not sleeping enough, you may start to excessively tax your adrenal glands, which can lead to hormonal and metabolic dysfunction.

The adrenal glands are a pair of endocrine glands located above your kidneys that produce a variety of hormones, including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol, that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and other essential biological functions.

Your adrenal glands are associated with your Kidneys in Chinese Medicine so excessive taxation on the adrenals burdens your Kidney Qi, which can lead to lower back and knee pain, fatigue and premature aging, among a variety of other symptoms.

Lower back pain may also result from injury, as well as from psychological and emotional upset that’s mostly associated with fear.

Fear is the emotion of the Kidneys according to Chinese Medicine and since the Kidneys are located in your lower back, fear can trigger tension in this area of your body.

According to Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, lower back pain may reflect your fear of money or lack of financial support.

And since I always believe that moving your body is essential to shifting your mind and mood, I think one of the best ways to shift out of an emotional state like fear that may be keeping you stuck is to move your body, simply and gently.

Easy Exercise for Lower Back Pain

The simple exercise I'm sharing with you today takes 2 minutes and can be done sitting on the floor with your legs crossed or sitting up on the edge of a chair.

It'll not only free your lower back, but it also helps to send energy up your spine to bring Qi to your brain for greater alertness, focus and concentration.

So if your back is tight from sitting around (or even standing) too much during this pandemic, you'll want to make this simple exercise part of your daily routine.

Often called Opening the Heavenly Pillar, this is an excellent exercise to help alleviate lower back pain, tension and stiffness and is gentle enough to do sitting in a chair or on the floor.

Make sure to go slowly at first then work up to more rapid rotations.

This is one of the easiest exercises for lower back pain and to release tension in the spine in general.

Taking just two minutes to open your spine can also reset your mood and help you feel more embodied.

Once you’ve practiced, let me know how this exercise made you feel in the comments below!

Finding Quietude in a Noisy World

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.

Recently I had the honor of taking part in a live online class taught by one of my heroes, Julia Cameron.

Julia is the author of the international bestseller The Artist’s Way, as well as over 40 other publications. Her work has impacted my life more than any other writer and if you know me well, you know how often I recommend her to others. 

I had the pleasure of meeting this humble soul in person a couple years ago during an Artist’s Way workshop she hosted near my hometown. At that time, I was celebrating over a decade of writing Morning Pages and was able to let her know personally how profound an impact this practice had (and continues to have) on my life.

My morning writing practice drops me every day into silence to listen to my inner truths, regardless of how uplifting or painful they may be.

Throughout this new course, Julia talked about the power of deep listening to hear the sounds in your surroundings, your mind, your heart, to guidance, and even the sound of silence.

It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by Ram Dass: “The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

As I got quiet and listened, I started hearing sounds I’d never heard before in my home, during my yoga practice and on my walks.

I began to have a greater appreciation for simple things, like the scratching of my dogs’ feet as they walked across our hardwood floors and my mother’s voice as she spoke to me on the phone. 

I began to listen more deeply to my inner wisdom for what I wanted or needed. And I started to listen more acutely to the guidance that comes constantly from Source.

To me, deep listening is at the heart of presence.

To be able to hear what others have to say without needing to respond or do anything is freeing. 

How liberating to simply be present with what is rather than feel I have to control everything!

Silence is powerful. More often than not, simply listening to someone share rather than speaking creates space for clarity to arise for that person. The same goes when you listen to yourself.

At a time in history that’s perhaps louder than any other — with the blaring sounds of the news, social media, and a landscape filled with fear, anxiety and worry, it’s essential to stop and listen.

While you may not be able to turn off the noise, becoming more aware of the sounds in both your inner and outer worlds can change how you experience them.

Taking time to slow down and truly listen helps lower the volume of distraction and tune you in to the wisdom that lies within.

Then, you can reveal the truth of not just what you truly feel, but also what you truly need and want.

2 Simple Practices to Help You Listen More Deeply:

1. Listen & Write

   With a pen and paper in hand, sit in a quiet corner of your home. 

   Close your eyes. 

   Take three deep breaths.

   Now, open your eyes and write down every sound you hear in your environment—the fan of your heater, cars driving by outside, birds chirping, the rain or the breeze, the sound of your children walking or dogs barking, etc.

   Write down every single sound you hear for the next 3-5 minutes.

   Then pause and take another three breaths.

   Be still with all that is in the moment.

   Now write down what you feel – physically, emotionally and mentally.

   This may stir up some emotion, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve taken time like this for yourself. Invite in all the feelings. 

   Listening deeply is essential to hearing your personal truth. Writing it down clarifies the path to your authentic self.

2. 10 Minute Meditation (BEME Meditation): the meditation below will help you listen more closely, more often.

   I like to call it The BEME Meditation; it’s a practice I developed that invites you to listen to your body, emotions, mind and environment, without judgment. 

While judgments and inner narratives can distort reality and cause you to suffer, the process of quiet observation supports you to be authentic by simply being more present.

So feel, hear, be.

And know that everything will be OK, even if you don’t feel OK in this particular moment.

What’s the soundtrack that’s playing in your life right now? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Feel Grounded in 10 Minutes: Yin Yoga for the Kidney & Lung Meridians

Feeling grounded means that there’s a strong connection between your Lungs and Kidneys so you can be more present in your body and breathe more deeply.

In Chinese Medicine, the Kidneys are said to grasp the Qi of the Lungs, which allows you to take deeper breaths.

The Lungs also direct body fluids downward to Kidneys and Bladder. Dysfunction in the communication between the Lungs and Kidneys can result in wheezing and asthma or accumulation of fluids either from the failure of the Lungs to descend the Qi or weakness in the Kidneys that prevent the grasping of the Lung Qi.

Each of the organ systems according to Chinese Medicine house an aspect of your soul.

The Lungs house the Po, the physical or substantive aspect of your soul, while the Kidneys house your willpower, known as Zhi.

Zhi drives the intention and effort required to accomplish things in life. This includes both effort and perseverance.

The connection between these two aspects helps you feel embodied and grounded.

Embodiment is essential to authentically practice mindfulness as well as gratitude.

This 10 minute Yin Yoga practice nourishes the Kidney meridian and opens the Lung meridian to help you strengthen your Kidney-Lung connection.

Yin Yoga is a powerful practice for all levels that calms your nervous system to reduce stress and even help you digest a variety of foods during the holiday season and beyond.

Once you’ve had a chance to practice with this video, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below —was your experience with this practice?

Yin Yoga Integration to Slow Down

If you've been striving but not getting the results you want in any aspect of your life, it's more than likely that your overactive, or Yang, qualities are inhibiting your Yin, or your ability to receive.

And if the world feels overstimulating and you just can't seem to find a sense of calm, this Yin Yoga practice is for you.

In this Yin Yoga practice, I'll guide you through a short Yin Yoga sequence to help release the Kidney, Liver and Bladder meridians.

According to Chinese Medicine, tension along the Bladder Sinew Meridian can lead to an overactive nervous system that can inhibit rest, relaxation, sleep, and digestion.

Through gentle, long held seated Yin Yoga postures that focus on releasing the Yang channels along the sides and back of your body, you'll begin to relax your nervous system, slow down internally and feel a greater sense of calm and ease.

Through this Yin Yoga Integration class, you’ll learn how less effort and a more clear intention can allow more of what you want in your life.

Your life has purpose and meaning.

Sometimes doing less will help you find what that is.

P.S. Doing a lot? You'll also want to read this to learn why it's important to let go in order to receive.

Trust the process: Yoga Integration to Strengthen Your Kidneys & Calm Your Heart

My father has a sense of faith unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Though he's not at all religious, he's really embodies what it means to be spiritual.

I’ve learned over time that my father's Water type personality makes it easier for him to trust the process as he navigates the ups and downs of life.

According to Chinese Medicine, Water energy is associated with the Kidneys, which hold your essential energy, or Jing, your life purpose and the important virtues of trust and faith.

Faith and trust provide you with the perspective to let go of control and allow the process to unfold, but also have the willpower to know when to take action.

When the Kidneys are compromised through stress and overwork, not only can adrenal exhaustion (aka feeling wired & tired) result, but your faith and willpower can also be compromised. Strengthening your Kidneys and the Water energy is also important to temper the Fire of the Heart to calm your anxiety and help you regain a sense of hope.

In this Yoga Integration practice, you’ll learn Yoga & Qi Gong exercises to help strengthen your Kidney energy so you can trust the process and stay motivated, even in the most uncertain times.

Yin Yoga Integration to Shift Your Perspective

According to Classical Chinese Medicine, in order to change your view of the world, you need to open the sensory portals, including your eyes, ears, nose and throat.

In this yoga practice, you’ll learn how to release the Gallbladder meridian and open your sensory organs so you can hear, smell and see more clearly and begin to experience the world - and your life - with a fresh perspective.

Because when you can shift your perspective, you can adapt to any circumstances and begin to experience endless possibilities.

Yin Yoga Integration to Harness Your Anger & Be a Force for Change

You've probably been experiencing a spectrum of emotions, including pain, anger and sadness lately during the eruption of fierce racial injustices in the US. And when these emotions surface, it can be hard to know what to do with them, let alone how and where to direct them.

But when properly managed, anger is the most powerful emotion that can fuel change.

According to Chinese Medicine, the Liver system smoothes the flow of all emotions, and stagnation in the Liver can lead to frustration and outbursts of anger. Since the Liver controls the tendons and the smooth flow of Qi throughout your body, it's imperative to work with movement to manage your emotions and optimize your health.

Freedom of movement allows you to see all sides of an issue so you can see the world beyond your conditioned lens; and this allows you to make clear decisions that ultimately drive change.

This Yoga Integration practice focuses on unbinding your Liver & Gallbladder Qi so you can be more decisive and harness your anger so you can be an effective force for change both in the world and in any aspect of your life.

Yin Yoga Integration to Reduce Worry

In times of uncertainty, it's easy to worry about what's next.

Unlike its cousin anxiety, which arises out of fear of not knowing what will happen, worry is more creative.

Worry is the fear that something bad is going to happen and that by thinking ahead you can somehow protect yourself from future pain.

Worry often arises when there's an accumulation of the pathogenic factor known as dampness according to Chinese Medicine. Dampness can accumulate through a poor diet as well as through excessive thinking and overstimulation — all of which may (legitimately) be more familiar to you lately.

Dampness weakens the function of your Spleen and Stomach, the primary organs of digestion that need extra support during times of change and uncertainty. When these organs are compromised you can experience weight gain, poor digestion, overthinking, worry, and even obsession.

And while saying "don't worry" to someone who's worried is probably the worst thing you can do, there are some tools that can help balance this pattern.

In this Yoga Integration practice, you’ll learn tools and practices that’ll help you transform your worry & overwhelm to optimism & ease.