Seasons, Summer, Traditional Chinese Medicine, yin yoga, Yoga

Cool & Ground with this Summer Yin Yoga Sequence

Yin Yoga embraces the essence of Taoist philosophy: living in harmony with nature. It’s a calm, restorative, healing approach that balances the Yang, active, and often aggressive nature of being that predominates our society. Try this summer yin yoga sequence to stay balanced this season.

According to Taoism and Chinese Medicine, humans are actually microcosms of nature. Summer is related to the element of fire and to the Heart and Small Intestine organs in the human body, as well as the Pericardium & Triple Burner (which do not exist as functional organs in Western anatomy). When the energetic channels that connect to these organs are out of balance, we could experience more heat in the body which may manifest as headaches, high fever, high blood pressure, mania, delirium, anger, constipation/dry stools, rashes, sleep disturbances, and more.

Through yin yoga, we can increase the flow through the Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium, and Triple Burner channels. The slow, mindful approach is cooling in nature and is the perfect solution to the problems mentioned above. By cooling and grounding in the heat of summer, we can also maintain inner harmony. Try this Summer Yin Yoga sequence to stay cool & balanced!

Cool Down With Summer Yin Yoga

This Yin Yoga sequence dilates the Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium, and Triple Burner energetic channels (in addition to all the others that reside in the upper body). Hold each posture for 2-5 minutes while releasing with gravity. As you let go in the muscles, the stretch will move deeper into the connective tissue, which is where the energetic channels reside. Stretching the connective tissue is perfectly safe as long as you’re not moving quickly in and out of the shape.

You’ll experience more space and freedom in the chest, arms, upper back, neck, and around the scapula in addition to finding equanimity in the heart and a wider perspective in the mind.

Eagle arms forward bend

Stand with your feet hip joint width apart or slightly wider. Reach your arms out in front and cross them over your chest at the upper arms. If you have the flexibility, continues winding around the forearms and joining up the palms. Let your knees bend as you fold forward at the hips. Allow your arms and head to be heavy to release around the scapula, upper back, and neck where the Small Intestine channels traverse. After holding for 1-2 minutes, unwind the arms, allowing them to hang. Repeat on the other side.

Prone Arm Cross

Lay on your belly and start with your arms out to the side. Sweep them forward as you lift your torso away from the ground and cross deeply at the upper arms. Reach the fingers away from each other. Once at your maximum stretch, relax your weight down onto the arms. When ready to exit, engage your core muscles to lift the torso and gently unwind the arms. Rest in neutral, prone, until ready to cross the arms the other way.

1/4 Downward Dog

From hands and knees, place one forearm to the ground under the shoulders perpendicular to the spine. Reach the other arm straight out in front. Relax your chest down and forearm down. You may want to stretch in cat pose before going to the other side.

Prone Twist

Come down onto your belly again for a deep chest/front shoulder stretch. Bring one arm out to the side with the elbow bent and palm down (this position creates a deeper stretch than with the arm straight and palm turned up). Use your other hand to tip your body over to the side. Place your legs in a position that helps you stay sideways for the appropriate amount of time. Rest on your belly in neutral, then go to the other side.

Fish in Reclined Bound Angle

Sit up with the soles of your feet together and your knees opening out to the sides from your hips. Place your hands under your buttocks. Lift your chest, reclining onto your forearms. If it feels safe, slowly bring your head to the ground.

Reclined Twist

Lay on your back with your feet on the ground, knees bent. Lift one leg, crossing it deeply at the upper thighs. Continue bringing the knees over into the direction of the cross. Open your chest to the other side, letting your arm move over head or out to the side to open the chest. Turn your head in the direction that feels best for your neck.

Be sure that you’re moving out of the Yin postures just as slowly as you’re moving into them. In between postures, give yourself some time in stillness to observe the energy circulating through your body into the places that need it. End in Savasana or a seated meditation.

Let me know what you think of this sequence after trying it! How does it make you feel?

Essential Oils, journaling, Kids Health, Meditation, Natural Remedies, Seasons, Summer, Traditional Chinese Medicine

7 Solutions for Summer Sleep Struggles

For many families, long summer days mean confusing, restless nights. The young ones wonder, “How can it be time to sleep when it’s still so light outside?”, and bedtime becomes more of a struggle than usual. I have 7 solutions for summer sleep struggles, insomnia, and unsatisfied sleep that have helped my family and can help yours too.

My son has always had a later bedtime, usually going to sleep between 9:00-10:00pm and waking between 7:00-8:00am (reasonable, since we homeschool). One would think that the Summer would have little affect on him and other night owls, since it’s dark at their actual bedtime. But it just not true for us and unfortunately bedtime is starting to creep past 10:00pm.

It would be much easier to let go of these rules during the summer, but I think it’s still important to strive for a reasonable bedtime to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm. We stick pretty close to all the suggestions I mentioned in Natural Sleep Remedies, Part 1: Finding Your Rhythm , especially:

Waking with the sun, without an alarm
Getting plenty of outside time in direct sunlight
Not having a protein overload at dinner
Avoiding sugar and any caffeine-containing foods
Turning off all screens by 7:00pm
(Trying to) go to sleep before 10:00pm

But the energy of Summer is so Yang, so intense, that it may overpower a person’s ability to settle, especially children who are very Yang and excitable themselves. And when it’s hot and muggy, the environment is not conducive to cuddling up to sleep anyway.

Try these 7 Solutions for Summer Sleep Struggles

1. Adjust Diet for Summer

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we recognize that certain imbalances occur in different seasons. In the Summer, the ruling element of the season is Fire and the Heart is the organ & channel that becomes easily imbalanced, showing up as insomnia, restlessness, hysteria, mania, hot flashes, dry mouth, palpitations, etc.

The best way to get ahead of any imbalance is to eat in harmony with the season. Your family is probably craving more raw, cooling foods (especially juicy fruit) that are out at the Farmer’s Markets at this time. It’s great to indulge in watermelon, cantaloupe, berries, grapes, kiwi, cucumbers, fresh fruit popsicles, dandelion & other seasonal greens, and seafood. But we need to be careful to not overindulge in eating fruit, and balance out the sugar increase (and possible insulin surge) with plenty of fat, which I’ll address in next week’s post.

Most of us do best to reduce or avoid warming, stimulating foods at this time. Onions, garlic, peppers, ginger, fried foods, and chocolate hamper a person’s ability to cool down and rest at night.

2. Hand & Arm Massage to Pacify Heart Channel

Try massaging the inner arm on the pinky finger side against the Heart channel to sedate it, meaning, massage from the pinky up toward the armpit.

Heart channel arm massage for summer sleep struggles

If your child become ticklish as you move up toward the arm (thereby getting excited, which we DON’T WANT at bedtime), then just give them a hand massage and stretch the arm instead.

3. Acupressure to Calm the Mind & Spirit

We covered many acupressure points that help induce a sleepy mood in my Stress-Relieving Acupressure for Moms Guide. These are for general relaxation as they help “calm the spirit” as we say in TCM.

You may also want to press along points on the Heart channel, especially Heart 7, which lies on the medial aspect of the inner wrist. It’s said to calm the Shen (mind & spirit), pacify the Heart and clear the channels .

Heart channel points for summer sleep struggles

Of course you can also work with a TCM practitioner to address a Heart Qi (energy) imbalance with acupuncture and herbs as well.

4. Spritz or Massage with Peppermint on Hot Nights

When it’s too hot to settle in bed at night, many parents I know like to use peppermint essential oil to cool down. Because heat rises and we see this with energy in TCM too, I like to use mint on the forehead, scalp, neck, chest, and shoulders to cool the upper body and move heat down and out.

5. Warm Epsom Salt Baths or a Foot Soak

Magnesium in Epsom salt is easily absorbed through the skin via baths and has been shown to reduce cortisol levels, helping one shift to the parasympathetic nervous system where we rest and digest. Your kids may be taking many baths & showers if they’re also swimming in the Summer months. So if they are resisting a bath at nighttime, consider a simple Epsom salt foot soak instead.

Warming up the feet will also help to pull down hot energy from the upper body, creating a feeling of being grounded & centered, which helps when going to sleep. Lavender is a wonderful calming essential oil that can be added to the bath.

6. Yoga Nidra for Kids’ Sleep Struggles

Yoga Nidra is a relaxation method for the body and mind that helps one shift consciousness, resulting in a deep restful sleep. Some children may love this. Others may have a hard time laying still for this. You may need to get creative to make it more interesting for your child.

Here is my recording of Yoga Nidra, geared toward adults. If it becomes part of your personal nighttime routine and you find value in it, it will be easier for you to introduce it to your child. You can adjust it by working with fewer body parts or just using touch, instead of speaking, to communicate awareness of your child’s body to them.

7. Journaling to Process Summer Excitement

Some kids have a hard time shifting to bedtime because they don’t want to stop playing or they can’t shut off their minds, especially as they get older (many adults reading this have this issue too!) Even once in bed, they may have a hard time letting go of ruminating thoughts, like revisiting events of the day that caused uncomfortable emotions (like shame and embarrassment).

For whatever reason your child is struggling to sleep in the summer, writing thoughts in a private journal or drawing a quick picture can really help. I’ve been suggesting this to my son a lot lately and it really helps him when he’s afraid to lose a vision of something he started doing right before bed.

Of course, you may want to try a longer bedtime period, relaxing in the bedroom with the curtains tightly shut, lighting low (but enough to read mellow bedtime stories) in addition to all the suggestions above. When my husband and I are diligent about these points, then bedtime is usually quite enjoyable!