In Chinese Medicine, every emotion is associated with a specific organ in the body. For example, anger is associated with the Liver and Gall Bladder, fear with Kidney and Urinary Bladder, worries with Stomach and Spleen, and so forth.
This means that, imbalances in the physical organ can have an impact on our emotions and the other way around. Someone that spent years suppressing anger, can develop liver problems, for example, as well as problems in the liver can cause a person to feel angry often.
So, in order to live a healthy and happy life we need to take care of our bodies, yes, but also of our emotions, finding healthy ways to process and release them.
Yin Yoga can be a beautiful tool for this! When we hold a pose for several minutes at a time, with mindfulness, we stimulate the energy lines of the body (called Meridians, in Chinese Medicine) and remove blockages, providing healing in body-mind-spirit.
Butterfly pose is a great pose for Anger. It’s quiet accessible for most of us and yet, super powerful.
Sitting on the floor, bring the soles of your feet together. Bring the chin to your chest and as you exhale, release the body forward and down towards the ground. Look for the stretch in the inside of your thighs (for Liver Meridian) and/or outside of your legs and gluteus (for Gall Bladder Meridian). Find that sweet spot where you are able to hold this pose, in complete stillness, with the muscles relaxed, for at least 3-5 minutes. When time is up, come out of the pose slowly and lay on the floor observing the results of the hold. Stay for as long as you want.
Variations: If you have a hard time folding forward, sit on a cushion.
If your neck hurts, support your forehead with a block.
If you are over flexible, you might need to bring the soles of the feet a bit apart to find the stretch in the target area.