The huge majority of Western people are very low in Yin Energy due to the high levels of stress created by lifestyles. Yin Energy is cooling, calming, passive, receptive and still. Yang Energy is hot, stimulating, active, giving and moving.If we take in too much Yang Energy without first anchoring ourselves we can ‘burn’ or ‘wither’ due to lack of Yin Energy.This may manifest physically in frequent headaches or migraines, fatigue, dizzy spells and light headedness, inflammation or high blood pressure for example.

It can also feel frightening because the high Yang, low Yin Energy levels affect the Kidneys which in turn are affected by fear. If the Kidney Energy becomes unbalanced we can experience unexpected and/or irrational levels of fear which are simply manifestations of this imbalance.

Similarly, low Yin Energy levels affect the Liver causing anger, irritation and rage. The impact on other organs leads to feelings of sadness and worry or a lack of joy, love and peace.

The effects can be just as difficult to re-balance as it can be for those who have taken drugs (both prescribed and recreational) and excess alcohol for long periods of time.

It is vital to replenish the Yin Energy to achieve optimum health, joy and vitality.

The two greatest and most readily available sources of Yin Energy in our daily lives at any moment are the Energy of the Earth and water.

Qigong Grounding Breaths focus Awareness on the lower parts of the body and the Earth. Energy follows Awareness, so we use our imagination to increase the flow of Yin Energy from the Earth up the legs and into all the organs and cells of the body.

With Practice, Qigong Grounding Breaths can easily be integrated into everyday life.

Soon, as you move through your day you will be able to take Awareness to the feet, legs and hips and focus on relaxing them and connecting the feet consciously with the ground to receive the Yin Energy of the Earth.

Each breath can be a Grounding Breath and you will naturally have instant strong access to a permanent flow of Yin Energy into the body!

Standing in queues, waiting for a bus or train, sitting at a desk will become wonderful opportunities to increase the flow of Yin Energy into your body – reducing feelings of anger, fear and stress and increasing feelings of peace, love and joy!

Qigong Grounding Breaths

• Stand with knees slightly bent, legs relaxed, spine straight, shoulders relaxed and chin drawn slightly in toward the chest.
• Pause the breath and lean forward slightly onto the balls of the feet.
• Inhale deeply and imagine Energy flowing from the Earth up through the legs and into the belly.
• Pause the breath and lean backwards slightly onto the heels.
• Exhale deeply, relaxing.
• Pause the breath and lean forward onto the balls of the feet.
• Inhale deeply and imagine Energy flowing up the legs into the lower belly and from there into every single cell of the body.
• Pause the breath and lean backwards onto the heels.
• Exhale deeply, releasing and relaxing.
• Pause the breath and lean forward.
• Inhale feeling Love and Joy.
• Pause the breath and lean back.
• Exhale releasing tension and anger.
• Repeat for a total of 9 inhalations and 9 exhalations.
• Notice how you are feeling physically.
• Notice how you are feeling mentally.
• Notice how you are feeling emotionally.
• Notice any changes in your day!

“When we identify something as “bad,” we typically contract and feel stressed. Whatever the situation (ugliness, odors, wi-fi radiation, noise, etc.), we label it as “bad” because this is our habit. In this process, we allow the circumstances to disrupt our sense of ease and comfort. We all have the opportunity to practice with life challenges every day.

This is a perfect chance to cultivate our Haola practice.

Here is my invitation to you: Instead of focusing on the challenging environment as the cause of the problem, shift your focus on how YOU are relating to it. How can you relate to this circumstance in a more empowered way? When we choose how to experience a challenge, the energy will shift as well.

Choosing a Haola approach (All is well, so be it! AND everything is getting better) allows us to strengthen our energetic connection with the environment rather than to distance ourselves, contract or become stressed. Offering our Haola intention, we cease to identify with the difficulty, and instead focus on our own energetic response. We shift into the Three A’s (Acceptance, Activation and Appreciation) and explore the feelings and sensations of our experience. We address our response with practices such as Haola, Inner Smile, movement and visualizations.

We shift our judgment of the condition from “negative” or “bad” to something more neutral like “challenge” or “energetic blockage.” Our activation with the practice then opens these blockages and challenges. From this place, we are empowered and no longer a victim of circumstance.

And yes, it is true that sometimes an environment is overwhelming and in those situations, it can be appropriate to shift to a place where healing is possible and you can grow strong enough to relate to the challenge differently. You can acknowledge that your system is not yet ready to deal with this condition, accepting that the impact of the challenge is greater than the strength of your system. You can practice embracing the challenges of life. This is a process. We need to first embrace the challenges in order to strengthen ourselves. Practicing diligently, our internal system will become stronger and gradually we will be able to override challenges from the external environment.

I encourage you to use any challenge to strengthen yourself, purify your energy and empower yourself to embrace all of life. We can take responsibility, use the resources around us, learn and apply the practices. Ultimately it comes back to us, no matter the condition. Haola!”