Yin Yoga + The Deep Waters of Winter with Josh Summers
Sunday, December 13
12-3pm • Central Square
Dao Yin, Kidney Qi and the Art of Replenishment
Winter is the season when nature seems to do almost nothing. And perhaps there’s some wisdom in that.
In Chinese Medicine, Winter belongs to the Water element—a time when life retreats from the surface and gathers itself below ground. For us, too, Winter can be an invitation to stop spending quite so much energy and consider what actually replenishes it.
At the center of this seasonal teaching are the Kidneys and Kidney Qi: the deep reserves that Chinese Medicine associates with vitality, resilience, courage and wisdom.
In this special workshop, Josh Summers will explore these ideas through Yin Yoga and Dao Yin, the ancient Chinese art of “guiding and pulling” the body to cultivate Qi. Dao Yin offers us an older and richer context for understanding what we are doing in a Yin practice—not simply stretching the body or trying to “stimulate a meridian,” but creating conditions that support the circulation, regulation and cultivation of Qi.
Through a slow, meditative sequence of Yin Yoga postures and Dao Yin-inspired practices, we’ll explore the relationship between the Water element, Kidney Qi and the fluid nature of our connective tissues.
Fascia is not dry packing material wrapped around our muscles. It is a living, hydrated matrix, intimately connected with the interstitial fluids that bathe our tissues. Through the alternating tension, compression and release of Yin practice, we’ll explore these deep “waters” of the body and consider how tissue hydration, fluid exchange and Qi circulation might be different ways of looking at an interconnected process.
And Water has an emotional dimension as well. In Chinese Medicine, the Kidneys are associated with fear—not because fear is something to get rid of, but because our relationship with fear changes depending upon the resources we have available to meet it. When our reserves are depleted, the world can feel threatening. When we are rested and rooted, we often discover a little more space around uncertainty.
This is where Yin Yoga becomes more than stretching. It becomes a practice of cultivation: working with the body, breath and attention to nourish the conditions from which resilience naturally arises.
Come prepared to slow down, listen deeply, and spend some time in the quiet intelligence of Winter.
Cost: $75
Please bring a yoga mat (rentals are available for $3 at the studio)
About Josh
Josh Summers, MAOM (Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine), is an acupuncturist and teacher of Yin Yoga and meditation with more than twenty years of experience. Founder of the Summers School of Yin Yoga, Josh has spent his career exploring the meeting place between Chinese Medicine, contemplative practice, fascia and the cultivation of Qi.
His teaching offers a contemporary approach to Yin Yoga rooted in both the classical insights of Chinese Medicine and a practical curiosity about how these ideas are experienced in the living body.