Sometimes we need to listen for information from outside of ourselves and sometimes we need to listen for that information from the inside. This week, with the eclipse and the full moon and furthermore with the shift into autumn, it feels overwhelmingly important that we’re taking a pause, whether that be for 11 minutes or 11 hours.
This practice will guide you into legs up the wall, or waterfall pose, which has become a practice in itself for me over the years. Theres benefits all across the board for so many of our different systems and overall feels so supportive and grounding.
In the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine, this pose stimulates the urinary bladder meridian (a meridian being a channel in which energy is moving). The bladders physiological function is to excrete old fluids which in turns strengthens the kidneys. Strong kidneys are important because they store our Jing, or prenatal energy. This energy is precious and valuable because it is a fixed amount, supporting our vitality as we move through each of our life stages.
When the urinary bladder meridian is in harmony we experience it as a high stress tolerance, a strong back, feeling overall resilient, and a having a balanced nervous system. All good things. Enough of a reason for you to stop reading and get on your back already?
Ok a little bit more because I think it’s equally as enticing. When we have our legs up the wall we’re working to reverse and rebalance the fluids of the body, our blood flow, and our energy. In turn, fresh oxygenated blood is arriving to the upper extremities and stimulating the flow of the lymphatic system (which doesn’t have a pump and relies on gravity!). The lymphatic system is responsible for filtering and breaking down bacteria and potentially harmful cells. And then (!!) the glymphatic system works to sweep away this bacteria and any other accumulated junk that the lymphatic system filtered through.
Pretty amazing, right? And all you have to do is go lay down and listen. Best served after a long day of being on your feet or whenever you’re feeling the need for a full reset. I’ll guide you through 11 minutes but feel free to keep your legs up as long as you’d like!
I hope you find space in the flush - moving through anything thats accumulated and you’re ready to release as we move into this new season of self.
xx, Madison
feeling gravity practice + meditation