Yin Yoga Detox with Victor Chng

some of my favorite Yin Yoga poses :)

Over the long weekend, I immersed myself at Victor Chng's Yin Yoga intensive workshops at Beyond Yoga. I have met Victor and attended his classes at the Asia Yoga Conference in Hong Kong two years ago. His style is very different from that of Paul Grilley, Bernie Clark or Sarah Powers. Since he is Asian (Singaporean-Chinese), he is deeply influenced by Traditional Chinese Medicine and has integrated it with the Yin Yoga practice.

Victor has been a Hatha Yoga practitioner for many years until he met Paul Grilley in 2005. He trained with Paul on Yin Yoga and Anatomy then with Sarah Powers afterwards. He continues to undergo continuous training with them. (as well as Scott Blossom of Shadow Yoga, I hear!)

Here are the workshops intensives that I joined and my thoughts & lessons from each :)

Freeing The Hips, Sacrum & Lower Back
I honestly did not have notes during this class because I forgot to bring my notebook :P But I did have an awesome practice and felt REALLY HOT afterwards. I asked a fellow classmate and she said she felt the same! Perhaps this brought about detox symptoms?

Class photo after the Hips, Sacrum & Lower Back Series

Yin Yoga & The Energy Body: An Introduction to the Therapeutic and Meridian Application

Modified Dragonfly using props

• There are 3 layers, levels or planes - the gross or the physical, the energetic (where we deal with emotions) and consciousness (at seed level). He says that people get sick when there is disconnection in one of the 3, when there isn't flow. For instance, you have a seed thought or dream of wanting to be a pilot but your actions doesn't translate to that...let's say you are working in a call center and you don't have the drive or initiative to do what it takes to go for your true calling. Or another example I can think of is when we constantly stop ourself from voicing out what we truly feel or truly want to say (seed level consciousness). Day in and out you are not living your truth. This will cause blockages and eventually will take its toll on you.
• "An emotional imbalance will lead to a disfunction of the organ." I've written about this here. Science and conventional medicine is finally accepting that we are connected..our thoughts and our emotions will lead to our realities. Remember this basic mantra, "Thoughts become things!" Have you see the movie, What The Bleep Do We Know?  Watch it to see the power of your thoughts shaping your reality!
• "We need to accept that we are beyond the physical" -now, this is a universal truth. Kabbalists have the same view. Our physical world only comprises of the 1% reality. We are just on the tip of the iceberg, you need to go deep (as yin does to connect to the energetic body!), there is still a whole new realm, the 99% reality!
• In Yin Yoga, we basically work on the main meridians of the body. Working on our limbs (arms & legs) provide energetic stimulation on our main body. Our main body is where our organs are which are our power outlets or main batteries. Hands & arm balances work on our hearts and lungs while our legs work to detoxify our liver, kidneys and spleen. 

From all the classes I took under Victor, I would have to say that this is my favorite. In my classes, I've always put emphasis on the body to energetically heal itself through Yin Yoga.

Here I am getting comfortable in Half Saddle

Improving Digestion as Key Towards Better Health

• I have to admit that I was initially confused during the lecture of this specific workshop because Victor primarily believes in a Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic approach to food which uses a lot of cooked warm foods (as opposed to the raw vegan diet with a lot of fruits which is somewhat considered cold to the stomach). He says that you prepare/cook food to be easily digested so you cut into small pieces and put on fire.
• The stomach is in a central location, if it has no power, the circumference will have no power as well. The center has to regulate/monitor the other directions. Therefore, a good digestion will give you a very long life.
• 7-9am is when our stomach meridian is actively digesting food. It is when the dragon awakes. So we must eat our breakfast during this time or have food in the stomach by then. Have your lunch before 1pm. 12noon is ideal because our body clocks follow the energy of the sun :)
• NEVER have meals with an iced drink. In fact, maybe it's best that you never drink anything cold. When you do, you numb the stomach making you eat MORE :P This is why all the fastfood meals offer iced teas or softdrinks in the package, aha!
• Meridian of the stomach is the same as the beauty line for the...face!

Victor with the Yin Yoga teachers of Beyond Yoga

Detoxifying The Body - Working The Liver and The Gall Bladder Meridian

• The liver and gallbladder meridian line is found at the side of the breasts below the armpit region. Always include poses that release the sides.
• Detoxification depends on the quality of the liver. The liver only works when we are asleep. The liver's hours are between 11pm to 1am so if you are still awake, you are making the liver work extra hard to keep up with your body. You need to be in deep sleep in order for your liver to heal your body.
• The liver is responsible for solid waste, bowel movement.

Victor Chng c/o Jane 

Tao of Yoga - The Foundation of Integration

• The state of TAO is when the Yin and Yang energies are balanced. Victor promotes both a Yin and Yang practice because we need both.
• In nature (as in life), everything goes through phases: a stage of expansion and contraction. There are really just 2 seasons- summer and winter. Autumn and spring are merely transitions.

Some Yang poses after our Yin

with Victor Chng after Tao workshop

Finale dinner for Victor Chng at People's Palace

If you have been practicing Yin Yoga regularly and are interested in pursuing teacher training in Singapore this December 8 onwards, please check out http://www.yinyogainasia.com/100hr_tt.php for more details :)

Beyond Yoga regularly offers Yin Yoga classes in Quezon City and soon at The Fort as well! Check out their website at www.igobeyondyoga.com