First question:
- I have been thinking about warm yin, especially since this month's newsletter. I am wondering if the rubber band analogy actually applies within the body or if there is a better analogy available. The fact that we look to have the muscle relaxed in order to better stretch the fascia but that warmth that tends to relax the muscles is seen as not preferred for Yin has not made sense to me. In light of the newer idea of fascia as a gel, does not having a warmer environment promote the liquidizing of the fascia? I am curious about other's thoughts on this subject.
My thoughts:
1st: we want muscles "relaxed" or "cooler" so that they are not taking up the stress of a stretch. It does sound paradoxical at first but engaging the muscles pulls the bones of a joint closer together (do this experiment - tighten your finger and notice how little play there is in those joints, then relax the finger and notice how much more movement is available.) When the muscle is relaxed, more stress can go into the joint; when the muscle is warm however, it will stretch leaving less stretch for the fascia. So, we ideally want the muscles relaxed and cool.
2nd point: it is a good point - another model for our tissues is a water based one. Gerald Pollack is one researcher who has looked at the thixotropic properties of our ground substance (water). [Here is a good interview with him for those interested.] He has shown that constant stress or heat can turn the normal gel state of our water into a sol state (which is a more liquid flowing state of water.) We need both states at various times so the switching of state is quite healthy. We don't want the ground substance to always be sol or always gel. Gerald suggests that both cold water is good, and so it warming the water. Change is good.
Cheers
Bernie