Yin Yoga is a slow-paced, therapeutic style of yoga. Yin postures are more passive postures, mainly done on the floor either seated or lying down. There are no sun salutations, no planks, no warriors, no jump throughs!
Yin Yoga is unique in that you relax into the posture, allowing the body to soften and release naturally without pushing or straining, allowing gravity to do its thing.
Blocks and bolsters can be used, depending on the flexibility of the individual person and they can modify the pose to the level they are comfortable in.
The postures are then held for 5 minutes at a time.
The time spent in these postures is much like time spent in meditation, as the mind shifts from yang to yin.
While holding the Yin poses, you are then taken through a guided visualisation meditation on healing and cleansing the chakras. You are also asked to observe the breath and use this as a way to focus on the present moment, allowing thoughts and feelings to arise but to let them go rather than attach to them.
The key to practicing Yin Yoga is finding stillness in each position. The goal is to access the deeper tissues of the body, such as connective tissue and fascia.
The term “yin yoga” comes from the Taoist tradition. While yang relates to movement and creating heat in the body. Yin is about finding stillness and cooling the body. We need both the yin and the yang to find balance and stay in optimal health throughout every stage of our lifespan.
If you are able to tune in, you will encounter some pretty fascinating events occurring in the layers beneath the skin. Fascia is key to understanding the benefits of Yin Yoga. The muscles of the human body are encased in fascia, which is a continuous web of tissue that weaves in and around not only our muscles but also our organs, nerves and lymph. To keep fascia healthy and springy, we need to keep it hydrated and we need to subject it to gentle compression and tension.
Opening your fascia through Yin Yoga boosts your range of motion and flexibility, while also helping to strengthen your muscles and maintain their length. This helps improve blood circulation to muscle and connective tissues and enhance lymph movement.
Each posture then stimulates a Meridian line or Myofacial line which corresponds with an internal organ, such as the heart, lungs, gallbladder, kidney, spleen and Liver.
There are 5 regular meridian organ pairs connected with 5 basic emotions that directly affect how we experience our world. Each intense emotion directly effects our meridians and organs impacting how they function. When out of balance they can be linked with fear, anger, envy, obsession and worry, sadness and grief, hatred or depression.
Unbalanced and excessive emotions lead to illness and disease, just as undernourished organs promote disturbing emotions.
A regular yin practice can stimulate the meridian lines, enhancing each organs function, relieving energetic and emotional blockages.
While Yin Yoga is amazing for the physical body, many of its greatest benefits stem from its remarkable effects on the mind and emotions. The practice allows the body to drop down into the parasympathetic nervous system, offering a grounding, calming and revitalising practice, with profound energetic and emotional effects.
The consistent chatter of the mind can fade away, opening a space to simply be. To practice Yin is to relinquish control, which is a novel and therapeutic concept in our modern-day lives. This in and of itself is one of the hardest parts of Yin Yoga for many people- to stop, slow down and simply be with themselves without distraction. The long periods of time in (mildly) uncomfortable positions asks you to learn to accept what is in that given moment. The lessons of Yin are gentle, and yet, profound all at once.
While Yin Yoga is suitable for everyone, it is a particularly wonderful practice for women, with benefits ranging from lowering stress levels, to balancing hormones, to promoting self care, self love and a deeper connection and appreciation for oneself.
The concept of Yin Yoga has been around for thousands of years.
We store our emotions in various parts of our bodies. Memories, anxiety and tension linger in cells stored deep in our tissues. When we go into a yoga pose that opens a part of the body left untouched for a while, these deeply stored memories and emotions resurface. Doing so can be challenging in the moment, and can lead to a wide array of reactions, yet essentially, it helps us to let go of things that don’t serve us that we have been holding onto for too long.
I create a safe environment for students to go inwards and allow the emotions to release in that moment, there can be tears, then laughter.
It can be truly cathartic to release these stored emotions, like a weight has been lifted.
Imagine what the energy of these stored emotions have been doing to your body and mind for all these years. Once they are released you feel lighter, happier, stronger!
Yin yoga is a simple, quiet practice, but make no mistake, it is not always an easy or comfortable one! Yin Yoga has the power to take you beyond your regular comfort zone, however, this is where much of the benefit and magic lies.
The Benefits of Yin Yoga:
Improved Sleep
Increased Circulation
Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Increases Flexibility and Range of Motion
Promotes Self-Love
Builds Strength and Perseverance
Releasing Stored Emotions
Encourages Slowing Down
Shifting into the Parasympathetic Nervous System
A Meditative Mind
Cultivates Gratitude and Joy
At the end of the Yin Yoga sequence you can expect to lie in Savasana, with a blanket over you whilst heading into a guided meditation on a different theme each week.
Themes such as letting go, self love, grief, empowerment, connecting with your intuition, Anxiety and sometimes I just simply take you to the beach to hear the waves of the sea and feel the sun on your face.
As you can see, Yin Yoga is a wonderful practice with its unique focus on slowing down and cultivating self care, Vata Ayurveda types, anyone suffering from stress, anxiety or depression, and anyone looking to improve flexibility, still the mind, and find a way to step out of the daily grind into a place of tranquility.