Is anyone new to Yin? A question I ask at the start of teaching a Yin class.
The reason I ask is because Yin is often misunderstood and I want people to know what they’re in for.
What is Yin Yoga?
In Yin Yoga, we come into places of stillness, we find a state of surrender. But unless a class is specifically restorative Yin, it’s not just about a nice relaxing stretch.
There is an element of this in Yin, but it can also be intense.
We come into spaces where we meet an edge of resistance. We aim to yield into postures rather an collapsing, but we also don’t want to push too hard and force.
It’s funny, I think we have to experience Yin for ourselves to really understand it.
But why do we practice Yin? What are it’s benefits?
Many people say that Yin is meditation rather than yoga asana and I am inclined to agree.
Since embarking on my own journey with Yin, from the first class I attended all the way through to completing my Yin yoga training I’ve noticed so many benefits. And from speaking to fellow Yogi’s around me, it’s incredible to see how much this practice can support you off the mat in ways you didn’t expect.
What are the benefits of Yin Yoga?
- Release stiffness in our fascia
Fascia is essentially our connective tissue and the deep stretching of Yin predominantly targets this tissue – helping with blood flow and mobility among a whole host of other benefits. - Meditation – training the mind to be able to not run away with the thoughts
As mentioned above, many agree that Yin is more meditation than anything else as it brings you into a place where you really are in stillness.
Of course, we could easily use this stillness to think (which can sometimes be beneficial) but on the whole, we should try to use this time to meditate – a mean feat when we’re also meeting an edge of resistance in the body. Ah, but is it resistance of the body or is it mostly in the mind? Something to ponder… - Dealing with pressure
As with many practices, the physical or mental pressure we find ourselves under on the mat can translate to our lives outside of this space.
By regularly coming up against, and learning to deal with pressure, we naturally and often subconsciously learn how to deal with pressure in other forms. - Learning how to sit without the constant need for distraction
This one somewhat ties into the previous two points but in Yin, apart from physical sensations, we really are without distraction. There’s no movements to think about like in Vinyasa, and there shouldn’t be conversation, phones etc etc.
Once again, this is a case of what we practice on the yoga mat starts to seep into how we cope with our everyday lives. We can hopefully find ourselves less in need of constant distraction in the day to day. - Time for self enquiry
And with this lack of distraction, if we’re not working on clearing the mind for meditation, we can use this time for self-enquiry. It’s time to sit with our emotions and tap into our inner world. In some classes, you may even find that what the teacher says opens up space for this thinking. - Increasing range of motion over time
Almost circling back to point 1, by sitting in these deep stretches for longer periods of time, across multiple practices, we can find that over time our range of motion can also increase which helps us to be generally more mobile (an anti-ageing must!)
If all of that doesn’t convince you to give Yin a go then I honestly would still urge you to go and try it for yourself. You might find it benefits you personally in completely different ways and it’s always worth a go!
Or if you already love Yin do you have anything else to share about why you do? I’d love to hear. x
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