What is Yin Yoga?

Surprised myself that I’ve been teaching this style of yoga for few years now – oddly it’s not a deja-vu each time at all. Rather, each time, it’s more a “refresh” button, a reminder to start anew each day -it’s joy to see the subtle changes the students are undergoing. I am honored that I get to see the progress and the power of yoga at work.

Yin yoga harmonizes the energy flow through key poses designed to nourish and strengthen our connective tissues such as bones, fascia, joints, ligaments, tendons. The carefully designed sequence of poses are normally held 2-5 minutes whereby the superficial muscles remain passive in order to effect gentle loading of stress (the good kind:) on targeted connective deep tissues. Yin Yoga was developed by a yoga educator, Paul Grilley who was greatly influenced by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama’s meridian theory. Thus, the practice fosters calm meditative state and, to some, consistent practice of yin yoga is likened to a needle-less acupuncture treatment. WIth regular practice, Yin yoga improves one’s range of motion whereby each pose is an opportunity to cultivate inner awareness to release further. The practice alleviates tension inherently stuck in our body and mind so that we may ultimately find more freedom. It’s juicy: ) Practice of Yin yoga lends itself as a wonderful complement to the more active Yang practice and improves our overall flexibility. Yin yoga is suitable for all levels.

More on Yin Yoga can be found HERE.

In Japanese/Chinese character, Yin is expressed as 陰 and translates to SHADOWS or HIDDEN, DARKNESS …uuuu, how depressing?
Actually, with deeper understanding, one realizes that 陽 that translates to LIGHT, is bright only in contrast to what’s hidden … It’s night and day, lunar vs. solar energies, the harmony we have in each day-cycle and that concept of the dichotomy or the complementing opposites that bring about the wholeness, that ONENESS. In yin and yang composite, Yin yoga focuses on what’s not superficial but deeper to the inner realm. Yin yoga resonates with my Eastern upbringing (have had visions of my grandmother while in a pose because it reflective and brings up emotions – the feminine in all of us – feelings, emotions, intuitions …very yin) and feels so natural – The poses come to me with ease, where the sequence is intuitive – it’s my nature where I am not forcing myself to mold my body into fearful shapes against the grains of nature or our structural makeup. Yet it’s challenging enough to require concentration and balance that sense of effort with ease for a positive outcome.

A new Yin/Gentle Flow classes – Super helpful to practice this in the evenings, right before turning in or in this case, earlier so that you be more satisfied with light fare for dinner and actually be a pleasant companion than a drained irritated easily annoyed partner/roommate/friend/parent/child vis-a-vis whatever inter-personal tribe you live amongst. Then comes … scrumptious slumber, more delicious than dinner. Flow into the Yin hours of quiet stillness until dawn when sunrise signals the beginning of Yang hours of rhythmic repetition of actions. It’s a balancing act. Early morning Yin class to prepare for the day … of Yang energy – it’s better than a cup of coffee to get started for me. Gratitude for this deep practice.

Will explain in the later posts… Dr. Motoyama finds the intersections of this meridian theory to the chakra theory – fusing the great ancient ideas. More you study or more deeply you study, you realize the common thread – the inter-connected-ness where ancient wisdom we can tap into today, is an amalgamation, distilled reservoir from varied cultures/civilizations – in this case, the Veda knowledge from India region and Tao/Dao from China, Dou (道） …there are differences of course but … as with Shinto in Japan, a common thread is found – after all, we are all human wherever region of the world you come from. It’s not about compare and contrast, and which is a more superior technique – it’s more about adapting to meet the needs of today for your health based on all the resources we may draw from. Then we choose to stick with a regular practice and take pleasure in small baby steps that gradually leads us to the ultimate transformation – We are blessed !