Benefits of practicing Yin Yoga
Lets talk about it…
Why do I talk so high about Yin Yoga and what are the benefits of Yin.
I have been practicing Yoga on and off since I was 18, Yin came into my life after I wasn’t able to practice Crossfit anymore. I absolutely LOVE to move and explore my body. There is no doubt about that. When life put me in a situation, where there was nothing else I could practice then sitting still. I embraced that. Was it pretty to start with, no…. I actually hated it…. I also hated the fact that I had to admit that Yin was what I needed in my life at that point. The teacher was extremely talented and was so good at calming me down, when I bursted out in the class, am I supposed to sweat now…. And yes, these sensations of energy comes out, when you practice Yin….
We tend to store emotions and traumas in the body. It gets trapped and it has to come out at some point. As a student nurse in 2005, I clearly remember the words of the therapist on the ward for patients with breast cancer. We were talking about grief and trauma, in a reflective way and from all she had experienced and seen through the years, she said, the energy has to go somewhere, it either goes out or it will manifest in our bodies somewhere to what we might one day will call cancer.
So what’s the point with Yin yoga? And how can it help you and me create a better understanding of what is trapped inside ourselves?
Yoga in general, is good at creating body awareness. Finding yourself, is what I often hear when s student step to the mat. Creating space for yourself, going inward and just getting that gentle reminder, that breath is breath and one movement at the time is where I need to be. Nothing else matters, just the moment.
Yin, first of all I can only talk from experience and from what I have learned on my journey. What Yin is for you might be completely different.
Yin offers you poses with a longer hold. The poses are usually 1-6 minutes in a regular class. Right now I am only talking about how the poses may effect your body, mind and soul. When you sit in a pose for what long, you get time, time to feel into the pose, like a detective, exploring each inch of the body. This can at first, when you are not used to practicing Yin, be highly annoying, you might feel restless and irritated, it is ok. You are most likely doing the right thing.
Here is an example of an experience I had with a student. It was a morning class and my student stepped into the class, not knowing that it was a Yin class. This specific situation can also provoke a bit of anxiety for me as a teacher, I KNOW this isn’t what the student is expecting and I always go through a thousands thoughts, if I should change it.. Yin is what Im good at and I have decided, this is my yoga path for right now. As the class started, the student was still highly restless and was moving alot, like it felt uncomfortable and yes, for a person who is expecting movement, it can feel like this. After about 30 minutes, the student looked at me and said: I didn’t want a Yin class today, I have been avoiding Yin for a long time, BUT it was exactly what I needed today. This comment almost made me cry, I wanted to step over a hug her. When our lives get really busy, Yin may be the answer.
Here is a couple os sensation you might feel when you practice Yin.
Heat and sweating
Cold
Tingling
Release, like a flow feeling
Emotions of all kind, it can be anger, sadness, happiness, relieved….
When you sit and hold a pose for a long time, you will learn to relax the muscles and you move past them, working on the fascia, the connective tissues. Fascia is the surrounding tissues, looking a bit like a spiderweb, embracing and holding everything together. We have fascia everywhere in the body, it is what we are created in. One example I can think about is to illustrate how fascia looks like, is to imagine an orange, when you peel the orange, it has a white layer that holds the “meat” together, this is how fascia looks like in the body.
The older we get the more stiff the fascia gets, and we can maintain this by practicing movement, like Yin. To hydrate properly is also a good thing to do for the fascia. Heat is also good for releasing the fascia, you might experience being more flexible in warmer, humid weather, I know I do. When the fascia gets stuck, the limits the movement of the body and the circulation, plus the flow of energy.
The fascias job is to hold, to connect, support, stabilize, attach and also separate the different organs and muscles in the body. Fascia also wraps around the energy lines, the blood and nerves in the body. When this gets bundled up, we might experience less energy flow in specific areas in the body. When all of this is written, you might see how important the fascia is, if it doesn’t function and is getting maintained like any other part, we loose the flexibility in our bodies and we might not feel well.
Yin, can help us to stay connected, maintain and release so we move more freely through life. All of the reasons above is why I speak highly of Yin and have been practicing this for years now. And yes I practice Yang also. It is all about finding the balance in life, what suits you the best in the moment. Some days is for Yin and some is for Yang, like my first Yin teacher told us over and over again: It depends…
Love and light
Penelope
If you feel like trying Yin Yoga, jump to the membership page and sign up for my weekly LIVE classes.
Utah 2018
