What is Yin Yoga?

Yin Yoga involves stretching joints, ligaments, & Fascia.  Most forms of yoga today are active and sweaty, they involve fluid movement or held postures, that create heat within the body.  This is a "yang" form of yoga and works primarily with the muscles of our bodies.  The whole idea behind yoga in the first place is to create balance.  In every aspect we are working on balancing the mind, the body, & the spirit. So, even as we practice in a "yang" way, we adopt a yin awareness, allowing us to bring balance as we practice in any setting. Breath is one way to find yin amongst a vigorous yang practice. "Within our bodies, if we use the context of position or density, the yang tissues can be seen as our muscles, blood, and skin compared to the yin tissues of ligaments, bones and joints.  The contexts of flexibility or heat could also be used: muscles are elastic, but bones are plastic.  Muscles love to get warm, while ligaments generally remain cool." - The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga - "This is why braces must be worn for a long time with a reasonable (but not always comfortable) amount of pressure, in order to reshape the bones of the jaw."

"Generally, one of the muscles' jobs is to protect the joint; if there is too much stress on the joint, the muscle will tear first, then the ligaments, and hen finally the joint itself may become damaged.  Yang yoga is designed to not stress the joint.  This is why there is so much care taken to align the body and engage the muscles correctly before coming into asanas in the yang practice. However, Yin Yoga is specifically designed to exercise the ligaments and to regain space and strength in the joints.

30 percent of what we call our muscle is actually fascia.  Fascia within our muscles that govern the muscles' range of movement while it is our muscle cells that govern their strength.  Yang creates the strength within the muscle, the yin part of our practice, the holding of the pose, that provides length."

It is so important to stress the importance of gently holding these postures, moving SUPER SLOW, in and out of them.  Do not bring a yang aspect to your yin practice, meaning: fluid, faster movement or holding a muscle in a contracted state for a long period of time.  We tighten our muscles to protect our joints.  We relax our muscles so we can exercise our joints."

As with any exercise, it is so important to --- REST!  Take time to work different parts of the body in different ways.  Adopting a Yin day, resting the Yang aspect of your practice is important.  I also have found great benefit in taking at least a day or two "off" of exercise in general.

One of the greatest points to our yoga practice is to remain as much as possible in a meditative state in order to decipher what arise as we practice.  What do you feel?  What are you thinking?  Is there a particular part of your body that you are holding stress and tension?  Why?  As we allow the mind to be clear and focused, we are more adapt to quickly identify these aspects as we practice.

One aspect of yin yoga is to meditate. To sit for long periods of time, undisturbed, requires a body that is open and strong.  This opening in the hips and back, comes from an aspect of practicing yin.  So, if you plan on reading a book, or doing some study, or even just to meditate in calming the mind and focusing on breath, sit in easy pose (Indian style), lengthen your spine, and bring breath and discipline to body and mind and your practice stillness.

When to practice Yin Yoga? 

• When our muscles are cool
• Early in the morning
• Later in the evening before bed
• Before an active yang practice
• In the Spring or Summer (which are yang times of the year)
• When life is crazy and hectic
• After a long trip (traveling is very yang, even if we are sitting)
• During a woman's menstrual cycle

Do not's:

• If you are pregnant (pregnancy loosens the joints naturally, and could cause harm to the joint)
• High blood pressure, diabetes or other cardiovascular diseases
• Recent surgery
• Epilepsy
• Don't wear perfume or cologne.  Essential oils are AWESOME to use for practice! (Deep breath is important, make sure what you breathe in is wholesome and natural)
• Do not eat anything for at least one hour before and no big meals for a couple of hours after.
• If you are physically exhausted, refrain from from practice or keep it short and gentle.
• Prolonged exposure to sun before practice (again, we are avoided warmth to the body)
• Remove jewelry
• Shut everything off, and practice in a quiet and calm atmosphere.  Create this for yourself :)
• Avoid drafts and cold flowing air.

Do:

• Shower beforehand, if you'd like
• Empty bowels
• Wear loose, comfy clothes
• Wear extra layers of clothes or socks, if you are cold or tend to get cold.  You will not be heating the body.  You will be holding postures, WITHOUT contracting the muscles.
• Breathe - Soft Ujjayi breath or complete breath

3 Important things to remember when practicing Yin:

1. Come into the pose to an appropriate depth.  It will be unique for you.  One part of your body may be more open while another may be tight.  Come to YOUR edge. Remember your edge day to day is different.  It's so important to feel your edge...and then INVITE your body to go deeper when it allows. You don't need to go any further if you are already feeling a significant stretch, compression, or twist.  Going further is a sign of ego; staying where you are is embracing yin.
2. Remain still.  Try not to fidget.
3. Hold the pose for time.  Have a timer near you and use it :)

"We don't use our body to get into a pose,

we use the pose to get into our body."

THREE KINDS OF STILLNESS

Of the body, like a majestic mountain
Of the breath, like a calm mountain lake
Of the mind, like the deep blue of the sky