Yin. So what is it really about?


Well, you’ve probably heard of Yin Yang before and even be able to identify the black and white symbol represented by this, but what does it really mean, and how does it translate in a Yoga practice?

Well, there are many many layers to this intriguing, ancient, yet modern style of practice. Let’s start with understanding the term.

In the world we live in now, so many demands are placed upon us. It can lead us to live very fast-paced, highly demanding lives where expectations run high on delivery of results, output and productivity. Crikey, in many countries our success is measured upon how busy our schedules are, be that; Mum of the household doing all the chores, CEO of your Company, it’s actually all relative to the nervous system. 

This way of living is Yang. 

It's active, fast paced, your gym session is Yang, your Vinyasa class is Yan. Yin on the other hand, teaches you to slow down, to yield into the moment, to be with whatever there is, to become the observer of your thoughts, to become mindful.

We need both Yin and Yang to be in balance, to live in harmony.

When we practice Yin, through a series of long held floor based postures, we dance between effort and ease to find our edge and play with that, in stillness. Yes, stillness, that thing for sooo many reasons, we simply do not give ourselves enough of. Time, awkwardness, we can't switch off, can’t sit with ourselves. Yin is there to carry it all. Yin is yielding, forgiving, nurturing, intuitive, it’s the feminine. But why does holding postures for longer have any benefits?

Now, this is where science merges with mystery and gets really interesting.

We hold for a few reasons, one, is to physically target Fascia. 

Fascia what? 

Thin layers of deep deep tissue, a watery collagenous substance which holds together your whole skeletal system, joints, ligaments, bones, organs, are all held in place by your myofascia, it gives you shape and form and permeates the whole body. Your yang practice does not target this connective tissue, it targets the muscles. When you target your Fascia, you hydrate, stretch and enliven the areas which can become more rigid with age, ie the joints. So this practice is one to carry you through your life.  Fascia-nated? (sorry) Well, that’s just the start.

It runs much deeper...

In addition to the physical benefits, it runs much deeper, we also work with energy lines (meridian lines).

Ever heard of the chakra system? 

The energy body. When we experience trauma in our lives, we tend to stash it energetically within us, deep within the tissues and energetic rivers which flow through us, or in many cases, they stop flowing, they become blocked and this manifests in physical ailments. In Chinese meridian theory, we learn that as we become consumed with certain emotions, this translates physically as taxing our organs of vital essence energy. 

All emotions although stem from the heart, our organs relate to certain energies emotionally. For example, when we feel fearful, we may feel lower back pain, when actually it’s our Kidneys being drained of vital energy (chi), the organ affected by fear. We store grief emotionally in the lungs, in one of Yin workshops, I had a beautiful woman, recently recovering from her husband's passing, became sick with grief and as a result it manifested in asthma, she fell aghast upon this realisation when making the connection. Just a few examples, and so it comes as no surprise to my students, when we understand this, when something does come up in practice, we can observe and let it pass through. 

The beauty of this is we learn to become emotionally resilient. 

Isn’t that such a gift!

To learn to observe the emotions as they rise, rather than acting upon them, we learn to sit with them, get curious, love ourselves through the whole tidal waves of the emotional process.

What could be a more rewarding benefit than this?

It offers so much support in taking these lessons off the mat out into our daily lives, deepening our Self understanding and enriching the connections we have to those around us. 

I believe the surrendering practice of Yin is courageous, it’s healing, it’s supportive, it’s calming, it’s cleansing, it’s self care. In short it's an act of self love.

Who doesn't need a little more Self understanding and intimacy when it comes to Self love...
 



 



					

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