What Makes Yin Yoga so Special?
Yin yoga is based upon the alchemical elements of Earth, Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire that each express distinct qualities in the body and emotions, such as lightness, fluidity, strength, springiness, and calm. The chance to sink into stillness, to connect to your centre and to relax into rest is a potent practice.
Many people see Yin Yoga as a complement to a vinyasa practice, the yin to the yang, but it is also an entire practice in itself. This training will equip you, as a teacher and as a practitioner, to add elements of Yin to the cool down of your class or to teach complete sessions of Yin Yoga.
✔️ Embodied Mindfulness
Yin Yoga is a highly mindful style of yoga where postures are practiced on the floor in a static way for an extended period of time. By positioning our body in a particular pose and then letting go of the deeper muscular activity and surrendering to the floor, gravity does the work. We relax our muscles and apply moderate stress to the deepest layers of connective tissues of the body – tendons, fascia, and ligaments – improving the health and mobility of joints. We can begin to calm the mind and allow a deeper connection to Self, heart and mindfulness.
✔️ Release of Blockages
Yin Yoga is a profound practice that opens up energetic blockages in the physical, emotional and mental bodies. It is a courageous and nourishing practice as it is directly meeting yourself through the raw sensations in your body. Like in meditation, your awareness is sharpened as you bear witness to your conditioned patterns.
✔️ Improved Energy Flow
Yin invites the harmonizing of the pervasive connective tissue in the body by ’stressing’ entangled fibers from physical/emotional/mental tension or from physical immobility – resulting in smoothly textured flowing chi energy. These rivers of energy in the body are important for the passage of water and pervasive communication throughout your body. After a Yin Yoga practice the fluidity of your energy is strongly palpable and pleasant.
✔️ Deeper Levels of Release
Yin Yoga works the deeper levels of the body/heart/mind: the connective tissues of the ligaments, fascia, joints and bones including the energetic channels of the meridians, nerves and blood system, an odyssey into the meditative aspects of yoga.
✔️ Connection to Self
Yin Yoga helps you cultivate kind engagement with your inner self. It is a practice of self-inquiry and ease. It is a spacious practice that opens your breath and understanding. It is a beautiful complementary practice to active, Yang Yoga. Many people confuse Yin and Restorative feeling that both are the same practice. Whilst they share many similarities – Yin practices are passive and focus on the meridian lines whilst allowing deep introspection.
✔️ Movement of ‘chi’ energy
Yin yoga intends to place a healthy amount of stress to our joints and connective tissue (fascia, tendons and ligaments) by tensioning or compressing the tissue, which helps to release tension and hydrate the fascia keeping it supple, improving mobility in the body. Yin also helps to move blocked ‘chi’ in the body and nourishes meridians, assisting with emotional, mental and physical health.
✔️ Complete Surrender
Restorative poses are designed to be very subtle, with no deep stretching sensations. Typically restorative uses more props so that the practitioner is completely comfortable in the pose, allowing complete surrender and letting go. The poses are designed to gently open the body to allow for the release of tension, deeper breathing and relaxation.