While other yoga styles might push you to strengthen and tone your body, Yin yoga invites you to be exactly as you are! Yin yoga focuses on stretching deeper connective tissues, such as ligaments, tendons and deep fascia(the tissue that surrounds muscles). This deeper connection is why Yin yoga is often called “YOGA OF THE JOINTS”
A passive practice because you perform Yin yoga while sitting or lying down in a passive manner, gravity plays a role in developing a deeper stretch while enabling you to hold poses for longer periods of time. In Yin yoga instead of contracting your muscles to build strength or elevating your heart rate to build stamina, you are encouraged to relax and surrender to gravity!
Today Yin yoga serves as an antidote to your often stress-filled and busy life, which is typically Yang in nature!
YIN YOGA IS A PRACTICE OF SELF LOVE AND SELF ACCEPTANCE!
Yin yoga targets your physical, mental and emotional concerns through deep stretching and breathing!
Generally speaking, Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style that integrates asanas with Chinese medicine. It’s based on the Taoist concepts of yin and yang. Yin is the stable, passive and feminine downward movement of energy; while Yang is the changing, active and masculine upward movement of energy.
During a Yin yoga class, you work on the lower part of the body – hips, pelvis, inner thighs and lower spine – performing a series of long-held passive floor poses. This allows you to release tension in all these areas that are particularly rich in connective tissues like joints, bones, ligaments and deep fascia networks.
There are three main principles to the practice. The first one is to find your edge by knowing how to achieve the perfect balance between no sensation and too much sensation during a pose.
The second principle is to be still; once you find your edge, you should remain still trying to accomplish a meditative state while listening to your body.
And third, holding the pose. Beginners normally start from 45 seconds to two minutes, and more advanced practitioners can go up to five minutes or more in each pose.
Looking for the best yoga style to relax, be in the present moment and let go of the need to keep yourself busy?
Yin Yoga is the ideal style to enter a state of mind that will provide you with all the balance and relaxation you need in your life.
Yin is all about opening the heart, invoking the primal self and cultivating inner stillness. Unlike other popular styles such as Vinyasa, Ashtanga or Power, Yin is a slow and steady practice that almost merges with meditation. Its intention is to release tension from the deepest tissues of your body while maintaining complete mindfulness.
