Things You Need to Know About Yin Yoga: Should You Try It?
Yin Yoga is one of the most popular yoga styles in which you practice long-held poses on the floor. The yin yoga style was introduced in the West by American martial arts champion Paulie Zink in the late 1970s. The Yoga teacher Paul Grilley worked with Zinc, and he evolved Yin Yoga further by explaining anatomical variations.
Yin yoga is derived from the Taoist concept of Yin and Yang, which reflects the cosmic duality in Chinese culture. The dualities create yin-yang pairs such as moon and sun, cold and hot, slow and fast, earth and sky, female and male, death and birth.
In other words, yin is described as stable and immobile, and yang is defined as changing and mobile. Therefore, more passive asanas called yin and whereas more dynamic poses are considered as yang.
If we make a physical comparison between yin and yang practice, yin is like taking care of your connective denser tissues such as ligaments, tendons, facia, and joints, but yang focuses on muscle strength.
Yin yoga is a passive stand and slow-paced yoga practice, and you hold the asanas ranging from three to five minutes. In more advanced training, you hold the postures up to fifteen minutes.
The practice aims to deepen into asanas by muscle stretching. In yin yoga practice, you should focus on your inhales and exhales without cutting your breath flow that increases your durableness. On an inhalation, try to breathe deeply through your entire diaphragm.
Why should you try Yin Yoga?
Practicing yin yoga is beneficial for our body, mind, and soul. It creates a connection with your mind and body through the guidance of your breath.
- Yin practice is a perfect muscle stretch which increases your flexibility. Yoga boosts your circulation and helpful for your lymphatic system. Since you inhale and exhale deeply and correctly, you deliver more oxygen into your lungs, which expands your lung capacity as well, and this increases your blood flow.
- You find a chance to meet your own body. With the support of slow movements, you have time to observe your physical sensation. By holding a yoga pose for a long time, you can test your physical limits.
- Regular practice diminishes the stiffness of your joint capsules like hips and ankles. It also increases the elasticity of ligaments, so it prevents possible injuries of cruciate and ankle ligaments.
- By the relaxation of your body, you get a better night’s sleep.
- Yin yoga practice is not only physical exercise but also mental training, which stimulates your nervous system and slows your heart rate that calms your body. Therefore, it reduces your stress level.
- Thanks to its slow-paced asana flow, the mind finds a chance to drift apart from the daily chaos, and the practice decreases the level of anxiety. If you learn how to flow not only yoga poses but also your breath, you empower the ability to stay in the present moment. By having a yoga practice regularly, it brings a balance to your mental health.
“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”― Amit Ray, On Chanting and Meditation
- It aids in finding yourself by observing your reactions on the mat, and generally, they are the same in your daily lives. For instance;
- If you have unexpected pain or tension in your body, you can quit quickly or stay in the pose with patience. Or are you get bored on the mat while you are standing the asana always? If your answer is yes, maybe it can be a clue that you are whimsical in your life.
- Sometimes you may not realize an asana and how you feel in the moment. Are you ambitious, and do you push yourself to reach the final pose? Or are you behaving with full acceptance?
- It helps to control your ego.
“How we practice is much more important than what we practice. Too often, yoga students force themselves into contorted positions with no regard for whether what they are doing is helping them or hurting them. Their egos are in control, and the ego wants to look good in front of others. Yoga was never a competitive sport: it is an inward practice designed to build awareness, non-attachment, equanimity, and contentment. We don’t use the body to get into a pose, we use the pose to get into the body” -Bernie Clark, The Complete Guide of Yin Yoga
Finally, I recommend the place where you practice yin yoga should be quiet and dim. I generally like to practice yin yoga in the evening or before my bedtime. Yoga is a never-ending journey, and I am very grateful to experience it.
Look inward, and live in the moment with the guidance of your breath.
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