Photograph of me doing reclining butterfly pose
A friend of mine, in her early 20’s, said to me recently “it’s tough being an adult isn’t it? You just don’t get any time to yourself. Life is so busy.” I suspect, as she progresses through her life, she will feel that she has less and less time; as I, and many others have.
“it’s tough being an adult isn’t it? You just don’t get any time to yourself. Life is so busy.”
Charlotte O’Shaughnessy
We appear to be in a pandemic of busyness; living in a culture of immediacy, with a strong attachment to ‘doing’. Many, including myself, have become addicted to achieving, and to the label of being ‘busy’. It is almost like a status. We then spend even more time displaying these accomplishments for all to see, and if we are not achieving at something, then we may feel we are inadequate, or failing when we see everyone else’s exhibitions. I believe that this being ‘constantly on the go’ is, in part, a major factor in the other pandemic we are in: anxiety. It is, therefore, no wonder that we are searching for an antidote to this: a time to stop all of this ‘doing’ and start ‘being’. Enter: Yin Yoga.
Many, including myself, have become addicted to achieving, and to the label of being ‘busy’.
I have taught Yin since 2017. Most recently, I have been asking my students to approach the practice, not so much like a type of yoga, but more like a meditation. Yin is basically mindfulness whilst holding the body in a particular shape. A chance to slow down, stop, and connect to the self; primarily breath and sensation. Then, secondary, maybe also through thoughts and emotions, to lean into these things and allow them to ‘be’, just as they are. Not pushing, like we do in our very active Yang lifestyles.
It is difficult for most people to sit in stillness.
Even in the yoga world, we have had a shift from hatha, a stiller practice, to the modern variations of ashtanga, like vinyasa, power and rocket yoga. These may have been a great opening for people to get into a yoga practice, perhaps an easier way to get into the body through the poses. It is difficult for most people to sit in stillness. After time, for me anyway, the yoga student starts to look for a deeper connection to the self. Seeing as many seem to have a block towards meditation, Yin is a wonderful entry point into these deeper levels of being, one that a more Yang practice could possibly eventually steer us towards. Then maybe even the practice of Yin could lead the practitioner on to meditation; after all, meditation is the 5th limb of yoga, according to Patanjali, coming after the preparation from both asana practice (3rd limb) and pranayama (4th limb). It seems like a natural progression.
I have found that the most Yang people I have met, are the ones who say they cannot do Yin, or meditate for that matter. I ask them is it because of their mind…? Of course, the answer is ‘yes’. These are the students, I believe, who would benefit the most from the practice. I have also personally noticed that many ashtanga students and teachers are being drawn to the practice of Yin. Which, as both an ashtanga student and meditator, I believe is a perfect marriage of Yin and Yang yoga.
Ashtanga is so regimented, fixed, disciplined, unchanging, full of the fires of the ujayyi breath and heat from the dynamic practice. Whereas Yin is passive, inclusive, it is still disciplined but in a totally different way. The discipline during Yin is to find and play with your edge, and to stay still for the duration, even when the intensity of sensation and the whirlpool of thoughts want us to do anything but. When we begin to lean into the edges and play with them during a Yin practice, to lean into ourselves just as we are, it can help us to dissolve certain emotions (which I will go on to talk about later) and to acquire equanimity, an equanimity which may also overspill into and empower our everyday lives.
There are also the physiological qualities of Yin Yoga to be considered. The practice allows us to activate our parasympathetic/rest and restore nervous system. So often our Yang lifestyle can be increasingly activating the sympathetic/fight or flight nervous system, causing us to be in a prolonged state of stress. According to the American Psychological Association:
It also cites lack of time as being one of the major causes.
By taking the time to stop, breathe slower, and be in the moment, we can help to calm the sympathetic nervous system.
There are also the energetic healing aspects of Yin Yoga to note. The name was coined by Sarah Powers in the 1990’s, not only because of it being counterpart to the active Yang, but also from its roots in traditional Chinese medicine and chi energy. Yin can help to remove blockages and bring balance to the chi energy travelling through the meridian lines, like channels, which run throughout the body. I have experienced and witnesses great energetic shifts through the practice of Yin, profound releases of energy, emotion and tightness in the body. Through holding a Yin pose, we can activate a form of acupressure on these lines of energy, as in acupuncture therapy. This helps to stimulate the flow of chi, release blocks and allow the energy to flow without hindrance, benefiting physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.
Sometimes, what may be considered to be a tightness within a muscle, could be tightness in the fascia, or an adhering of the fascia to muscle.
Yin can also advance the more yang practices due to the way it can stretch the harder colder tissues, like the ligaments and tendons. The practice can place a healthy stress on the joints that we may otherwise not be able to facilitate, and helps to stretch out the fascia which covers the whole of the musculature structure.
Fascia can actually adhere to the muscle, causing painful sensations.
The fascia can become tight and thicker in certain areas due to inactivity, or too much repetitive activity, or trauma from either surgery or injury. The fascia can actually adhere to the muscle, causing painful sensations. This can limit the mobility of the body by restricting the full use of the muscles. Sometimes, what may be considered to be a tightness within a muscle, could be tightness in the fascia, or an adhering of the fascia to muscle. The long holds of a Yin pose, anything from 3 to 20 minutes, can help to release these tissues.
I have noticed in the classes I teach, that Yin seems to be becoming more popular for many men and older students, who are known to experience more tightness in the body, and must therefore be experiencing the benefits of Yin.
Yin may also enhance a more ‘Yang’ Yogi’s practice. An Ashtanga yoga practitioner may even be able to aid their advancement from primary to intermediate Ashtanga series, simply by taking the time to stretch out their fascia by utilising the long holds of Yin. For example, paschimottanasana may not only be limited by a tight posterior chain; it may also be limited by the fascia with runs from the soles of the feet to the crown of the head. Massaging both extremities may also deepen the forward fold by helping the fascia to release.
There has been recent scientific research into the theory that it is actually the fascia that holds the meridian channels within it, as referenced in TCM. Previously, fascial research had only been carried out on cadavers, and therefore with no consideration of any energetic qualities it may hold.
Another scientific study concluded that:
Yoga teachers have long said that we store our ‘issues in our tissues’. I first heard Bernie Clark say this several years ago, and now the science seems to corroborate the ancient belief systems of the likes of yoga, TCM and Daoism. Whatever is happening, when we lean into the sensations, emotions and thoughts that we encounter when meeting our edges in Yin, the more we can help to dissolve these emotional or energetic blockages. I once had a student who both laughed and cried for a full five minute hold in the supported back bend of supine butterfly. We cannot deny that here are profound healings taking place, for whatever reason.
We store our ‘issues in our tissues’.
Ultimately Yin Yoga is beneficial in many ways to the physical body, the mind, the emotions and the energetic body, and more and more people are becoming aware of this as the popularity of Yin continues to increase. Yin Yoga continues to be evidential of its ability to rest and restore us.
It is a technique that enables a facilitation for deep self-healing, through the process of acupressure and activating our parasympathetic nervous system. We are allowing ourselves a much needed pause; to be in our bodies, to be in the moment and mediate on it, to make time for the stillness within in this ever-increasing anxious, stressful and chaotic life.
Yin brings balance.
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