Just what IS Yin Yoga? // Learn the Benefits and Principles of Yin Yoga in 6 min

Transcript

hello everyone welcome to my channel my name is joelle and i'm very happy to be with you today to talk about the benefits and practice of yin yoga some of you may already have tried my previous yin yoga routines on this channel the 30 minutes for bursitis and hip pain practice as well as the 20 minutes for fibromyalgia practice and i also have a new yin yoga sequence coming out very soon which i'll tell you about in a moment but since i know from your comments that many of you are rather new to yin yoga i thought it might be worth just taking a few moments today to explain a little bit more about what the benefits actually are yin yoga is actually kind of a cross between hatha yoga which is the typical type of yoga that you'll find in most yoga studios and traditional chinese medicine so yin yoga works on the flow throughout the body of subtle energy along the meridians the idea behind yin yoga is that by holding postures for longer up to several minutes at a time we can increase that flow of energy and that flow of circulation throughout the body as well as improve our flexibility by working on our connective tissues and by connective tissues what we're talking about are the tendons and the ligaments and the fascia rather than working on the muscles like we do in other forms of yoga or exercise most of us are probably familiar with the classic yin and yang symbol taijitou which represents the idea of duality or balance between dual aspects as well as how two seemingly opposite ideas may actually complement each other so in the case of the body yin energy is stable and immobile it is our feminine energy and as we said before it relates to our connective tissues which tend to be relatively stiff whereas yang energy is changing an active more masculine energy which relates to our muscles and our bloodstream which tend to be more mobile now we need both yin and yang to balance out the duality that we have in our lives and in our bodies but in the case of the body there's a tendency for most of us to exclusively focus on that more yang side whether that is through cardio or weight lifting or simply trying to get stronger and faster all the time as such yin yoga is a gentle introspective practice which gives us the chance to work on our sense of calm and patience and well-being as we take care of ourselves and our bodies basically from the inside out yin yoga can be an excellent way to work on our range of motion and flexibility because it helps counter the adhesions that tend to build up in the body due to stress and aging and injuries so when we practice yin yoga it helps to break up those adhesions as we learn to sit with our feelings and also learn to be more gentle with ourselves yin yoga can be a wonderful type of practice for beginners but that isn't to say that yin yoga is not challenging in the beginning the idea of holding a pose for several minutes might even be a little bit scary or intimidating for many of us i remember feeling that way when i first started practicing yin yoga but over time i truly do feel that it's one of the most beneficial types of practices that i have ever tried and in fact whenever i feel like i need a little bit of time for myself to calm down or just listen to what's going on in my mind or in my body i oftentimes do turn to yin yoga in yin yoga we want to find what is called the edge which means that we are feeling sensation in the stretch as we hold a posture and we are at the edge of our comfort zone but at the same time we are not pushing or forcing ourselves over that edge into a place of pain or any sensation that feels unmanageably intense if we imagine sensation on a scale from one to ten where one would be you feel pretty much no sensation at all and ten would be way too much then we're looking for an edge that is around a four or a five and once we've found that edge we simply hold the pose and breathe as the physical body and the nervous system relax and release yin yoga can often be done with the eyes completely closed throughout the entire practice and most of the postures almost all of the postures actually are either seated or lying down so in contact with the ground and it's also a great opportunity to bring in some props whether those might be yoga blocks or pillows or blankets or anything else that might either help make a pose a little bit more accessible and enjoyable or that conversely might help us go just a little bit deeper into a posture in addition to the benefits for the body yin yoga can also be wonderful for helping us become more resilient to stress even though it might sound or feel scary to hold a posture for several minutes if we're able to approach that with openness and kindness and surrender to what it is for us in that particular practice then yin yoga can help us to let go of our need to always be in control of everything which is something that we can carry over of course into our day-to-day lives this way we can learn to go with the flow adapt and manage any changes that may come about with greater openness and acceptance of what is and what may be to come and with that said i would love for you to join me for the next practice coming out on this channel a 25 minute yin yoga sequence for stress and anxiety where we'll be gifting ourselves that time to go inwards and i know that this year in particular has been very stressful for so many of us i feel the same way some of you will know that i was laid off from my job earlier this year due to the pandemic which is why i'm now working full-time to grow my two youtube channels and i'm also dealing with being very far away from family here in germany where i live now the stress has been very real for me this year and i think that that's something that so many of us have in common these days and i hope that together in this new practice we'll be able to find some equilibrium revitalize and restore ourselves and just generally take good care of ourselves in these trying times so if you haven't already please do take a moment to so that we can practice together and if you learned something today please do hit that like button and leave me a comment down below all of those things really helped me with the youtube algorithm and with helping more people find my channel thank you so much to all of you for your kindness and for your support and i look forward to seeing you again very soon and namaste