What is Yin Yoga?
I’ve only recently discovered Yin Yoga, and it’s a whole new world of yoga.
I was first drawn to yoga in my early 20s and it was the high energy vinyasa based style of Ashtanga (90 minute Mysore style) or intense holds of Iyengar that got me addicted. Yoga was a competition against myself to push my body further into each posture. I still find it so interesting the zone where it’s just you, the breath, and your ego.
After years of office work, having 2 children and injury, I’m still aspiring to perfect my sun salute. But if I listen closely to my mind and my body, it’s restoration that I need. I need something to offset the imbalance of stress and anxiety that accelerated after I returned to part time office after having 2 children. I have poor posture from sitting at a desk all day. I’ve injuries to my back and wrist sustained from years of poor alignment in the gym and carrying children on one hip. And the natural process of aging means your joints don’t work as smoothly as they used to. My physio recently commented on stiffness that has set in in my lower lumbar spine — at the base, I don’t bend, despite otherwise being pretty flexible. Her advice: move it or lose it. My body is sending the signals that I need to heal, flex and realign.
Yin and Yang are opposing complementary energies that underpin Yoga. Yang is the active element and Yin is the restorative element (although the definition extends far beyond this simplistic summation). The theory holds that we tend to invite too much Yang into our bodies, through intense physical activity and stress, holding the body in repetitive tension and generally being too busy! By practising Yin Yoga you address the stress and tension in your body to bring you back to balance.
There are no intense vinyasas or strong warrior poses in Yin.
#Yin yoga is a series of postures held for a few minutes (anywhere from 2–20 minutes) that help stretch deep into connective tissue around the joints, including knees, hips and spine (Yoga Journal, www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/types-of-yoga/yin). Stretching keeps the body healthy, much like stretching a rubber band. If muscles and joints are stiff you’ve got a reduced range of motion, and muscles become short and tight. Speaking from experience this is all fine until you lift something slightly too heavy for you and the weakness is exposed by injury. For me Yin is both preventative and rehabilitative. Getting movement back in my spine is the primary thing my Physio has asked me to do to prevent future back injury.
Here’s a few of the exercises I love in Yin (all done lying on your back!)
- Spine rotation: crossing one leg over the front of the body, keeping both shoulders on the mat
- Hamstring stretch: using a belt hooked over the toes and gently pulling down
- Support bridge: with bolsters and props, elevating the hips into a gentle back bend. Lifting legs in the air turns this into an inversion!
Check out popular Yin classes in South West London at:
The House of Yoga (Putney) https://thehouseofyoga.co.uk/
Yoga Works (Wandsworth/Clapham) https://www.yogaworkslondon.co.uk/
