![]() The tension and compression of Yin Yoga postures also stimulate the production of the various components of fascia especially the liquid ground substance. Yin Yoga’s passive stretches with light, but steady loads, can help to organize fascia into an arrangement that is robust and flexible, therefore supporting myofascial health and performance. ![]() Where most fitness modalities focus on the high effort and contractions beneficial to muscle fibers, Yin Yoga focuses on the dense, less pliable connective tissues that surround the muscles and muscle fibers. If you are a marathon runner or spend a lot of time at a cross fit gym, your myofascia would appreciate the variety of a Yin Yoga practice because it uniquely targets different tissues. When we consider our particular movement practices, we see again that we need both yin and yang exercises to maintain homeostasis. During the summer, I need to be a little more proactive about getting more exercise because all I want to do is lay around at the pool. ![]() Around the holidays or the end of the school year, I try to prioritize down time, so my whole life doesn’t become overwhelming. Most of us should be finding opportunities to move and rest, fine tuning our routines on a day-to-day basis with a sharp eye on our calendar, to-do list, overall health, etc. Our body needs activity as much as it needs rest. On the other hand, if you travel from your bed to your dining chair, to your car, to your desk, to your couch, and back to your bed day in and day out, your doctor will soon tell you to get more exercise. In this situation, a quiet yin practice to cool the system is a smart and beneficial counter measure. If we add physically taxing exercise to a depleted system, we risk further damage. If we are overworked and under a lot of pressure, stress can break us down in more ways than one. Between these two contexts, there are physical, energetic and psycho-emotional considerations, making the answer, inevitably, “we need both yin and yang.” We can ponder this question in terms of one’s overall lifestyle and movement nutrition, or we can zoom in and look at the sequence of a single yoga practice. What does balance look like for a human life? You are still breathing, so not quite pure yin.Īt every level of life, in the whole of the universe, yin and yang forces calibrate towards equilibrium. At the other end of the spectrum would be a restorative posture held for 15 minutes. But, compared to a 24hr adventure race, it would be relatively yin. At one extreme, you have hot, vigorous, power vinyasa yoga. We can think of the different styles of yoga as a continuum of yin and yang. But the connective tissues are yang compared to bones, which are set even deeper in the body. Our deep connective tissues are said to be yin because they are closer to the center. Concerning anatomy, we talk about the skin and muscles as being yang because they are located towards the outer edges of our body. ![]() Depending on your anchor points, what seems like yin in one context is yang in another. Yin and yang are, therefore, relative terms. The dots on the taijitu are reminders that nothing is ever pure yin or pure yang. This cycle will continue for as long as the sun shines upon the Earth. As the sun travels across the sky, what was previously the shady side, the yin side, becomes the yang side. The sunny side of the mountain is the yang side. The classical example of this phenomenon is the rising and setting sun over a high mountain. Rather than divided straight in half, an S-shape line separates the yin and yang halves, which evokes the rhythm and flow of yin and yang co-creating each other. The dark half represents yin, and the light half represents yang. The piebald taijitu (yin-yang symbol) represents the harmonizing nature of opposites. But mainly I wonder if this emphasis on the physicality of practice misses an opportunity to reflect on Yin Yoga’s roots in Taoist cosmology, particularly the relationship between the forces of yin and yang. Most of the explanations fall into the category of “safety,” which I will get into a bit further below. Nevertheless, I’m always surprised when I hear from teachers who say they learned specific rules governing yin-yang sequencing. My primary teacher Sarah Powers takes this last point even further saying that it’s possible to practice vinyasa in a yin way. This perspective is reflected in his objection to aesthetic alignment cues as well as his philosophy on how to balance a yin and yang practice. When it comes to Yin Yoga specifically, he’s very clear that as long as you respect your own body’s boundaries, there are no set guidelines for how to practice. One of the most refreshing things about studying with Yin Yoga’s founder, Paul Grilley, is his unwavering and unabashed embrace of the “no rules” approach to practicing yoga.
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