that when you practice my yin yoga videos you'll get a sense of how it can help

you as well.

Yin yoga is a style of yoga that connects the energetic meridians of Traditional

Chinese Medicine with India's yoga postures.

It's not exactly a beginner form of yoga,

although it can be more accessible because the postures are generally lower

to the ground and there's not as much physical demand on the body to hold the

posture.

Instead of more active forms of yoga asana, which we might call "yang" -- think

vinyasa flow or ashtanga -- yin takes a gentler approach to strengthening and

lengthening, but it doesn't target our muscles.

It targets our connective tissue which is one of the four types of tissue that

makes up our body. Connective tissue is like an inner web that binds and holds our

organs in place, and it also connects our bones, connects our muscles by densely

collecting at our joints for our tendons and ligaments. These attach bone to

bone and muscle to bone. Because connective tissue is responsible for

holding this heavy load at our joints,

it can become pretty easily injured like at our knees or our shoulders.

Yin yoga helps keep those tissues healthy so that the joints can remain healthy over

time. That is a very simplistic explanation of what happens physically

in the yin yoga practice, but where I think this practice really excels and

differs from other forms of yoga is that it creates a safe space and a container

to practice letting go. Now,

what are you letting go of? Of course this physical tension that you'll feel

as you practice the postures.

But also you're letting go of the idea and the need that you have to control

things

Think of the yin-yang symbol that was super popular in the United States in

the '90s.

It shows that two opposite forces, like the sunny side of a hill and the

shady side of the hill, or the more dense bones with the more elastic muscles,

opposite forces are interconnected, interrelated, and ultimately we find

balance when we can perceive two halves becoming whole.

In this way, yin yoga complements other forms of more active yang practice.

So what kind of effects should you expect? Yin yoga expert Paul Grilley who

popularized the practice and is generally known as the founder of yin yoga,

says that you'll find more freedom in tight spots such as the hips, the pelvis,

the lower spine.

This makes the practice super helpful for learning how to sit better for long

periods of time, especially if you want a meditation practice. But the greater

effect I believe, from my own personal experience, is energetic.

There's a distinct feeling of well-being that happens after you come out of these

postures.

It's like suddenly all of the cells in those tight spaces opened up and started

talking to one another again.

How long should you practice? Yin teacher Bernie Clark says that it's okay to have

a regular daily yin practice.

You don't have to rest your body like you would with more vigorous forms of

asana or exercise. It's found that frequent, shorter periods of mild stress

to your connective tissues is more beneficial than a couple longer periods

two times a month. Now, I'd like to caveat here by saying just like any other form

of physical practice,

you need to listen to your body. You can practice daily as long as it doesn't

lead to pain or tingling or numbness.

What does a yin yoga practice look like? There are three main principles of yin yoga

that you should know before you get started.

#1: Come to your edge respectfully. The edge is the sensation

that you'll feel when you form a pose with your body.

For example, in a seated forward bend you might feel some stress on your

hamstrings.

You don't want to apply too much stress or too little.

You want to find the "Goldilocks" position, that space that's just right where you

can stay

perhaps with discomfort but certainly not with pain. Pain is not your edge,

it is going beyond your edge. As you practice, also remember that your edge

can change based on how much water you drink that day or how you're feeling.

That's why it's so important to remain present with each posture.

#2: Become still. Let the body rest, let the muscles around the stretched position

fully relax and take your focus inward. You might want to fidget or move

around. If you're doing that a lot

it's probably because you've gone beyond your edge or you're bored.

Reevaluate, catch yourself fidgeting and then commit to staying still once more. I

promise it gets easier with practice. #3:

Stay awhile in the pose. In yin yoga we purposefully hold postures

maybe for even up to five minutes or more.

At the minimum, I've found that holding a pose for at least one minute, depending

on the posture, can provide that energetic release,

while holding a posture for 2 to 3 minutes or more can improve concentration and

tolerance for change in the body.

Staying in the pose is an opportunity to be with yourself as you are. And as you

become aware of perhaps emotions or thoughts that might

arise you can choose: Do I need to hold on to these things or can I let them go?

You can face them, rather than bury them.

Finally, I'll say that yin yoga is not restorative yoga.

We may use props to help us into the postures, but the idea is to still find

sensation and not lie propped in relaxation. Relaxation may be the

ultimate result, but yin yoga is as much about concentrating the mind as it is

releasing tension in our connective tissues.

I hope this video is helpful for you to know why yin yoga might be a good fit for

you.

Subscribe to my channel where you'll find many yin yoga sequences for you to

start a new relationship with your mind and body.

Thanks for watching.