om body
om bodyY
ou can be quiet and powerful.
Before we delve into why we
all need some regular yin time,
let’s first look at what yin yoga
is all about. It’s a slow, simple,
mindful, practice of long held postures,
which cultivate energetic balance, physical
harmony and peace for the mind.
You may know the sutra ‘Chitta Vritti
Nirodha’. Yin allows our body to settle
better into meditation. The purpose of
yoga is to enter into a meditative state
from which realisation may arise; yoga
is a psycho-spiritual practice aimed at
ultimate liberation. It’s a science of buildingharmony and overcoming disharmony, so
the mind can shine in its true nature of
purity, warmth and peace. Yin yoga and
meditation are the perfect partnership to
enable us to progress on this path so we
can cultivate balance of sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous systems, mind
and body, conscious and unconscious.A brief history of yin
Although the name yin yoga is relatively
modern, we can trace this style of practice
back thousands of years to the Hatha Yoga
Pradipika and Patanjalis Yoga Sutra. It has
been around since the beginning of the
physical practice of yoga. The guidance
we are offered about asana is that they
should be sthira and sukham: steady and
comfortable. These are very much yin
qualities, compared to the style of asana we
see performed today in more dynamic yang
style classes. When we are still and the mind
undistracted, meditation can arise.
Whilst no one teacher can be given credit
for inventing yin postures, Paul Grilley is a
main pioneer. After bringing together his
inspiration and teachings from Paulie Zink,Carliann Langley explores the wonderful healing powers of yin yoga,
one of the ancient discipline’s more subtle forms
The quiet power
of yin yoga
Dr Garry Parker and Dr Hiroshi Motoyama,
he then went on to enthuse his student
Sarah Powers - and between the two of
those wonderful, inspiring teachers the
world started to understand and love the
power of balancing life with a slower, more
mindful yoga practice.Body
Yin yoga is the fundamental practice for
slowly and gradually unravelling knots of
tightness and tension from the body. Our
yang (dynamic) yoga practices work our
yang tissues (the muscles). Yin is the other
half of the story, working our yin tissues,
ligaments, joints and fascia. This naturally
leads to an improvement of the mobility
and flexibility of the body. While there are
practices where we can strive and be pulled
and twisted into pretzel shapes, in yin there
are very little adjustments from the teacher,
perhaps just some suggestions to enable
you to feel more comfortable and safe - but
the magic of yin is that your body unfolds
with no forcing, rushing or striving. It’s an art,
and through the cultivation of acceptance
and surrendering, you will find that if“Although the name yin
yoga is relatively modern,
we can trace this style of
practice back thousands
of years to the Hatha
Yoga Pradipika and
Patanjalis Yoga Sutra.”