Let Life Be Like Yin Yoga

I am back from nine days of Yin Yoga teacher training and retreat at my beloved Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. It has been a time of learning, of support, of challenge and of exploration. It opened my body, mind, and yes … my heart 💛

Let life be like Yin Yoga – Lean into it.

The foundations of Yin Yoga are rooted in the Taoist tradition. It is about finding wholeness and harmony in tune with the constant flow of yin and yang in nature and in all beings. Yin is the stable, unmoving, feminine, receptive, cool and hidden aspect of things; yang is the changing, mobile, masculine, hot and active aspect.

One cannot exist without the other.

Yoga in the west is Yang oriented, focusing on building strength, engaging muscles, movement and action.
Yin Yoga is the counterpart to this. It is a slow deep practice where poses are held for longer and the muscles relax. The deeper connective tissues of the body awaken, which allows for increased flexibility and prevents rigidity that comes with aging. The poses also stimulate the Chi and Prana energy in the body, allowing the practitioner to become calmer and more focused, and the body to be nourished.

It is a practice of paying attention, letting go, and developing the witness to whatever comes up in the physical body, mental body, emotions and breath.
By leaning in and surrendering to what is beyond resistance, the path to acceptance and peace opens up.

In this place of stillness, we meet ourselves and begin to understand how we deal with the pleasure and pain in our bodies and in life.

Each practice strengthens our entire being to allow for deep inquiry and acceptance. To find our Middle Ground.

Namaste