Thinking About Yin Yoga Teacher Training?
3 Reasons to Add Yin Yoga to Your Practice
Yoga was never intended to be a workout, it’s a lifestyle. The physical aspect of yoga is really only 20% of the practice and is what prepares the body and mind to meditate.
In the west we are so focused on the aesthetics of the yoga pose and whether we can touch our toes or do a handstand that we can often forget about the true essence of yoga. This kind of practice is very yang and can be detrimental to our bodies and minds if we focus too much on the external, pushing and pulling our bodies into certain postures without awareness and mindful movement.
If we observe ourselves in our daily lives we are all so much more yang than yin, it’s important to our well being to have both, This is where yin yoga can help.
The practice of yin yoga isn't necessarily relaxing the body completely like restorative yoga. It is a slow deep practice and in most classes you only do about five poses. It is very meditative and can help reduce stress and anxiety.
The aim of yin is to increase circulation in the joints and hydrates the fascia. It stretches and targets the deep connective tissues between the muscles, and the fascia.
As the body gradually opens up, postures in yin are held passively between 3-10 minutes. By holding these postures for a longer period the nervous system is given an opportunity to rest and the muscles to relax. Specific meridians in the body are stimulated and open up the flow of chi, whilst the organs are experiencing a gentle compression.
Here are some other important reasons to add Yin to your classes and practice:
A balanced practice
As yogis it’s vital to have a balanced practice, we need both the yin and yang elements of the practice to feel whole and healthy.
The yang part of our practice is about our strength, stamina and flow. With rounds of sun salutations and more dynamic advanced poses these practices such as vinyasa, ashtanga and the 26+2 series work more on the muscles, blood and skin.
Relative to this the yin part hydrates the fascia and connective tissue allowing a deeper range of movement.
Many of us tend to prefer one style to the other, however both are important in maintaining a balance. When you combine these practices you start to find more peace and balance in the mind and the body, your spiritual practice will deepen and you will feel a greater sense of connection to yourself.
2. The doorway to meditation for your students
The Yin practice sets you up for meditation. When we create opportunity for physical stillness we also create the perfect condition for the mind to become still.
Due to length of posture and the focus on the breath the mind becomes stiller, the more gentle the practice the easier it is to tap into the meditative state. If meditation is challenging for you and or your students the practice of yin is a great way to ease into it.
A Yin practice literally cleanses the mind, allowing us to play with our edge in a gentle and loving way whilst taking time out from the mental chitter chatter that occupies most of our waking state.
3. Adds diversity to your own practice and to your students
Adding Yin yoga to your teaching skills is such a great advantage not only for your own practice but for your students. It brings more diversity and also allows you to teach more modalities that are compatible and will benefit you and your students on many levels.
Yin is such a different practice to Hot and Vinyasa and works in a completely different way. It helps to release chronic conditions in the physical body but also on an emotional level. It creates a flow of energy throughout the body and lubricates the joints and boosts the immune system helping you and your students stay more supple and mobile.
Yin gives us space to really listen and to move our bodies in a more loving and mindful way whilst going deeper inside and slowing down. It forces us to get out of heads and into our bodies.
“Yin Yoga teaches us the wisdom to slow down” Travis Eliot
Yin yoga is fundamental in our practice, as it helps us to feel, it is perhaps the only yoga practice that is truly for everybody due to its slow and still nature and the use of props. It is an inclusive practice which helps us become more present, more compassionate, more tolerant, more accepting and more open to life.
There is something magical about slowing down and finding stillness. We can pause and surrender to what is, instead of getting caught up in this fast coatic pace we are so used to living. No more believing “the busier the better” and more leaning into stillness and the beauty of the present moment, the only place where life exists.