The beauty of a yin yoga practice

Yin is an amazing practice to help us to slow down in a world addicted to speed. Yin gives us the gift of time. Time to allow your body to open, time to breathe, to observe your body’s emotions and sensations, time to connect more inwardly.

Yin yoga is a fairly young yoga practice. Every yin posture (except maybe one or two) is on the ground and supported by either blocks or a bolster. The postures are held for anything between 2-5 minutes and it’s not a practice that can be forced or rushed, everything happens in it own time.

The key with yin is to relax and allow the breath to do the work. It’s a process of learning to create space rather than adding more in, allowing things to release and let go.

Yin yoga can make you feel emotional at times, which is very normal. We store so much energetically and emotionally in the tissues and connective fibres of our bodies. So when given space and gentle opening, yin allows that energy the room to move out of the stuck place and out of your system. To heal we need to feel. Yin is a very grounded space to do that.

Raj always say Yin is a gateway into meditation because the goal is to stay in stillness with awareness on the breath. Because we are making different shapes with the body it gives the mind something to focus on so it can relax. In the process we are bringing the mind and body into deeper connection, so we feel more at home in ourselves with a greater sense of ease.

If you haven’t been to a yin class, it’s time. It will elevate all other areas of your practice and benefit you on so many levels.