We are in a constant state of motion. Always on the move looking to do more things, be active, be fit, learn more, do more. We are in a constant state of Yang. In this blog post I wanted to share a little about why I teach Yin to my clients. Let’s dive in to the Yin’s and Yang’s of life.
What is Yin versus Yang?
I wanted to take a second to talk about the differences of yin and yang, and why both are needed and healthy when they are met with harmony & balance. Yang is movement, light, energy, outward, motion, heat… Where as Yin is calm, stillness, night, cold, dark, inward… The incredible component about yin and yang is that they each have an element within them that is the opposite. The purpose behind this philosphy is to create balance.
There are moments in life where we need to generate heat, to move, to bring a sense of life and light into the world. There is also a time when we need to find stillness, calmness, rest, and dark to rebalance the body.
Why I teach Yin…
If you have ever been involved in the yoga world you might have heard of a Yin Yoga class. These classes are extremely different for other yoga asanas because in Yin you are not generating heat. In Yin we hold postures for longer periods of time allowing our body and gravity to work together to release our connective tissues.
Yin is a meditative approach to yoga; as we are deep within a posture, again talking about the connective tissues, not how deep we can get into a pose. Is when we can reach blockage within the body. My Yin instructor always would say, “when we reach the in between of pressure and compression that is when we meet those blockages. “
Emotional & Physically Blockages
As humans we hold a lot in; we hold in our emotions, thoughts, feelings, fears, trauma’s, memories. Where do we hold them? You guessed it, deep within those connective tissues. When we reach that moment of pressure and compression we are met with this uncomfortable sensation of resistance. Our bodies have a wonderful way of letting go when we give it time to do so. As our body starts to settle, and release, along with that can come with emotions, memories, thoughts that were rooted within those deep tissues.
Sometimes that release can be your body finding a sense of ease, it can also be a physical sensation in the form of crying. I will be 100% honest, when I do Yin I cry about 80% of the time. Although in the beginning it was uncomfortable to cry on the mat. It is also completely liberating because I know what is happening within the body.
How can you bring more Yin into your life?
Everything in life must be a balance. That is how we can create harmony and peace for ourselves. So how can you bring a little more yin into your life today? How can you create stillness to ease the mind & find a little more balance to recenter?
Thanks for reading The Yin’s and Yang’s of life.
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