9 benefits of yin yoga
Yin Yoga is incredibly powerful.
If you haven’t practiced it, but have heard of it as “sleeping yoga,”
I assure you it is an incredibly awakening practice.
Yin Yoga is a style of yoga which takes the principles of Yin from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Taoism, and is combined with the practice of Yoga. Together, Yin Yoga is a profound practice that, for me personally, has changed so much of how I conduct myself in this life and the relationship that I have with my body.
I’d like to address some of the benefits of Yin Yoga, although the list truly seems to be inexhaustible - especially with dedication to a regular practice.
Yin Yoga:
Helps us balance Yang energy.
Life is so incredibly busy. And where there is Yang energy (masculine, the energy of the sun and summer, movement, passion, activity, momentum, lightness, brightness), there is Yin energy (feminine, the energy of the moon and winter, coldness, darkness, restfulness, nourishment). We need a balance of these, and they are in constant conversation in the world around us. By nature, some of us are more Yin and by nature some of us are more Yang. In different seasons we can embody one energy more than the other. In different seasons of life we can embody one more than the other. It is ways in flux. Yin Yoga is simply a tool we can use to help us bring more Yin energy into our lives and balance the Yang.
2. Creates a quiet space amongst a busy world.
Yin Yoga is quiet. It is still. It is soft. It is a passive practice that uses a plethora of support from pillows, blocks, blankets, etc. and lets us drop in completely to the present moment. It is a practice that shows us how innately quiet we really are. It allows us to drop away from the to-do lists, the busy-ness of the world around us. It shows us that there is a constant quiet space within ourselves that is clouded over by thought and ego. The more we can see that our essence is quiet, the more we are able to find refuge within ourselves.
3. Increases the space in the body (AKA improves flexibility and range of motion).
Yin Yoga is a passive style of yoga, meaning that instead of using effort to reach into the body, we use time and gravity. This allows for the connective tissues to be targeted - much deeper and intricate aspects of the body. And although we may think of Yin Yoga as a passive of “stretching,” there is actually no literal stretching of your tissues. Rather, the passive nature of the practice places healthy stress on tissues that are tangles, matted, or “glued” together (a result of many different things), and instead allows more space between the fibres that make up our tissues. This means, with a Yin Yoga practice we will find more ease in our movement, less restriction in our movement, and literally more space in our bodies!
4. Helps us learn patience.
In the practice of Yin Yoga, we work with this concept called “The Edge.” This is the edge of sensation, the edge of discomfort. It’s where our body naturally tells us to stop at. It’s the spot right where we start to feel the “stretch,” of the tension and tightness in the body (although now we know that it’s not reaaaally a stretch). This Edge can be an incredibly challenging spot to be - especially for 5 minutes. When we first begin to practice, it might seem almost impossible to stay here, especially with stillness and softness. But as we begin to learn the strength of our minds, when we begin to learn patience, everything changes. When we learn to find the comfort within the discomfort, when we learn to find the calm within the chaos, when we learn to find the Yin within the Yang, e v e r y t h i n g changes. And this is a change that transposes far beyond the mat.
5. Shows us how reactive we are.
As mentioned, The Edge is a challenging place to be. And what happens when we’re faced with challenge? We react. We get upset, angry, irritable, confused. We freak out, we think the impossible, we jump to conclusions. When we feel unfamiliar and/or uncomfortable sensations at our Edge, while being in the still and quiet space of our practice, we begin to notice how reactive we are. We learn to notice how aggressive our ego is. The more we recognize our patterns of reactivity, the more time we can invite in between the incident (the sensation, the thing mean thing that’s said to us, the parking ticket we get, etc.) and our reaction. In this space in between, we can learn to act in a more compassionate and much less reactive way,
6. Helps one get to know one’s patterns and habits.
As this is a slow, soft practice, there is plenty of time to notice how we really are, who we really are, how we move, how we think, how we feel, and so much more. The more we are able to learn from a deep listening, the more intentional we can be to create the positive and impactful changes and decisions in our lives.
7. Helps with chronic pain management.
Chronic pain is something that so many different people deal with, and comes in so many different forms. Pain is an incredibly difficult thing to live with, and this practice is profound when it comes to dealing with chronic pain. This is not to say that the practice of Yin Yoga will eliminate it, but it supports us in building the steady, stable foundations of listening to our bodies. It teaches us how to use breath to navigate challenging sensations or moments. It allows us the time to learn compassion towards ourselves and our bodies - no matter how pain-ridden it may be. By sitting with sensations, no matter how difficult, we build a great sense of resiliency. There are so many tools to help us off of our mat with pain we may deal with regularly. In addition, the practice works largely with tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system. This means that instead of being in the sympathetic nervous system response of fight or flight, we can train our bodies to “switch” into a more healing and balance state of being.
8. Helps with body awareness.
Yin Yoga has a great focus on feeling the subtleties of the body’s sensations. As we grow within our practice and listen to what time offers us, we gain a greater ability to listen to our bodies. We learn to listen to our sensations, our cravings. We learn how our biomechanics work - literally how our bodies fit together, how our bodies are unique, and how we can approach ourselves and our self-care with more intention. We learn what it’s like to follow sensations as they change, or even disappear. We learn to feel the edges of our skin, and the depth of our bone. We learn to simply just feel.
9. Allows us to know build more compassion.
Sitting with discomfort, sitting without the distraction of the outside world, sitting intimately with ourselves, we learn an incredible amount. We begin to learn that everything is a part of ourselves - all that works well, all that seems to fail us, all of our abilities, all of our restrictions, all of the parts that we love, all of the parts we would prefer not to deal with - it is all a part of us. And because of this, we’re more able to bring everything into our realm of awareness, acceptance, and compassion. Because of the tools of patience, body awareness, awareness of reactivity and patterns and habits, we can become more compassionate towards our embodied experience. We cannot learn to love and care for ourselves without learning to love and care for every part of ourselves. Ultimately, it allows us the space to create a relationship of self-love, curiosity, and a respect for our bio-individuality. This compassion expands far beyond the mat, and we may notice that we move through life and relationships with more compassion as well.
The list doesn’t end here. Nor do the few words said about each point to it justice. It’s an experience you’ll have to try for yourself, and see the beautiful evolution you journey through. If you’re interested, I have many on-demand Yin Yoga classes, and three weekly live online Yin Yoga classes.
Have anything to add? Put it in the comments! How has Yin Yoga changed you? What has it brought you closer to? What have you found within yourself?
