The Yin Yoga practice offers benefits to the physical body, our mind and the subtle energy. The practice has grown in popularity over the last five years. What’s all the hype about? Why is Yin Yoga something i should at least try once? What are the specific benefits?
Before I get into the benefits of Yin Yoga, let me quickly define what the practice is…
The Yin Yoga practice offers a deeper release. A passive practice that gets into the deeper connective tissues (fascia, joints, tendons, ligaments) of the body by holding postures in relative stillness and for time. Which these deeper tissues are referenced as “yin” tissue. A Yin posture held longer than 1-3 mins (or even longer) is considered more “yin” as the intention is to get into the deeper layers of the body in a passive way, as “yin” tissues need time to change, and to do so the muscles must relax in the body. Again this takes time (Clark, 2015).
The longer you can hold a posture means your tissues have adapted to the stress put on by the long held posture(s). Yin postures are mainly floor based and tend to target and work the hips, pelvis, spine and legs of the body.
Paul Grilley would further say that yin tissue should be treated differently than yang tissue (muscles), as he explains that “dense connective tissues do not respond well to rhythmic stressors the way muscle do” (2012). Yin postures stress the body in a good way, to help the tissues release and/or strengthen based on the pressure applied.
Bernie Clark would say that Yin Yoga is the other half you’re missing from your practice as it offers the deeper tissues release that benefit your yang (dynamic) practices and offers better balance to the body (2015). The whole body is considered and worked on, rather than just the muscles.
Another neat way of explaining what Yin Yoga is and does, the analogy Paul Grilley uses in his book Yin Yoga, on how he describe the benefits. He uses an analogy of a sponge. Imagine if there was butter within the sponge and when the butter hardens it’s harder to move the butter out of all the holes, and fibres but when you squeeze the sponge, the butter comes out easier. Especially if you ring out the sponge the butter becomes more fluid, and so the butter moves and comes out of the sponge. The sponge analogy is essentially what we’re doing with our tissues in Yin Yoga postures. Like we are wringing the tissues out and bringing more moisture to them, which also helps any stagnant energy move and FLOW, the yin tissue also adapt to withstand more stress thus the tissues become stronger (2012).
From my own experience of practicing the introspective style of yoga the deep release can be profound and not just in a physical way.
The release can be described as physical tension stored in the tissues and also mindful tension or what’s described as mental blockages, emotions or feelings can also get stuck in our tissues. When we apply pressure on the yin tissues for longer periods of time, this helps the blockages and moves energy.
You may have heard the expression in yoga “issues in your tissues”, well it’s true. The negative stress in our day to day life gets stored somewhere, especially if we aren’t actively working on releasing it! Our body takes the hit and eventually the mind. Those issues in your tissues, block energy, and store emotions (negative usually), and once the body releases, the emotions can release too, thus helping your mind and mental blockages.
To students I teach I always say if we aren’t actively doing things, like Yin Yoga, acupuncture, massage or whatever you do for releasing tension and self care, like relaxation techniques or even taking a bath, in order to encourage release of tension on a regular, our bodies and mind store it. And keep storing it.
Let me give you an example that I’m sure most of us have faced.
Think of being cut off in traffic or someone budging you rudely in line at the grocery store - what physical reaction does this cause in you?
I find I get tense in the shoulders and neck, maybe even gripping my steering wheel tighter or feelings of annoyance, frustration, heart rate increases, and my fight or flight response turns on. A typical reaction to the scenarios I listed, is a negative one (unless you’re a Buddhist monk who is super chill and meditates all the time and is not phased by any sort of stress), when we get into a “fight or flight” response this creates our muscles to tense up in the body and over time and through repeated stress eventually our tissues store the negativity..
My go to for tension release has become Yin Yoga. The more I practice the more I see how I truly gain more than just a physical release. The more still I become the more time I have to work on and become aware of the tension I hold and help release it.
The main benefits of Yin Yoga summarized; physical, the subtle body energies and mindful.
PHYSICAL - deeper connective tissues are often ignored but it makes up half our bodies makeup. Myofascial release is key in keeping our range of motion in our joints and the body overall feeling more supple. The intention is to put stress on the deeper, denser connective tissues, past the muscles, this stimulates the energy flow in the body and to the organs. The practice keeps the body’s tissues and organs healthier and working well. As we age we tend to get stiffer and our bodies tissues get drier, Yin Yoga can help maintain the physical range of motion, for some, and for others maybe even improve it.
Another physical benefit is how its an excellent COUNTER to yang activities (like running, hiking, cycling, swimming, Power Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, to name a few more dynamic exercises). Tension isn’t just muscle tightness its also stress, injury, inflammation in the body, and with Yin Yoga we learn to release the tension in the tissues, the facial networks to increase your range of motion and mobility (Summers, 2020).
SUBTLE ENERGETIC - acupressure applied with Yin Yoga poses helps move energy within the body through longer holds in poses. Energy blockages/stagnation’s in the body start to shift allowing the internal organs to stay healthy. Views are derived from Chinese medicine and by applying acupressure on the meridian lines that are tied to organs and certain emotions. Josh Summers would explain that when tension is released in the body physically this allows the the Qi (or also referred to as Chi, which means energy), becomes more smooth in how it flows through your body (2020). Less blocks means there is more moisture and fascia is linear and smoother throughout the body means our Qi/ energy flows easily.
MINDFUL / EMOTIONS - by energy shifting in the physical body it creates the subtle body to shift which in turn creates awareness, alleviates the mind from negative emotions bringing out healthy and positive ways of thinking, feeling and being. Being still physically creates and leads to mental stillness. We focus on one thing at a time holding the posture. As Josh Summers would put it you create a meditative state and generally feel more balanced (2020).
I myself find the most gain is in the mindful element I get from being still. But the physical release I get has also helped with my other activities and gives me energy.
If you practice Yin Yoga which benefit do you notice the most? Do you notice all of them or maybe one more than the others?
If you haven’t tried this practice, might as well try it as it’s the other half you may be missing. Let me know in comments if you agree.
Namaste,
Marzena
Sources & Other great readings on Yin Yoga
The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga, Bernie Clark, 2015 Yinyoga.com
YinSights. A Journey into the Practice & Philosophy of Yin Yoga. What is Yin Yoga? Article, 2020, Bernie Clark.
Our bodies and yoga’s benefits, Article, 2020. Bernie Clark.
Yin Yoga Principles & Practice, (White Cloud Press), Paul Grilley, 2012.
The 6 benefits of Yin Yoga by Josh Summers (2020) https://joshsummers.net/6-potential-benefits-of-yin-yoga/