What is yin yoga ?

Yin Yoga is a slow-paced type of yoga, incorporating principles of traditional Chinese medicine, with passive floor poses (asanas)  that are held for longer periods of time than in other yoga styles. Yin yoga is suited for beginners or long-time yogis. It helps alleviate stress and restore your energy levels. Yin yoga also improves flexibility, boosts circulation, and reduces tension.

It is different than gentle yoga where we slowly flow from one pose to the other. In yin yoga, because the poses are held longer, It targets our deep connective tissues : the ligaments, joints, bones, and fascias and hence helps with making the tissues stronger, more resilient and more durable by boosting collagen and hyaluronic acid production.

That is why we often refer to yin yoga as the "Fountain of Youth".

Yin yoga can also help regulating hormones, and in some classes we can target different organs (spleen, liver, lungs, gallbladder etc. ) following the principles of the meridians in Chinese medicine.

What to expect in a Yin Yoga class ?

You will be guided into each pose where you will be able to use any prop around that helps make the pose comfortable enough to be held for at least 90 seconds, up to 3-5 min. First you will get cues and then you can expect a phase of silence where you can use your breath to melt into the pose. As we stay longer into a pose, emotions can arise, sometimes blockages get released. Yin yoga gives you the time and space to allow emotions or feelings you have kept inside, to surface. You can allow feelings to arise, but try not to identify with them, try to observe them without getting caught up in them. It costs a lot of energy to keep things suppressed, so the release you get from letting it all come out can be great.

Tips for practising Yin yoga :

• Find your "Edge" : Move slowly and gently into the pose. Use any prop that might help you feel better. Don’t go right away to your “maximum” in the pose and never stretch so far as to cause pain.

• Stillness: mindfully try to melt into the pose, and to remain still, without moving or shifting position too much.

• Time / Hold the pose : start with holding a pose for 1-3 minutes and progress to 5 minutes or more.