Yin Yoga for Winter Stillness

This yin yoga class is designed for the stillness of winter to conserve and build your energy reserves. By focusing on your kidneys and kidney meridians you will build your energy reserves. Winter is a season of quiet, calm and peace that allows us to restore our strength and energy through practices like yin yoga.

Child’s Pose – 5 mins

Sphinx Pose – 3 mins

Caterpillar – 5 mins

Savasana – 5 mins

What is yin yoga good for?

1. Connective Tissue
2. Meridians
3. Mindfulness

Yin yoga is good for accessing the deeper connective tissues of our bodies that wrap around our jointes and bones. When we pull and pressurize these tissues using long held yin yoga postures (anywhere from 3-5 minutes on the floor) we stimulate the movement of qi along our meridian system which helps to reviatlize our organ systems supporting optimal well-being physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically and spiritually.

Is yin yoga good for beginners?

While many beginners often end up in yin yoga classes because yin yoga is a slow practice and not a lot is happening, unless it is labelled as a beginner practice, yin yoga is generally a more advanced practice. The long holds It is a practice that requires a lot of focus, patience and knowledge of poses in order to be able to choose an appropriate edge so that you will not go too deep into the postures resulting in joint damage.

What makes yin yoga different?

While hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga and yoga flow keeps energy up at the surface level of the body at the muscles with continuous movement. Yin yoga targets your deeper connective tissues, ligaments, joints and bones. When we come into a yin yoga pose we “stay for awhile.” Just like when you get an acupuncture treatment, the acupuncturist doesn’t put the needles in and then take them out again. We come into the pose and allow qi to flow.

What is the difference between yin yoga and vinyasa yoga?

In yin yoga we hold the poses anywhere from 1-10 minutes. Usually poses are held from 3-5 minutes in a yin class. In a vinyasa yoga class you flow from one pose to another, moving with your inhalation and exhalation.

Can you lose weight doing yin yoga?

While yin yoga is probably not the most effective weight loss plan, you could arguable lose weight in yin yoga if your cortisol levels are super high and yin yoga reduced your stress levels so much that you were able to lower your cortisol levels.

Does yin yoga tone the body?

Yin yoga is not a workout. If anything we are training our mind, 5 minutes at a time to focus inwards on the sensations in our body. It is not about the shape of the pose, rather about how the pose feels.

Does yin yoga release toxins?

When the collagen fibers within the connective tissue are healthy they line up quite straight along the direction of the predominant stress.

As our bodies age, or if our bodies are injured or damaged in anyway, the straight fibers become tangled and bent and as a result. This draws the muscles and bones closer together and decreases your range of motion.

Within the tangled areas tangled particles can become trapped.

When the fibers are long and straight there is less likelihood of particles being trapped inside the fiber. What is trapped can be toxic to the body. Waste products come from the metabolism of nearby cells, particles of pollution from outside such as smoke or pesticides.

Once these particles are trapped they can remain in the body for a long time, even forever.

When we consciously relax the muscular tissues of the body, this allows us to access the yin aspect of our anatomy, the fascia and the connective tissue.

Massage and yoga which loosen the tissues of the body can loosen up the bonds that trap these particles. Once freed these particles can be swept into the blood system or lymphatic system and carried away to be eliminated from your body. Yin yoga compresses the collagen network of the body which lengthens fibers and frees toxic particles.

Why am I sore after yin yoga?

See the answer to the above question on toxins. 🙂

Can you do yin yoga in the morning?

Absolutely! This is probably the best time of day to practice yin yoga, because your muscles will be cool and not warmed up.

How long should you do yin yoga?

Yin yoga poses should be held anywhere from 3-5 minutes. That being said, you might choose to hold some yin yoga poses for a shorter amount of time such as toe stand, and some for a longer amount of time such as a forward fold.

How many times a week should you do yin yoga?

This depends on your body, time of life and your lifestyle. Yin yoga can be a wonderful practice to tend to the joints of your body. It also tends to be a style that is supportive to adults who are 40 and up. It is also a style of yoga that builds energy in the body, so if you suffer from fatigue and depletion, then it can be a good style of yoga to build your energy reserves.

What should I expect in a yin yoga class?

You can expect yoga poses that you hold usually from 3-5 minutes on the ground. Some yin yoga teachers will give you the space to experience the “rebound” between the poses by lying on your back to feel the effect of the yin yoga pose on your body.

Yin yoga is not about the shape of the poses, but about your internal experience of the poses.

The teacher often has a theme around a body part, meridian system, or time of year. Also mindfulness and yin yoga tend to go hand in hand so sometimes a yin yoga teacher might include dharma teachings in a yin yoga class. I have been in a lot of yin yoga classes where teachers read poetry as well and I love to include poetry in my yin yoga classes during the holding of the poses as well.

Are there standing poses in yin yoga?

Generally no, but every once in a while “dangling” will show up which is a gentle version of standing forward fold or “uttanasana”

Is yin yoga good for sleep?

One of the best ways to promote good sleep is to turn to yin yoga. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, problems with sleep are associated with the heart meridian. When the heart meridian organ is deficient we will experience problems with our sleep.

The heart becomes overheated and overactive when yin blood is deficient and you may experience disturbing dreams and an overactive mind leading to those sleep disturbances. When the heart meridian remains peaceful and protected we can retreat into our interior world to nurture ourselves after a day of being engaged and active in the exterior work world. This creates balance and harmony for our heart meridian and allows us to sleep better.