What Are The Benefits of Yin Yoga?

Physically, Yin is an amazing way to maintain flexibility and mobility in our joints, which is especially important as we age, or if we play a lot of sports that tighten our muscles.

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Yin gives us the chance to be still and observe what it is we are missing when the noise of our lives gets too loud, and to accept ourselves just as we are – on that day, in that moment and gives us the opportunity in a compassionate way to re- assess and respond in the time we are sitting in our ‘shapes’.  

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Mentally, Yin yoga is a great way to grow your meditation practice. Without the constant distraction of movement that we can come to rely on in a more yang/flow practice, Yin forces us – gently – to slow down and go inward. Learning to be comfortable in stillness is a hugely important skill, and one that is easy to let slide in this world of near-constant stimulation and distraction that we live in.

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After a class, you can expect to feel calmer as we access a more relaxed parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest part of you)- a tuning in - (as we sit with ourselves and get connected) a lovely feeling of being stretched out in your own skin (as fascia releases)

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Yin yoga is also a great place to make use of props for added support. Blocks can be used under your knees in a forward fold, for instance, while a bolster or rolled-up blanket can be placed under your seat during butterfly to ease tight hips.

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Yin Yoga Benefits:

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• Stimulates overall health

• Calms the nervous system

• Reduces stress and anxiety

• Balances the meridian and chakra system

• Improves flexibility

• Releases fascia

• Improves joint mobility

• Balances the internal organs

• Improves and balances the flow of chi (or prana or energy)

• Stimulates blood flow through normally less reached areas

• Stimulates the joints and supports bone health

• Teaches equanimity

• Helps to maintain a yang flow in the yin tissues

• Prepares the body for meditation

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