Settle With Yin:
Online Yoga Series

Yin Yoga: A Cultural Shift

"In order to observe ourselves, we need an attention that is different from our ordinary attention...We seek to have a watchman in us who is stable. The one who watches is present…The rest of me is passive."  Jeanne De Salzmann, The Reality of Being

Yin Yoga is a slow-paced yoga practice that enhances the ability to discover a still point within. Cultivating a yin practice encourages ease in the physical body, mindfulness and calms the nervous system.

Yin Yoga, or Daoist Yoga (often spelled Tao), consists of long-held, mostly seated or supine poses held passively to gently pull or place pressure on the body's connective tissues. In an active form of yoga, targeted muscle groups become heated through rhythmic, repetitive movements. Muscles being moister and more elastic, respond well to actions that heat and exercise the muscle fibers.  

However, the ligaments and tendons of the body are composed of denser, rigid, or more plastic-like material than the muscles. They require a different approach to unlock tension and move internal energy called Qi. Since the Yin practice requires little to no muscular engagement or effort, the muscles remain relatively passive. Each posture shape is held for a set amount of time while consciously relaxing the targeted area settling into the body's bones. Since the qualities of Yin by nature are considered more hidden and less superficial, these affected areas are not as accessible as, let's say, the muscles which are closer to the surface.