On a recent evening, a full ten minutes before the start of my Yin yoga class, all the students registered for class had arrived and situated themselves on bolsters or with legs up the wall.
Typically students are rushing in at the last minute, or even late, so having everyone settled in early was a notable departure from the norm.
Watching them there, before we officially began practice, I could feel their exhaustion, and at the same time my heart was so full I almost burst into tears.
For over a decade, I’ve been writing, speaking, and teaching about the importance of self-care. Not in the mani/pedi or “buy a jade egg” way, but in the most fundamental elements:
Taking care of the body through exercise, creating space for rest, and honoring the emotions that we feel.
The practice of Yin yoga combines all of these.
And here I was, in a room full of people who had given themselves this precious gift of time and space to practice.
What Is Yin Yoga?
In Yin yoga, there is no “flow.”
We put our bodies into a pose, finding our first point of resistance. We use props to support the body for a longer hold in the pose and avoid using muscle. We allow time and gravity to do the work or releasing what is stuck. And in that time we sit and notice what arises: sensations, thoughts, emotions.
This is not a practice of comfort.
Contrary to the cultural conditioning of pushing through discomfort, the Yin practice teaches us to be with discomfort and to notice how it changes over time.
On a physical level, a Yin practice works the fascia, bones, and joints of the body. But the real magic is in how it changes the mind and the spirit.
Yin is the practice of holding space for yourself. It’s a practice of allowing yourself to receive: support, care, nourishment.
Perhaps the cultural tide is turning: more people are embracing Yin and the practice of true self-care.
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