Yoga

The Power of Yin Yoga (& why it often makes me cry)

Yin yoga - Life as we think we know it

*Read the full article from Elephant Journal

Yin yoga is a powerful thing, in all its quietness. We often mistake quietness and lightness with ease. But what we tend to forget is that when the body is still, when there are no distractions, the mind starts to have a fiesta of its own, which is not always comfortable.

Actually it’s hardly ever comfortable.

When we allow the body to sit still for a longer period of time, the Yang energy within starts to rise. It wants to come out and play, and unless we can delicately direct this energy down and inwards, it will take over. The monkey mind will start its chatter. 

But this is not why Yin yoga sometimes makes me cry.

As I sit among the 100 others and hum my oms after what feels like a bone-stretching Yin workshop, I contemplate its power.

After a yang-style yoga practice my body feels strong, my muscles are activated, pumped up and flexed. My mind is at peace because it found solace in the movement of my body. There is a balance between the Yin and the Yang, activity and stillness.

After a Yin practice, though, my body feels weak and frail. Even my mind is weepy. I move out of the poses with the slowness of an 80-year old, and cannot help but moan.

Breathe towards the legs, ground your energy, speaks the teacher—and I feel so vulnerable.

*Read the full article from Elephant Journal

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