What is Yin Yoga?

“Yin Yoga” seems to be the new buzz in the yoga community. What exactly is Yin Yoga and why practice it? Studying this style of yoga for many years, I have formulated a rather lengthy definition, which I will only begin in my first post. The definition of Yin Yoga is continually changing and deepening for me. Over a series of blog posts I hope to unpack some of the unique theories, concepts and benefits that Yin Yoga has to offer.

 Yin Yoga is Exercise

On the coarsest level, Yin Yoga is the practice of long held floor poses practiced with the intention of passively exercising our tissues. A passive, relaxing activity like Yin Yoga doesn’t usually pop into mind when we think of the word “exercise”. When think of the word “exercise” we often pair it with the word “exertion” and have a picture in our mind of a bulky guy at the gym, or a sweaty girl on a treadmill. But exercise does not always take this form.The theory of exercise states that we must apply moderate stress on our tissues, followed by adequate recovery, in order to maintain their strength and health. The bulky guy at the gym, for an example, places dynamic rhythmic stress on his body through lifting weights, and after appropriate recovery his muscles will grow back stronger (and perhaps to his hopes, bigger). Yin Yoga works in a similar way, but the means, process and benefits are different.

The Yin Yoga Model

The Yin Yoga Model, proposed by Paul Grilley and expanded upon by Sarah Powers and Bernie Clark, suggest that some tissues in our body are more “yang” in nature, such as our muscle fibers, which have a high moisture content and are more elastic, while others are more “yin” in nature, such as our fascial and connective tissue, which are dryer and more plastic. Our “yang” tissues, respond best toexercise that is more yang in nature, such as exercises that are dynamic and rhythmic, while our Yin tissues respond best to slow static stress.In Yin Yoga, the long held poses are intended to apply a static stress on the ligaments, bones, joints and fascia sheets. When we practice passive stretching and hold for an extended length of time, collagen fibers become stronger, better organized, and more lubricated after recovery. So although Yin Yoga is intended to bring about a mood of relaxation and contemplation, we are still “exercising” our tissues when performing Yin Yoga poses.Both Paul Grilly and Bernie Clark insist that Yin Yoga is not meant to exist on it’s own, but rather, work in partnership with dynamic “yang” practices of asana, or other strengthening activities, so that both Yang (muscles) and Yin (connective tissue) aspects of our physical body are exercised.

My Understanding

Over several years of practicing, teaching, and studying Yin Yoga, I can’t help but question some aspects of this model. Although separating our tissues into Yin and Yang categories helps us understand what we are doing to our connective tissue in a passive pose, and even more importantly, how to keep our joints safe in an active pose, the oversimplified explanation that “yin exercise is for our yin tissues, and yang exercise is for our yang tissues” departs from the underlying truth that our body is an interconnected entity. The Yin and Yang symbol reminds us that nothing is ever all Yin or all Yang, rather the two energies are continually at play to formulate a functional whole. While Yin is represented as the black swirl and the yang is the white, the black dot in the white space reveals that Yin exists within Yang, and the white dot in the black space shows that Yang exists within Yin. In our body, this same principal applies. No tissues are entirely Yin, and no tissues are entirely Yang, and most importantly, they are part of an interconnected whole.While some tissues may be more moist and elastic (yang) and some more dry and plastic (yin) whatever exercise you are performing regardless of the intent, stress is applied on the whole system. Muscle fibers, for an example, grow within facial tissue, and while the intent is not to strengthen them in a yin practice, you are inevitably putting stress upon them (I believe that more research needs to be done on the affect passive stretching has on our muscle fibres) Similarly, in an active yoga class, you are applying load on the whole system during your sun salutations, including your joints, fascia and bones. So my question is this: Is the difference between active (yang) and passive (yin) yoga less about what we are exercising and more in how we are exercising?The body adapts to the kind of stress that is placed upon it. A Yang Yoga practice adapts our tissues to become strong in a dynamic way, training our body to be functional and strong within different ranges of motion. Performing dynamic exercises, trains all of our tissues to withstand load in a dynamic and active way; we earn how to access our strength and breath more effectively and efficiently.On the other hand, Yin yoga trains the fabric of our body to withstand load over longer periods of time, enhancing the lubrication and moisture content in our tissues, particularly around joint sites. As well, Yin exercise trains our muscles to relax within different ranges of motion, engaging with our parasympathetic nervous system. It gives us time to feel and explore the inner environment of our body and mind. One of the greatest benefits of Yin Yoga is that we are given time to contemplate, breathe and feel the physical, energetic, and mental layers of our being. I will entertain these benefits in my next post on Yin Yoga!To take a Yin class with me, please visit my schedule. I hope to see you on your mat!