YIN YOGA

After trying and practicing most of the Yang versions of yoga and living rather a hectic live, I realised that there was more to it than just the challenging asana practice and that I was certainly ready for it.

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Yin Yoga can be explained in words and you might get an idea about what Yin Yoga is however, to fully understand what it is one has to experience it.

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Yin Yoga is about relaxing, letting go and has a very meditative quality to it. Today we mostly know of Vinyasa Flow and Ashtanga Yoga with a more dynamic and fast flow, working on the muscular system, a so called Yang practice. Yin yoga is calmer and more peaceful, working on the connective tissues which consist of ligaments, tendons, cartilage, joints, capsules and our deep fascial networks.

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Yin Yoga helps strengthening your body to become healthier, more flexible and mentally more peaceful. In order to reach the connective tissues which by nature are less elastic than our muscular system, we have to hold the postures for longer periods of time, between 3 and 7 minutes. 

Yin yoga also focuses on opening and unblocking your energy meridians that run through your body. These meridians directly affect your body and your organs. Meridians are lines of energy that flow through the body and can affect organs, circulation, and general function of the physical body as well as your mental and emotional state.

You might be familiar with the Yin & Yang symbol. In Daoism this symbol is showing the balance between Yin and Yang. And as it is, there will always be a bit of Yin in the Yang and the other way around, hence the white and black dots. Therefore we come to the conclustion that Yin cannot exist without Yang and vice versa. They complement and balance each other. And so we can see in everything in life either the Yin or the Yang quality.

Yin is associated with: dark, cold, passive, solid, slow, female, moon, night

Yang is associated with: light, hot, active, hollow, fast, male, sun, day

You might see that our lives too have a Yin and a Yang aspect - it is for us to find the right balance.