Experience the Healing Powers of Yin yoga and Chinese medicine
Yin yoga has powerful healing qualities based on the ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Below I’ll first explain what Yin yoga is and how it can work for you. After that, I’ll unveil the healing qualities of Sphynx Yin yoga pose with guidelines to safely practice Yin yoga at home.
What is Yin yoga?
Yin yoga is a meditative way of yoga in which we stay in a yin yoga posture for 3 to 5 minutes. Thereby, we stimulate the deeper lying tissues such as the connective tissue, tendons & joints. This stimulates our physical strength and flexibility. It is shown that our total flexibility is dependent for around 50% by the strength of our muscles and of around 50% by the flexibility of our joints. This means that whenever your maximum flexibility is reached with yang yoga or other more active ways of moving in which you strengthen and stretch the muscles, there is possibly more flexibility to be gained by opening up the joints. Of course the maximum flexibility of our unique body is also dependent on our biological constitution and environmental factors. This illustrates that yin and yang ways of moving can be practiced complementary.
The Origins of Yin yoga.
Yin yoga is founded by Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers in this very century. However writings show us that the practice of yin yoga stems from the 1950’s as the main yoga practice before the Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga revolution began. Postures where held up to 10, 15 or 30 minutes to help the body prepare for sitting for longer times in meditation. Yin yoga as we now know it is based on the principles of ancient Chinese medicine that stems from around 2500 BC. It works like acupuncture without needles by using the acupressure points of contact that our body makes with the ground with a little help of gravity and the weight of our bodies. Sometimes, props such as cushions will be used for bodily support to softly deepen a posture layer by layer. Thereby, yin yoga works by stimulating life energy also called ‘Qi’ throughout specific energy pathways, also called ‘meridians’ in our bodies.
More about Chinese Medicine as an Holistic Approach to Healing.
Chinese medicine works from what we may call an holistic approach. In Chinese medicine we see our body as a whole in which mind, body & spirit are interconnected. And in which different meridians flow through our body, thereby connecting different organs and tissues. It is believed that when we have physical complaints (or mental, emotional, spiritual), there is a dis balance of energy flow throughout our body, which we can help rebalance with a regular yin yoga practice. It helps to relieve blockages to let our life energy flow. When you practice yin yoga yourself, you may notice this directly afterwards by a tingling in your legs or other parts of your body. And because of its holistic workings, yin yoga doesn't only work physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I feel Dianne M. Connelly explains this interconnectedness beautifully in the quote below, with thanks to my Yin yoga teacher Sarah Powers, who pointed this out for me.
“It is only by Qi that the planets move, the sun shines, the wind blows, the elements exist, and human beings live and breathe. It is the cohesion of the bodymindspirit and the integration of the myriad aspects of each individual human being. It is spoken of with reverence because it is the basis of life and when gone awry, the basis of disease.”
— Dianne M. Connelly, traditional acupuncture
Sphynx yin yoga pose explained:
Experience the Healing Powers of practicing Sphynx Yin yoga pose.
The interconnectedness of yin yoga becomes very clear when we look in more detail to the workings of yin yoga postures. Below I will unveil the healing qualities of Sphynx yin yoga pose with you. When we practice Sphinx pose, we will stimulate the kidney & bladder meridian which is connected with the element of water, the colour dark blue/black, the taste of salt, and the emotion of fear. Practicing Sphinx pose regularly not only physically stimulates our spine and strengthens our back, but it also helps rebalance the experience of fears in our lives. Besides, Sphinx pose also stimulates the meridian of the heart & small intestine that flows on the front of the chest, which is connected with the element of fire, the color red, the taste of bitter, and the emotion of love & compassion. In this way, Sphinx pose is a heart opener which can soften our experiences. I believe it’s truly wonderful how our bodies may work and heal by the connection with the elements of nature.
Guidelines for a safe Yin yoga Practice.
The healing qualities of practicing yin yoga are not only dependent on which postures you practice, but also very much the way you practice. Practicing yin yoga by yourself isn't something to take lightly. It comes with specific safety guidelines for your unique body to be able to take care of yourself and your body while practicing the postures. Make sure you always honor your bodies boundaries, which may be different daily and even during different times of the day. Practice with love and compassion for physical sensations, but also for critical thoughts & emotions that may come up. Practice staying grounded in your body and using your breath as an anchor. And above all: pain is your body saying no, which is an invitation to make the posture lighter or to come out of it completely. Yin yoga is not about how long or deep you can go into a posture, nor is it about how it looks like, the essence of yin yoga lies within you: it’s all about how it feels from the inside out.
Receive your very own Yin yoga Practice.
In a Session 1:1 with me I teach and guide you into 3 to 5 yin yoga postures that are attuned to your personal needs; mental, physical, energetic or emotional complaints. I will give you insights about the healing qualities of the postures alongside hands on guidance on how to safely practice your very own yin yoga poses at home, and you will receive specific adaptations of a pose or alternative poses in case of difficulty. In this way, you may develop a regular yin yoga practice that can help you relieve certain pains in your body or soften critical thoughts & intense emotions like fear, anger or feeling unbalanced. Yin yoga can help you opening up your heart, your passions, develop self compassion, groundedness, physical strength & flexibility. It can be a great way of practice besides a meditation practice and/or more yang/ intense ways of moving.
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