What I truly, truly love about Yin, is how meditative it becomes with a little practice. It becomes almost like a ritual of returning to the body as we accept how it is within this current moment, and just allow ourselves to feel the textures of our own experience. ​ The breath plays a really big part in this. It provides us with a portal into these layers of acceptance that I'm talking about. It allows us to soften, to relax, to release tension where we didn't even think there was tension. We breath in space, and we exhale softness and relax into that space. While we utilise slow, even breaths, it begins to slow our nervous system down and signal that we are calm, and safe. As we slow down the breath, the mind in turn slows down. Meditational practices tend to be used throughout the class, such as noting the thoughts, body scans, deep breathing and pranayama techniques. ​ Yin can be a really great practice for beginners to either yoga, meditation, or breath work. My classes will teach you about each practice in small doses. Incorporating them all together in these smaller segments can bring really profound experiences and allow these techniques to sink in much easier while leaving us feeling relaxed and at ease. ​ Our own experience
Each and every one of us is different, meaning that each and every one of us will experience things in different ways. Many people might come to a Yin class and absolutely hate it. The stillness and tension experienced within the postures can be difficult to navigate if we aren't used to these practices. That's where our own intuition comes in. If we experience pain in any way, that is a clear signal from our body that something is wrong and we should back out. There is always another, more accessible way to encounter a posture to stimulate the stress in a targeted area of the body. The key is to really understand our own edges and our own capacities, which are all unique. ​ Over time, our capacity for the stress we experience within the postures will grow stronger, and the way we experience stress is much the same in many other ways, but this time we'll have a better trained, healthier response. In this response we will be able to feel through the emotions and sensations within the body, notice how we react to them, and soften into them allowing them to dissipate or dissolve on their own. That, for me, is the truly potent part of this practice. Developing our ability to accept our feelings and sensations as they are. ​ I absolutely adore this deeply meditative, and quiet form of yoga. If there is one thing that this world can really benefit from, is the act of slowing down and paying attention.