Always listen to your body! Discomfort in Yin Yoga is okay, pain and threat signals need to be tended to. The wider they go, the more intense you’ll feel the shape.

From here, you can spread your knees as wide as you like. Bring your big toes to touch and spread your knees wider than your hips.Ĥ. Start on all fours, your hands and knees, with or without your feet over the blanket roll.ģ. You hold the pose for long enough to make it worth it.Ģ. If you don’t already know, you’ll find out if you need this once you get into the pose. If the tops of your feet are tight or your ankles hurt in child’s pose, roll up a blanket or bath towel and place the tops of your feet across the roll. Stay fairly still and breathe into your low belly for 1 minute or 5 slow breaths. Lower your chest and head back down to the floor, prone on your belly again. Reminder to come out of this and any shape when and if your body sends you the signal that you’ve had enough. Rest on your belly for 1 minute or 5 slow deep breaths between sides.Ħ. You might also side bend your upper body a bit towards your hiked knee (as pictured).ĥ. It’s ok to let your yourself roll a little to the side, or keep your pubic bone flat(ish) on the floor. Whatever feels best. You don’t have to bring it very far, just enough to feel some sensation in your inner thigh or hip.ģ. Hike one of your knees up towards your arm pit. If your front hips are bony, spread a folded blanket or bath towel underneath your hips.Ģ. If this hurts your neck or shoulders, you can stack your palms and rest your forehead on the backs of your hands. Lay prone on your belly with your arms in a goal post shape and one cheek on the floor. There is a lot to feel in Yin Yoga and ample time to feel it, both while holding the pose and after coming out of it. No matter what, rest for 1 minute or 5 slow breaths after each shape to observe the echoes of sensation from a neutral position. Under each photo I’ll list instructions to get into the pose and some ways you might use props to make the posture more accessible, easier for you to hold for some time.Īlways adjust your position so that the shape you’re in feels right to you. Not every pose is right for every body, and every day might be different. sharp or shooting pains “Ow! Stop!”) allow yourself to adjust your position or skip the shape entirely. You can set a timer on your phone for 1.5 minutes to start, then work your way up to a 3-, 4-, or 5-minute hold.Īlthough the postures might not be the pinnacle of comfort, if your body sends you threat signals (e.g. For a taste of Yin Yoga, try out some of the poses below It’s also a way to dip your toes into the silence of meditation while doing something with your body (besides just sitting still).

The practice can increase your range of motion and your comfort being passive, still, and slow. The exercise, the yin approach to the postures, targets your connective tissues. This puts healthy stress on your connective tissues. Your muscles aren’t asked to work much at all, so the pull of gravity brings the weight of your bones down towards the earth. As you settle into not-doing and physically let go, your body may feel more solid and grounded. What’s the practice look and feel like?Īs you marinate in the shape your practice is passive. In practice you hold a posture, usually seated or lying on the floor, for 1.5 to 5 minutes at a time. Context is key.įrom this we get Yin Yoga-a practice that’s yin compared to more active styles of yoga. Connective tissue is yin compared to muscle, but yang compared to bone. The words are used in context.įor example, dusk is yin compared to midday, but yang compared to midnight. Yang qualities are bright, hollow, warming, active, and light. The moon and nighttime are considered yin. Yin qualities are dark, solid, cooling, slow, heavy. The black side is yin, the white is yang. The name comes from yin-yang, drawing from the Chinese philosophy of interconnecting and balancing opposites. On Wednesdays we practice together for 45 minutes on Zoom, but I know not everyone can make class live and besides, some of you might be wondering what Yin Yoga is in the first place, and what makes it different from the other kinds of yoga. This week I want to highlight Yin Yoga poses for beginners.

45 minute yin yoga sequence