A long play guided Yin session with Kindness Meditation to conclude. Enjoy!
- It was obvious to me when I first started practicing Yin Yoga, it was a useful practice, primarily in terms of balancing or even countering, an active, Yang practice and as a bridge between this dynamic moving Yoga into the stillness of a sitting meditation practice.
- Yin Yoga can feel like a series of short five minute meditations, with enough movement and change of internal physical sense experience to keep the mind engaged, but not too much movement, so that we get lost in the busy-ness of doing a dynamic yoga practice. Within the outward stillness of each posture we are offered a unique internal "experience" or "landscape" to explore. As explorers of our conciousness, Yin Yoga satisfies the aspiring psycho-naut.
- We can also see Yin Yoga like a restorative practice, a quiet practice; largely based around floor postures and with minimal muscular effort. It suits as a balance to our already busy life-styles. A restorative practice gives the body chance to open and soften and release tension without much investment of energy.
- However, a dynamic practice is indispensable in developing a stronger body, fitness and stamina. It may be we are tired and feel blocked and stuck and what we actually need is a dynamic practice to raise our levels of energy and break through various tensions and blocks. Discriminative intelligence is always necessary in the application of Yoga.
- A Yin or restorative practice can be seen as a tool in the tool box of methods and techniques we have at our disposal as yoga practitioners. Sometimes stillness is useful, sometimes dynamic, sometimes no practice at all! Yin Yoga can be preparation for a more active practice to allow the heart, mind and body to arrive into the practice space as well as a wind-down form after a more active Yoga.
