The first step in understanding the essence of Yin Yoga, is to understand the archetypes of Yin and Yang.
Although these are Taoist archetypes, they represent the truth of relationship that is mirrored in many spiritual traditions. Yin Yoga is quite unique in the yoga world in that there is no guru, no copyright and no regulatory body. When we understand what Yin can represent, we see that this freedom to find our own way of expressing ourselves within our practice is inherent in the archetype. As with all freedoms, this comes with its own challenges. If we fall into the same old patriarchal control systems, letting someone outside ourselves show us their way and not allowing us to discover our own truth, then we have lost one of the most important truths that the Yin archetype can help us remember.
There are many ways to see Yin Yoga in accordance with the understanding of the Yin archetype.
Just as the muscles need our attention to stay healthy and resilient, so does the connective tissue. In order to keep our muscles healthy we need to approach them in a dynamic way, we need to move and stretch. Muscles respond to stress and effort, however our Yin tissues are very different.
Rather than movement and striving, which are yang ways of approaching things, our yin tissues need gentleness and acceptance. When we go into a Yin posture the first line of resistance we face as our joints open or close is from our muscles.
They’re like the guard dog, standing watch outside our home determined to make sure that nothing harmful is allowed to enter the “hearth” or depth of our joints. This ‘guard dog’ will tighten around the joint protecting it from any aggressive yang attackers that it feels can damage its home. This tightening of the muscles although beneficial in preventing injury, can also prevent us from deeply accessing our more Yin connective tissues that lie at the heart of our joints, and which ultimately maintain the joints integrity. When we are not able to access this connective tissue it begins to shrink and tighten around the joint. This tightening is what ultimately limits our joints mobility. In order to bring attention and gentle stretch to these tissues we must convince our ‘guard dog’, our muscles, to relax and let us into the joint capsule itself.
This is the reason we practice Yin Yoga the way we do. The muscles won’t relax unless they feel that the connective tissue is safe. In order for this to happen we must put ourselves in a position where the muscles can feel that it’s safe to let go. This is why I practice all Yin postures on the floor, bringing to each posture an attitude of gentleness and acceptance. But the muscles, like any good guard dog, will take some time to sniff your hand and assure itself of your intentions. This is what is happening in the beginning of each posture. As we sit, with an attitude of non-striving, gently allowing the muscles to trust our intentions, they will slowly relax and allow us to enter more deeply into the joint. This can bring a gentle Yin stretch to the connective tissue, helping it to stay healthy and young. Because the connective tissue reacts very slowly to any attention, it’s necessary to hold the Yin postures for extended periods of time.
These are some of the aspects of Yin Yoga that we speak directly to in our Module 1 trainings
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF YIN YOGA
A useful way of seeing the potential that this practice holds is to look at our yoga journey as we would a story unfolding in our life. I speak of this further in the section of the website about the module 3 trainings, but in simple terms, we can look at our lives through the lenses of our Youth, Mid-Life and Elder stories. Our Youth stories are about the times in our lives when we must find a place for ourselves in the world. These are the times when we need to triumph over what we see as obstacles in our life. These are our Yang times. In yoga these are the practices aimed at the muscles. We work hard in our youth stories trying to be the person we think we should be. We struggle and sweat to maintain an image of who we think we need to be.
But there comes a time when we see that the struggle wasn’t really about our own truth, but a story that we accepted about what our life should mean. This is the time when as Joseph Campbell said:
“we get to the top of the ladder and find it’s up against the wrong wall”.
This is the time when we move into our mid-life stories. We see clearly that we need to transform something in our life when we realize that our path no longer has heart or meaning for us. We begin to stop looking outside ourselves for a teacher and instead look for our own path, our own practice.
At some point in our lives, it becomes very clear that there are things that come to us that we can neither triumph over or change. This is the time of the Elder story, the time for transcendence. Sooner or later we learn that we are unable to stop the process of aging, or prevent someone close to us from suffering. These are things we can’t triumph over or transform, these are things we have to accept. These are stories we need to listen to and make space for.
I have found in my own life that all my deep healing has come from a place of acceptance. From acceptance comes the possibility of equanimity, that realization that things are in balance in our lives, that we can be at peace with things as they are. Equanimity opens the door for compassion and loving kindness towards ourselves and others. For me, the real potential of Yin Yoga lies in the heart of the Yin Archetype, the archetype of the Mother.
The Mother teaches us about unconditional love and acceptance. I believe that a Mothers love is the strongest healing energy there is and that its power comes from a place of unconditional acceptance. When we are able to bring this unconditional acceptance to ourselves, to our own stories of trauma and joy, then real healing begins. Of course, healing doesn’t mean fixing or repairing, although that can often be a welcome side effect, it means to listen and be present with what’s true. This acceptance isn’t passivity, but the platform from which all transcendence can begin. It’s here where I believe the miracles of Yin Yoga can be found.
Although these are Taoist archetypes, they represent the truth of relationship that is mirrored in many spiritual traditions. Yin Yoga is quite unique in the yoga world in that there is no guru, no copyright and no regulatory body. When we understand what Yin can represent, we see that this freedom to find our own way of expressing ourselves within our practice is inherent in the archetype. As with all freedoms, this comes with its own challenges. If we fall into the same old patriarchal control systems, letting someone outside ourselves show us their way and not allowing us to discover our own truth, then we have lost one of the most important truths that the Yin archetype can help us remember.
There are many ways to see Yin Yoga in accordance with the understanding of the Yin archetype.
- From a physical point of view, we can say that the body is made up of parts that can be seen as more Yin or more Yang. Because we understand that yin and yang are only terms of relationship, we know that there is no absolute yin or yang, but only that which is more Yin or more Yang in relation or comparison to the other.
- As yang represents the more dynamic aspects of the cosmos and ourselves, we can say that the muscles represent this part of ourselves. The muscles like movement and striving and need these things to stay physically healthy.
- The more Yin parts of ourselves and the cosmos are those parts which are drawn towards stillness and acceptance. The deep connective tissue represents this part of ourselves.
Just as the muscles need our attention to stay healthy and resilient, so does the connective tissue. In order to keep our muscles healthy we need to approach them in a dynamic way, we need to move and stretch. Muscles respond to stress and effort, however our Yin tissues are very different.
Rather than movement and striving, which are yang ways of approaching things, our yin tissues need gentleness and acceptance. When we go into a Yin posture the first line of resistance we face as our joints open or close is from our muscles.
They’re like the guard dog, standing watch outside our home determined to make sure that nothing harmful is allowed to enter the “hearth” or depth of our joints. This ‘guard dog’ will tighten around the joint protecting it from any aggressive yang attackers that it feels can damage its home. This tightening of the muscles although beneficial in preventing injury, can also prevent us from deeply accessing our more Yin connective tissues that lie at the heart of our joints, and which ultimately maintain the joints integrity. When we are not able to access this connective tissue it begins to shrink and tighten around the joint. This tightening is what ultimately limits our joints mobility. In order to bring attention and gentle stretch to these tissues we must convince our ‘guard dog’, our muscles, to relax and let us into the joint capsule itself.
This is the reason we practice Yin Yoga the way we do. The muscles won’t relax unless they feel that the connective tissue is safe. In order for this to happen we must put ourselves in a position where the muscles can feel that it’s safe to let go. This is why I practice all Yin postures on the floor, bringing to each posture an attitude of gentleness and acceptance. But the muscles, like any good guard dog, will take some time to sniff your hand and assure itself of your intentions. This is what is happening in the beginning of each posture. As we sit, with an attitude of non-striving, gently allowing the muscles to trust our intentions, they will slowly relax and allow us to enter more deeply into the joint. This can bring a gentle Yin stretch to the connective tissue, helping it to stay healthy and young. Because the connective tissue reacts very slowly to any attention, it’s necessary to hold the Yin postures for extended periods of time.
These are some of the aspects of Yin Yoga that we speak directly to in our Module 1 trainings
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF YIN YOGA
A useful way of seeing the potential that this practice holds is to look at our yoga journey as we would a story unfolding in our life. I speak of this further in the section of the website about the module 3 trainings, but in simple terms, we can look at our lives through the lenses of our Youth, Mid-Life and Elder stories. Our Youth stories are about the times in our lives when we must find a place for ourselves in the world. These are the times when we need to triumph over what we see as obstacles in our life. These are our Yang times. In yoga these are the practices aimed at the muscles. We work hard in our youth stories trying to be the person we think we should be. We struggle and sweat to maintain an image of who we think we need to be.
But there comes a time when we see that the struggle wasn’t really about our own truth, but a story that we accepted about what our life should mean. This is the time when as Joseph Campbell said:
“we get to the top of the ladder and find it’s up against the wrong wall”.
This is the time when we move into our mid-life stories. We see clearly that we need to transform something in our life when we realize that our path no longer has heart or meaning for us. We begin to stop looking outside ourselves for a teacher and instead look for our own path, our own practice.
At some point in our lives, it becomes very clear that there are things that come to us that we can neither triumph over or change. This is the time of the Elder story, the time for transcendence. Sooner or later we learn that we are unable to stop the process of aging, or prevent someone close to us from suffering. These are things we can’t triumph over or transform, these are things we have to accept. These are stories we need to listen to and make space for.
I have found in my own life that all my deep healing has come from a place of acceptance. From acceptance comes the possibility of equanimity, that realization that things are in balance in our lives, that we can be at peace with things as they are. Equanimity opens the door for compassion and loving kindness towards ourselves and others. For me, the real potential of Yin Yoga lies in the heart of the Yin Archetype, the archetype of the Mother.
The Mother teaches us about unconditional love and acceptance. I believe that a Mothers love is the strongest healing energy there is and that its power comes from a place of unconditional acceptance. When we are able to bring this unconditional acceptance to ourselves, to our own stories of trauma and joy, then real healing begins. Of course, healing doesn’t mean fixing or repairing, although that can often be a welcome side effect, it means to listen and be present with what’s true. This acceptance isn’t passivity, but the platform from which all transcendence can begin. It’s here where I believe the miracles of Yin Yoga can be found.
YIN YOGA MODULES
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“Embracing the Yin Path”. For me, the Yin path is about acceptance and connection. The Yin archetype herself invites us to stop striving. She invites us to stop trying to change things in our life without first accepting things as they are.
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“Yin Yoga and Storytelling”. Yin Yoga is a meditation that isn’t just about the mind, but is asking the whole body to become involved. By putting ourselves in postures and accessing our deep connective tissue we begin to connect with our own stories at a very deep level.
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