“What I’m looking for is not out there, it is in me.” – Hellen Keller
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss
“Yoga is not a work-our, it is a work-in. And this is the point of spiritual practice; to make us teachable; to pen up our hearts and focus our awareness so that we an know what we already know and e who we already are.” – Rolf Gates
I continue to work this new yoga I discovered during my certification course. Of course, I had heard and read snippets through the years, but it did not seem as if it fit my style. The old dog thing!!! Always learning. I do enjoy and am coming to love Yin Yoga. I am now exploring what the difference is between Yin and Yang. Lo and behold, I had been doing the Yang poses throughout my yoga experience. These poses or the vigorous poses and sequences experiences in Vinyasa or Power yoga practices. They are great as a warmup for the body to develop a quickened heart rate, increased blood circulation throughout the body and provide a cardio effect.
Some of the “yang” poses include downward dog, plank, and standing warrior poses. Yang poses are not held as long in Yin yoga. The warm comforting Yin poses are to put weight on certain muscles. Finding your “edge” while doing Yin yoga is key. When moving into position, you are instructed to only go as far as you comfortably can. This means do not push yourself to where it hurts. The minute you feel strain you are to pull back to the edge of that strain. Your body always tells you what it can and cannot do. The purpose of Yin yoga is slowing the body to allow its natural intelligence to achieve balance.
The sympathetic nervous system is the one that puts us in “fight or flight”. With a stressful life, this system does not shut off. The cortisol hormones continues to secrete. Yin yoga allows for the diminishment of this system and engages the parasympathetic nervous system. Here the “feel good’ hormones of serotonin and dopamine are increased, inflammation lowers, and the body’s rest-and-repair mechanism is activated.
Our body and mind give the go-ahead to feel physical, tangible joy!