CREDIT: Unknown
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Welcome to Yin Yoga - Space and Stillness.
~ The roots of Yin Yoga lie in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Daoism.
~ Yin targets the hard tissues in the body; our bones, ligaments, tendons, fascia, and these organs: Kidneys, Liver, Heart, Lungs and Spleen.
CREDIT: Dan Keown : The Spark In The Machine
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~ Both ancient Chinese medicine and contemporary research suggest that Qi, our vital life energy, travels through the body along fascial pathways. Fascia is the web of connective tissue that runs throughout our bodies, and interestingly, it mirrors the meridian lines where Qi is said to flow. When this fascial network becomes tight or restricted, Qi can't move freely, which may lead to pain and feelings of being out of balance.
~ Fascia creates new structures for Qi to flow.
Fascia, connective and dividing (or compartmentalising) tissue.
Moving Qi through channels
~ Fascia doesn’t stretch, it unfolds. For it to unfold it needs long posture holds, Yin Yoga stimulates the ‘intelligence’ of the body. The intelligence of the body is the physiological, biological process that is activated to help hard tissue to function better.
~ The intelligence of the body is considered as Qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
~ In Western medicine, Fascia is now recognised as a sensory organ.
~ There are 6 types of fascia: Superficial, Peri, Deep, Visceral, Meningeal and Myo.
~ Fascia effectively holds the body together! It separates, encloses, and compartmentalises structures in the body. It provides structural support and stabilisation for organs.
~ Fascia is Piezoelectric, which means it carries an electrical charge. Fascia conducts Qi.
~ Symptoms of Dysfunctional Fascia would be inflammation, stiffness, degeneration, deterioration and dehydration.
~ In Yin Yoga we stress the joint to ‘exercise’ it.
~ Yin Yoga invites concentration. A focus to what is happening on the inside.
~ In Yin Yoga we relax the muscles to access the harder joint tissue. Surrendering our muscles this way allows our body to do its own physiological and biological Yoga for a while.
~ Qi will move the fluid full of nutrients into the joint, ligament, tendon of the target area for that particular posture. Whilst you may feel a Yin posture everywhere, the postures are designed to target specific areas.
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~ In Yin Yoga the postures look similar to Hatha yoga postures. They have different names in Yin.
~ The postures are designed to target the joints and hard tissue. (Crucial areas in the body that need nurturing through Yin yoga practice and cannot be reached with Yang exercise). Remember we strengthen the softer tissue in Yang, yes this includes the brain. The brain is extremely soft, and is both Yin and Yang.
~ I encourage the use of props, such as yoga blocks, yoga pads, yoga straps, bolsters or rolled up towels to enable ease and reduce stress. The postures are shapes provided as a guide, working with your own mobility is how we create space for Qi to flow.
