Key Benefits of Yin Yoga

Increased flexibility:
This is the only practice that allows you the time to get a deep release in the Fascia that surrounds runs through our muscles.
 
Fascia needs these long holds to restructure itself in the body, creating more space between our joints. Think of Fascia as a thin, plastic-like material and our muscles as rubber bands. In quick stretching, we feel a release in our muscles but then they snap back into their original formation, not increasing length once we release from the stretch. Fascia, like a thin-plastic, can be remolded and reformed and maintains its new shape through time and practice.
 
Mindfulness:
-We learn to sit and examine our discomfort rather than avoiding it like we’re used to doing in uncomfortable situations.
 
-Reduces stress & anxiety. Because of the long holds in Yin poses, we have plenty of time to breathe consciously. The breath is our link to relaxing our Sympathetic Nervous System (fight or flight) and activating our Parasympathetic Nervous System (rest and digest).
 
-We move slowly in Yin practice in a world where we’re used to moving very fast and jumping from task to task. This teaches us to pay attention to things we typically would ignore when we’re running on “auto-pilot” and caught up in daily life.
 
Promotes emotional well-being and balance:
In Yin, we are stressing the meridian lines (low-resistance energy pathways in the body that feed our internal organs). Each meridian is associated with an emotion, and if out of balance can cause us to feel an emotional outburst or imbalance. Think of it like doing self-acupuncture!