Why you should chose Yin Yoga

I always notice when I talk to my clients about fitness they automatically say, "oh yea, I work out, I go to the gym, I lift weights, I do Hatha Yoga, I jog, etc etc" i think you can see the pattern i'm trying to convey. All their movement is incredibly yang energy, and very external as far as reward and achievement. They work towards gains and pushing themselves to do more and be better in their chosen fitness task or class.

That can be a great inspiring and motivating pursuit, i'm not saying otherwise, but I would like to mention that I see a huge lack of the opposite, the counterpart, the balancing side of everyones go get 'em attitudes when it comes to their bodies.

Most people are getting out of bed in the morning already drained of energy, pushing themselves to feel good about going to a job, or if they're lucky, a career, they feel ok about, and then they need caffeine to get over that afternoon slump due to a deep sense of real purpose. Their lives are just existence and not being fully lived.

Often we can use an outside source as a means of control when we feel there's nothing else we have control over. I know i used to use fitness as an outlet for control, i could shape my body because I couldn't shape or fix anything else.

Once I healed my spirit, the outside body obsession faded away, as well as the control issues and the need to constantly be busy doing and achieving more on a constant basis to be "a better me".

I put down the "self help" books and quit listening to the personality types that didn't motivate me, telling me i wasn't successful if I wasn't part of the 5am early risers club, and didn't run a company or write a book, or earn a million by pushing pushing and pushing harder.

I put it down, I realized doing less in a truly joyful, glorious, content and calm way, was my style, every minute telling myself i had more then enough time, I was perfect just the way I was, and I am enough , always was, always will be.

My fitness became mental, a reprogramming of my mind, it was a fitness that allowed the transformation of my body to unwind, destress, release and melt.

I was finally strong enough to embrace the Yin side of myself.

Yin Yoga, changed my life, and my thoughts on true strength and power.

True strength and power lies deep within.

When you can sit in stillness, holding a shape your body has been molded into, to create positive stress on the fascia, to nourish and hydrate the tissues and bones of your being.

True strength in unwavering peace, mind ,body and soul.

Finding that edge between too much and too little and allowing yourself the space to be present. To feel, to decompress the rigid patterns you've grown accustomed to holding.

These postural patterns are accumulations of tension and toxicity.

Allowing yourself to go there, takes bravery. To facilitate change in the familiar structure of your framework, can be a commitment and a journey I hope you consider exploring.

Yin Yoga is incredibly beautiful in it's approach and incredibly powerful in its lessons about the nature of who we are and our potential. How far can you surrender, how willing are you to release and sink into what you've built yourself into, can you be present in the moment, love exactly what you can create with the muscle memory formed directly in the now.

Yin is beneficial for every single person.

Directly from google, Yin yoga calms the mind and body, improves flexibility, increases circulation, reduces stress and anxiety, releases fascia, and improves joint mobility.

In teaching Yin, I try and remind students to allow their breath to switch their nervous system into rest and digest, or the parasympathetic state. This is the state of mind that allows real growth and regeneration to take place. We are usually in a fight or flight state of mind and this contributes to the fatigue and feelings of needing to escape in a tv show, or the million other distractions taking energy away from the present moment.

Yin is slow and mindful, part of the shape shifting (moving from one pose to the next) is the feeling of blood flow and nourishment rushing into the tissues you've just released, slowly counter balancing with your next position. Taking the time to set up props and keep a soft quiet gaze so your practice is an internal experience vs and external show.

In Yin Yoga the postures or shapes you form are held for 90 seconds to 5 minutes, depending on which position and your comfort level. The comfort level is referred to as a "goldilocks" zone, not too much, but not too little, a sweet spot where you can feel the positive stress and there is zero pinching, tingling or sharp pain. Within that framework you can make yourself comfortable so the muscles can relax and the fascia can release and hydrate with the mechano-transduction (the cells reacting to mechanical or applied stimuli via asanas or massage)

Of course through all yoga practices , a key to unlocking the deepest tensions is the web of connective tissue we call home is, the breath.

Take the time to even notice your breath, don't worry about controlling it, just appreciate it, notice and allow it to be. That acknowledgment is enough.

When you begin to be present minded with the body and breath and slow down, you start to slip automatically into the parasympathetic nervous system and you can help but sigh, and embody relief, and maybe shed a tear, of joy, of sadness of surrender.

This channel is amazing , Adrienne is funny, super smart , and just plain great to follow along to and I love her classes. She offers so many choices for your journey into the world of Yoga, and has the classes all organized based on length, type and style, or time or challenges. She also has her own website and training program, check it out Yoga With Adrienne.

I love how authentic Adrienne is and who couldn't love Benji!