I remember when I first began taking vinyasa yoga classes. I was living in Los Angeles, an exciting, dynamic, and creative city—a city that was nevertheless a source of continual work, stress, and exhaustion. Constant traffic, billboards, Hollywood, endless possibilities for activities, and people upon people upon people—this environment had me moving without stopping for nearly four straight years. For me, that was yin yoga—a slow, restorative style of yoga. Yin gives back so much more strength and energy than it takes away. When I began practicing yin yoga, I learned how to relax my body and really feel into each and every part of my body, especially the areas of pain. As a result, I felt much more balanced and less restless. When you breathe in, you are acknowledging any suffering that either you possess or that exists in the world around you, and you are accepting that suffering totally and unconditionally. When you breathe out you are giving rise to love, compassion, goodwill, kindness, surrender, or any number of positive attitudes you can generate. Here are five signs that you might need to consider replacing your vinyasa practice with a yin practice: The problem is not having a slight predominance of one over the other. The problem is when one totally dominates the other. Excess yang is most evident through restlessness. Restlessness manifests when your body resists stillness for any duration of time. So keep an eye out for environments and lifestyles that incite excess yang. If you have a job that requires you to stand on your feet and move constantly, you will very likely benefit from yin yoga, regardless whether you have a vata dosha. Yin yoga is a great treatment for anxiety because it emphasizes so much deep breathing, which exerts a calming effect on the body. When we breathe deeply by sucking air into our stomachs, we are tapping into that instinctual aspect of ourselves that reminds us how we breathed when we were babies—relaxed without a single worry in the world. Even some of the most basic postures, such as child’s pose, are a great opportunity to stretch when paired with breathing. When we breathe in deeply while our bodies are outstretched, the fascia, or thin sheaths of fibrous tissues enclosing our muscles and other organs, are able to release their tension. Intrigued? Here’s a guide to yin yoga that will help you deepen your practice.
