WELLBEING

Yin yoga: Why your mind and body will love you for it

5 March, 2022 . 0

Whether you’re trying to improve your flexibility or just want to feel deeply relaxed, yin yoga is worth rolling your mat out for.

It might be less well known and more low key than other yoga styles, and it doesn’t involve fancy add-ons like heated studios and suspended swings, but yin yoga has a lot going for it.

For starters it’s incredibly relaxing.

“Yin yoga won’t leave you feeling energised,” director and senior yoga instructor at Mt Cotton’s My Yoga Time Nicole Aristoteli says.

“What you’ll feel is deeply relaxed, spacious and as though warm honey has been flowing through your whole body.”

It’s also highly therapeutic for your joints and your connective tissues, like ligaments and tendons.

“Yin yoga is unique in that it targets them in ways that more dynamic yoga practices can’t,” Nicole says.

And when it comes to maintaining or improving your flexibility, targeting joints and connective tissue is key.

Why? When you don’t do things that use your full range of joint flexibility, the connective tissues slowly shorten to the minimum length that’s required, which eventually results in feeling stiff rather than supple.

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What is yin yoga?

There’s a big hint in the name.

In Eastern philosophy “yin” is a symbol of passivity, whereas “yang” represents activity.

As such, experts describe yin yoga as a deep and slow practise.

“With yin yoga, the postures aren’t weight bearing, because they’re performed either seated, reclined or prone,” Nicole says.

“Therefore it’s safe to take your joints to their full range of motion and allow the muscles to completely relax.

“Connective tissue takes around two minutes to respond due to the limited amount of blood supply it has compared to the muscles, so postures are held for anywhere between two and five minutes, and it’s at the magic two-minute mark where the pose really begins.”

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How yin yoga can benefit mental wellbeing

As well as increasing flexibility and improving joint mobility, regular yin yoga practise may also benefit mental wellbeing.

One study found yin yoga is helpful for relieving anxiety of students when practised regularly, while another found it more effective in reducing anxiety than aerobic activity.

Swedish researchers found yin yoga could assist in reducing a biomarker for stress linked to the development of non-communicable diseases.

Another study evaluating a psychoeducational program using yin yoga found participants indicated a significant decrease in stress and worry, and increased mindfulness.

While many styles of yoga require mental awareness and attention, yin yoga may go above and beyond, according to University of South Australia researcher, yoga practitioner and clinical exercise physiologist, Jacinta Brinsley.

“For example, vinyasa yoga is a moderate-intensity exercise with mindfulness, while yin yoga has a very light intensity but with a strong focus on mindfulness,” Jacinta says.

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Who is yin yoga good for?

Yin yoga is suited to everyone, and all levels of experience, according to Nicole.

“That being said, people who haven’t practised yin yoga before may find their first few classes intense, even if they’re experienced in other styles of yoga,” she says.

“This is because the postures are held for longer and there’s nowhere to go to move away from sensations – you stay in the pose and witness the changing sensations of the tension subsiding.”

How to get involved in yin yoga

Yin yoga’s growing popularity over the last 10 years means most yoga studios and even some gyms, offer classes.

“There’s also an abundance of yin yoga classes online, and I offer free weekly classes on YouTube at My Yoga Time,” says Nicole.

However – or wherever – you access a yin yoga class, Nicole has one final piece of advice.

“I do encourage everyone to practise this style of yoga using props, like yoga blocks, a pillow or a yoga bolster, in order to support the body properly.”