Yin Yoga For Release

This Yin Yoga practice is a deep stretch for the body and mind. We get into the hips, legs, and spine in this sequence. Ease into the poses thoughtfully and slowly. Each pose is held for about three minutes. Great for the joints and connective tissues, or fascia throughout the body. Drink water afterwards to aid in the benefits of this practice.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

This practice is a yin yoga practice.

Yin yoga is a type of deep stretching that gets into the fascia,

The connective tissue,

As well as the joints.

Behold the poses longer.

Anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes or more is common.

And this practice is focused on accepting the present moment and letting go of fear or resistance or whatever else you'd like to let go of.

This focus will be on the hips primarily,

We'll also be getting into the spine and the hamstrings a little bit.

So remember if you're new to yin that you really need to listen to your body.

When we come into a yin pose we want to only come as deep as we start to feel sensation of stretch,

Commonly called coming to your edge.

So our first position,

Our first pose is going to be butterfly pose.

So find a seat either on your mat or a blanket.

I like to have a blanket laid out on my mat for yin.

And if you would like you can sit up maybe on another blanket or cushion or just on your mat or blanket.

Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together.

Rather than a Baddha Konasana where the feet are closer to the hips,

We're going to bring the feet out a little ways from the hips so you're making a butterfly shape in the legs.

And then take an inhale,

Find length through the spine and as you exhale hinge forward from your hip crease.

Coming only as far forward as you begin to feel sensation of stretch.

So we're going to hold here for a little while and as we hold this position we're going to notice our breath and observe sensation in the body.

You may notice how the sensation of stretch may begin to feel slightly uncomfortable as we hold the position longer.

As this may occur notice the mind's response to being uncomfortable.

Usually it's the same response we may have to other challenges in our life.

So a common response or reaction in Yin as we hold a pose,

It might be that sensation of wanting to run away,

That sort of flight response.

The fight response might also be a response you notice which might demonstrate through wanting to change where you are,

Wanting to fight through it or force something.

Another response that's common is to just sort of give up and sort of be that victim of just suffering through it.

Of course the wisest response is to be aware with what's happening with a sense of detachment.

So notice where you are and how it feels.

Notice if the mind comes into one of those responses as we hold the poses.

So we'll be holding here a little bit longer.

There's an option part way through the pose where you can go deeper if you would like,

Just an option.

You may begin to feel the outer hips getting a nice deep stretch here.

You can send your breath to those areas in the outer hips,

Inviting them to release and soften.

And then take a nice deep inhale and a slow open mouth sigh of an exhale.

Just let it go.

Couple more breaths like that.

Nice deep inhale and a soft sigh of an exhale.

On your next inhale,

Slowly begin to use your hands and arms and press yourself back up to a seat.

From here,

Lean back on your hands.

Position your feet flat on your mat,

Maybe about as wide as your yoga mat,

And just drop your knees to the left or right,

Coming into our counter pose of windshield wipers.

And then as you inhale,

Bring the knees back up to center and exhale them over to the other side.

Notice how you feel.

And take a few more windshield wipers here for your counter pose.

Even as we come out of a yin pose,

There's that momentary and temporary feeling of vulnerability and fragility.

That is actually what we want because it means we got into the joints the way we wanted.

Yin really helps us keep our joints healthy.

And when you're ready,

Thoughtfully come back to a seat.

And for our next pose,

We're actually going to come all the way onto our belly.

So make your way all the way onto your belly for sphinx pose.

Bring your elbows underneath your shoulders,

Forearms are parallel.

Relax the spine.

And unlike a yang type of practice where we're engaging the shoulders and the legs in sphinx,

We're going to allow this to be a more relaxed sphinx pose.

In yin,

Our muscles are more relaxed compared to a yang hatha practice.

So soften the shoulders.

If the low back complains,

You can adjust your arms where it feels comfortable to you.

You might move the arms forward more or wider slightly.

And make sure the head and neck feels relaxed.

Allow the shoulders to soften,

The belly to relax.

Slowly release the low back.

Feet are relaxed.

Legs are relaxed.

And notice your breath.

This pose gets into the meridian energy lines of the kidneys.

Sometimes we hold energy in this area.

Even fear can sometimes get stuck here.

This pose activates these energy lines and helps to release any blockages there.

So we're going to hold here in sphinx for a few more breaths.

Sometimes notice how you feel.

And then slowly widen your elbows,

Bring your hands on top of each other,

And turn your head in one direction as you lower down onto your hands.

And the knee that's the same side as you're looking towards,

Up towards the nearest elbow.

So one leg is straight and the other knee is bent.

This helps release the low back and is a great counter pose after sphinx.

Take a few breaths here.

And then slowly straighten that bent leg.

Maybe bring your forehead to the back of your hands and gently rock your hips side to side.

So still laying on the belly.

This gentle rocking side to side also helps reduce any stuck energy and can feel really nice.

And then come to stillness.

Bring your hands thoughtfully under your shoulders.

And on your next inhale push up into a neutral table pose.

You may want to have a block handy for our next pose,

Child's pose,

With an option to go into tadpole or frog if you want to go deeper into the hips.

So bring your toes to touch and widen your knees.

Make sure you have something to support your head,

Especially if the forehead does not make it to the mat.

A block is really nice or you can stack your hands or fists on top of each other and rest your forehead on your fists.

So find whichever variation of child's pose works best for you.

And those of you that want to deepen this pose to get into the hips more,

You could start to widen the knees a little bit and maybe the feet widen a little bit until you start to feel a deep stretch in the groin area,

Inner thighs and hips.

You decide where you want to be.

We're going to hold here for a few breaths.

Softening with each exhale.

Accepting where you are right now.

Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

And releasing any resistance you have to your experience.

Whatever we resist persists.

So with each exhale,

Letting go,

What do you want to release?

Maybe letting go of fear or tension.

Whatever is not serving you.

Soften the shoulders,

Really soften into the whole body here.

Then you're allowing the hips to just sink towards the earth.

Maybe notice your breath.

Be present and aware.

Notice any reactions of the mind.

And gently see if you can bring your awareness back to sensation,

Back to the breath.

Notice the sensation without attachment and without resistance.

Begin to deepen your breath.

And on your next inhale,

Bring your hands close to you and press back up onto your hands.

Slowly coming back up.

Coming to a seat.

Maybe sitting with your legs out straight in front of you or wide.

So option for our last yin pose is either going to be a straddle with your legs out in a V shape or your legs together in a caterpillar pose.

So think about what you would like.

And you could always do one today and another one tomorrow.

So find what feels best in your body today.

And again,

You may sit up on the edge of a blanket to lift the hips.

If you're in straddle with the legs out in a V,

You're going to have your hands in front of you.

Take an inhale and walk your hands out forward until you find your edge.

If you're in caterpillar,

Legs are together.

And again,

Coming forward until you find your edge,

Feeling that stretch.

Option to use props to support your arms or maybe your head.

And maybe the hands support your head.

Find your variation and breathe here.

Being aware of sensation in your body.

And with each exhale,

See if you can soften the muscles around the hips and shoulders.

Invite your body to let go.

Release resistance and accept this present moment as it is.

Soften into the pose and let go.

Again,

Find variations as you need to.

And then slowly begin to deepen your breath.

Take a deep inhale and maybe a soft open mouth sigh of an exhale.

Let it go.

Slowly on your next inhale,

Begin to bring yourself back upright.

If your legs are wide in a V shape,

Maybe use your hands under the legs and help bring your legs back into a comfortable seat.

If you are in the caterpillar with the legs together,

Again,

Maybe bring your feet and legs back into whatever comfortable position feels right to you.

So usually now is when we would pause and find a Shavasana.

Feel free to find a Shavasana if you have time laying down on your blanket or mat.

Maybe spreading the legs a little bit wider than a normal Shavasana.

Arms might extend out a little wider.

Or you could come into a meditation in any comfortable seat.

And feel free to stay here as long as you have time.

Notice sensation.

Notice the whole body.

Allow your legs to be heavy and soft.

Notice the area of your hips and any sensation there.

Allow the hips to soften and melt.

And notice the area of your spine.

Visualizing space between each vertebrae.

And with your next exhales,

Soften any remaining tightness or tension around the back.

Allow your shoulders to soften and release.

Let the arms be heavy.

And allow a softening to continue down the arms into the hands and fingers.

Let your neck and throat soften.

Release any tension in the jaw.

Open your face and all the muscles around the eyes.

Take another breath here.

And as you exhale,

Maybe with a soft sigh,

Let go.

Types you you you

Reviews

This made such a lovely practice to transition from day’s work to evening quiet time. Loved the singing bowl at the end!

This is the first time I have practised Yin Yoga, many thanks Pamela for your guidance and encouragement. I will be doing more! Blessings to you 🙏

I loved this simple and wise practice. Perfect for evening. Thank you 🫶

Thanks Pamela, your yin practices are always so perfect! Thank you!

Lovely. You’re so good at describing poses especially with no visuals! Thank you 😊

Amazing Yin. Totally relaxed and detached to everything.

Wonderful, gentle practice for letting go. Thank you!

Hello beautiful 🌺🌺🌺🌺Thank you so much for the wonderful yin yoga practice 🎈I’m feeling like a balloon flying 🎈soft light and so relaxed 🌈have a blessed day 🙏Namaste

So wonderful, thank you!

Fantastically serene way to end the day. Sending gratitude and much thanks 🙏💛

Thank you so much - this was such a restorative practice - it was just what I needed after a very active day

thank you, I really enjoyed having a yoga class on insight timer!

Great cues and what a wonderful surprise savasana. Thank you

Wow! Just beautiful!! Thank you so much! ☺️ ❤️ I hope there’s more to come..

Thank you so much! I am so grateful for you and this practice. I know understand much better the differences between yin and other yoga styles, why I have certain reactions to certain postures, where I am holding tension and fear, how apply variations to postures... though I have had a regular yoga practice for more than 30 years, injuries to my neck and back have made practicing so uncomfortable for the last year or so. Your instruction made me feel at home again with a yoga practice and an acceptance of my "new" body for which I am so grateful and hopeful once again, like I have come home.

Very nice. Meditation for the body and spirit. Thank you, Pamela.🙏