Why All Women Need To Try Yin Yoga?

Yoga as a form of exercise has become popular worldwide today. However, many new styles of yoga such as restorative yoga, Hot yoga, Forrest yoga and other novel forms are increasingly becoming popular. One such style of yoga is Yin yoga which is particularly useful for women due to its relaxing and grounding effect. Besides, Yin yoga helps lower stress, and balances hormones while promoting self-care and self-love. So, let’s delve into the many aspects of Yin yoga and how the practice is suitable for women.

What is Yin Yoga?

Yin Yoga is a therapeutic and relatively quiet style of slow-paced yoga wherein the yoga poses are performed either while seated or lying down. This yoga is sans any major twisting or stretching as experienced while performing the quintessential yogic sun salutations, plank poses or the challenging shoulder stands. On the contrary, in Yin Yoga, you will be expected to relax your body for the purposes of softening and releasing naturally. Such postural placidity can be held even up to a period of 10 minutes at a time. Such time spent can be likened to the time spent in meditation where your mind shifts from active to the passive mode or from Yang to Yin.

However, Yin Yoga, although seemingly simple requires one to find stillness while holding a posture so as to connect with the complex and internal bodily tissues and fascia. Also, the postures of Yin Yoga focus on tissues that surround the joints of the hips, spine and sacrum. The concept of Yin Yoga draws from finding tranquillity and cooling the body in contrast to the Yang concept which predominantly stands for movement and generating heat in the body.

Inspired by age-old Chinese Taoist practices, this form of Yoga works around the feminine principles of the moon as opposed to the masculinity of Yang as exhibited in Vinyasa yoga forms.

Why Yin Yoga should be practiced by women?

As already explained above, Yin Yoga is all about finding stillness in each posture, therein encouraging the practitioner to receive and listen. Today, women are pulled in different directions to fulfil professional and personal obligations. This leads to increased stress germinating from leading an active and busy Yang lifestyle. Furthermore, Yin Yoga is believed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and help in balancing your emotions. This can make you feel more grounded and calmer. Plus, Yin Yoga as with any other yoga style helps lower stress, balances hormones and fosters self-love. 

Furthermore, as one stays in each posture for a longer duration, it allows you to develop inner silence which in turn helps you to get attuned to your natural intuition while expanding your self-awareness. This Yoga is deeply meditative and is highly beneficial for women as it allows more opportunities and time to relax at a deeper level into the tissues and fascia of the body.

You can learn the nuances of Yin Yoga and also teach this unique form of yoga by participating in Yoga Teacher Training India programs.

Benefits of Yin Yoga

Besides being beneficial to women, in particular, Yin Yoga can be practiced by almost anyone due to its simple and quiet nature. Below are some benefits that you can accrue as a woman or any other individual practicing Yin Yoga.

Helps reduce stress and anxiety

Our busy, fast-paced lifestyles are actually precursors of chronic stress and anxiety that we experience most often. Yin Yoga, in particular, is a soothing and calming practice that helps placate our nervous energy. A Yin Yoga class such as a part of a Yin Yoga course in Goa is a good opportunity to slow our mind and be guided through deeper realms of body and mind into practice. The slow movements combined with focusing on the breath are an incredible way to destress and reduce anxiety.

Treats Insomnia

Sleeplessness occurs if we hold tension and stress in our minds and bodies. We experience more Yang or active energy rather than the placid Yin elements making it difficult for us to destress and relax. Practicing this Yoga helps to ground your energy while ensuring a relaxing and rejuvenating rest.

Enhances circulation

As already mentioned, It works on the thick connective tissue of the Fascia which connects the muscles of the body. So, when there is an anomaly in the Fascia and when this area stiffens, it might negatively affect blood circulation. A consistent Yin Yoga regimen can lessen stiffness and improve circulation throughout the body.

Enhances flexibility and movement

Yin Yoga is useful in targeting and stretching the fascia and the connective tissues surrounding the muscles. This helps enhance flexibility and improve circulation in the joints. Factors such as ageing, wrong postures and injury can increase the stiffness of these connective tissues and restrict movements. Holding postures that help lengthen the fascia and muscles leads to the application of mild stress to the connective tissues and joints therein enhancing the range of motion. 

Some of the best yoga schools in Goa practicing Yin Yoga help you achieve such increased bodily movements while improving upon the overall range of motion.

Helps to slow down

The slow, quiet and tranquil nature of Yin Yoga can inspire anyone to slow down. In fact, such is the nature of the class that even if you enter into a Yin class in a rushed way, within the next 5 minutes into the class, you are bound to shift gears and slow down your pace. In today’s life filled with work deadlines along with personal and social obligations, its become imperative to find your own quiet space and unwind. A Yin class offers you a perfect opportunity to slow down and then again jump into the circus of life with greater clarity and renewed perspective and zest for life.

Your Takeaway!

Besides helping our bodies slow down and relax, Yin Yoga helps negate the negative consequences of a nervous system overdrive by balancing hormones, boosting the immune system, aiding in digestion and more. Furthermore, this novel yoga form helps us to achieve a meditative mind and cultivate joy and gratitude in our day-to-day lives.

So, in a nutshell, Yin Yoga is a wonderful yoga style that is particularly beneficial for women as it focuses on slowing down and cultivating self-love and self-care.