Exploring Yin Yoga

by Chuck Frenkel

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Yin yoga encompasses the yogic aspects of breathing, meditation, working with energies/emotions, BODY AWARENESS, and the practice of changing how we relate to our egoic thoughts with emphasis on breathing and meditation.  Yin teaches us to CONNECT and creates the environment and opportunity in which to do so. We learn to connect with our breath, our bodies (physical being), our true selves (spirit) and with EACH MOMENT of our existence.  We learn how to RELATE to our thoughts rather than just REACT to them, getting caught up in our mostly negative stream of mind stuff and getting distracted. 

Dealing with the mind/ego relationship is usually the most challenging for yoga students, not just with an asana practice but with all facets of a yoga practice.  In a yin yoga practice we work on letting go of judgments and expectations, becoming more fully present moment to moment, concentrating on the practice in each moment while being patient and compassionate with ourselves.  We try to embrace and incorporate the ideas of satya (being truthful) and ahimsa (non-harming) and move towards the just “being (in the moment)” rather than always “going and doing”. 

The yin practice helps us to be with ourselves without distraction, which, in some cases, can be a scary proposition.  This is where a good teacher comes into play.  That teacher can work with a student and help guide them through a safe and productive practice.  A good teacher can help guide the student as they make their way along their path, hopefully towards a more balanced practice and a more balanced life.  As our bodies find that balance, so does our mind and we become less reactionary and more observant.  As our mind slows and becomes less cluttered, we gain more clarity.

Many times, I have students come up after class and tell me they had no idea where the time went – it seemed like we had just started our practice.  This is a good indication that a student is starting to get out of their thinking mind, and instead they are starting to become less distracted by their thoughts.  When you’re in your head, caught up in your thoughts, being distracted by those thoughts and perhaps just waiting for the practice to be over (so you can be distracted somewhere else), you’re more aware of time.  When we are just “observing experience” (breath), we can lose sense of time’s passing and live our practice more fully, moment to moment, indicating that we are more fully present in each moment, more fully immersed in the meditation that is our wonderful yin practice.

-Chuck Frenkel, E-RYT & Yin Yoga Teacher

Practice Yin Yoga with Chuck and Polly:

Mondays 7:00-8:30 pm Yin Yoga with Chuck

Thursdays 6:45-8:15 pm Yin Yoga with Polly

Saturday, 9/22, 4:00-6:00 pm Exploring Yin Yoga Workshop with Chuck and Polly