As it turns out, Yin class not only gives me quiet time to myself and keeps me from feeling quite so geriatric when I get up from mediation but it's also like giving myself a deep tissue massage! I don't know a lot about yoga yet; such as the different styles or even the names of the positions in Sanskrit; or English either for that matter. I only know how good it feels, that it helps my dance practice, and that hopefully I'll be mobile longer in advancing years.
Developed by Buddhist monks, Yin is a practice of sustaining certain yoga poses to passively elongate and stress the soft tissues. This is the opposite activity to aggressively engaging the muscles in others for shorter amounts of time to build strength and endurance. Those poses are often referred to as Yang in this discipline. Yin and Yang also representing the feminine and masculine, or passive and aggressive, respectively. Our muscles need stress or exertion to keep from atrophying and so does our fascia. If not sufficiently worked, the tissues contract becoming less flexible and prone to injury over time. Yin yoga is a practice to provide the needed stimulation to prevent this problem. This a very basic overview that I've absorbed from my yoga teacher and a bit of self-study.
All of these are perfectly good reasons to continue and make it a permanent practice in my life. Perhaps even more important, though, is that I'm also learning about how yoga applies to life off of the mat. I've spent so much more of my life in that realm so it's those lessons that have been the catalyst for the biggest change I've experienced thus far.
I'm realizing that life is very much like the practice of yoga, or maybe yoga is like life; however you want to look at it. Life can be huge and intimidating but yoga is a something I can tackle a little bit at a time. It's somewhat new to me and somehow that helps me give myself permission to fail at first. I have more patience with my body, my vehicle of experience, to work up to a goal. Sounds like something we should probably preach less and practice a little more to ourselves and others about life too, doesn't it?
"Hey! We're new at this life thing! Give us a break, we're just learning!"
There are times of Yang where we engage and struggle. We exert our power, encounter resistance, and persevere. This builds strength, endurance, and the ability to hold fast pulling from vast reservoirs of strength we didn't even know we have. Lock in and breathe through it! We become very aware of our existence in periods of strife.
Then there are times of Yin where we need to let go and let God, so to speak. Relax and listen to the beating of our own hearts and let the rest fall away. There can be a terrible urge to flex those muscles and create a force but we have to let it slip by us like a dry leaf on a stream. We have to let the pieces fall where they may; participate through observing, bear witness. After a time, the rules bend, the impossible becomes possible, and we allow ourselves to think outside the box and dream big. Why? Because we're not limiting ourselves with a range we've already experienced as reality or proven ablility. Settle in and enjoy the ride! Be at rest... Be at peace... We float the current instead of swim against it, which allows us time and energy for a much broader view of our world. We can recharge from the energy around us instead of summoning our own and giving it away leaving us drained.
Don't get me wrong. We need both kinds of life experience to grow. Sometimes in those Yang moments though, we swim against the current and we succeed due to focus and sheer determination. I'm imagining a time when I can have that same unwavering focus while floating with the current. What amazing things will I accomplish then?
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