Hi Friends,
Are you wanting to take a deeper dive into Yin Yoga and learn more about the science, the psychology, the anatomy, the poses, and the practice as a whole? I have several upcoming offerings that you might like to check out.
My dharma is to share these teachings that have inspired growth in my life through these nearly 30 years of yoga practice and study.
I discovered Yin Yoga in 2004. I had already been teaching yoga with a Chinese Medicine and Yogic lens for about 7 years, when my friend, Christine, asked me if I had heard of Yin Yoga. She explained that Yin Yoga focuses is on the unique needs of the connective tissue and subtle energy lines. Christine was sure I would appreciate the approach, and clearly she was right.The next week, I traveled to another city to take my first class. Truthfully, as a Vinyasa teacher, it felt super foreign to spend 90 minutes on the floor, holding the postures muscularly relaxed for several minutes at a time, however, I was intrigued by the theory and method. After that first class, WOW! I felt light and easeful in my bones and in my mind. I had to experience and learn more! Little did I know it would totally transform my life and my teaching.
I sought out the developer of Yin Yoga, Paul Grilley, and ordered his DVD Yin Yoga: Foundations of a Quiet Practice. I watched, practiced, took notes and started introducing the principles into my personal practice and the classes I taught. It wasn't long before I signed up for his in-person trainings. I traveled to Chicago several times a year, whenever Paul was in town guest teaching in studios and yoga conferences. I took everything he offered, whether a single three-hour class, day-long practice or 5 day immersion. Here is a picture of Paul and me back in 2006. :)
Beyond the physical benefits of the practice, I became increasingly inspired by how Yin Yoga aligns so well with the nuances of Depth Psychology (my other love and the field of my graduate work). The primary teaching of yoga is "union," and the goal of psychological study is “individuation,” which is the integration of our unconsciousness with our consciousness, allowing the True Self to be more clearly experienced and expressed.
In the midst of our busy lives, something profound occurs in the Yin Yoga practice when we can slow down and enter the still, quiet place to allow ourselves to feel, witness, release, resolve and renew. It is an alchemical process. Coming into our body as we process our thoughts and emotions is psychology at its best... and Yin Yoga may be the body practice that is most equivalent to depth psychology - consciously seeking wholeness by giving expression to what is the most subtle within, the unconscious.
It is important to clarify that Yin Yoga is different than the stillness in Restorative Yoga that is aiming to really wind down the nervous system into a relaxation response. Yin Yoga is unique in that we are still modestly stimulating tissues and energy lines with intentional traction or compression. There is a meeting ground and harmony between action and relaxation. The long held, muscularly relaxed poses provide a consistent beneficial tension that stirs a chemical response and essentially speaks the unique language of regeneration for fascia (throughout the body) and the ligaments (that hold bones together and create joint capsules).
There is a juxtaposition of creating a strategic tension while softening into that sensation. In my experience. Yin Yoga provides a physical expression of what Carl Jung coined the Transcendent Function, "The cooperation of conscious reasoning with the data of the unconscious...progressively uniting the opposites."
So, whether you are a yoga student looking to immerse yourself in learning and broaden your relationship to your practice, or you are a yoga teacher wanting to expand your knowledge and practice while earning continuing credit hours (CUE), or a bodyworker/therapist who looking to skillfully recommend yoga exercises for your clients, or all of the above, I am sure you will enjoy joining our explorations into the science and psychology of Yin Yoga together.
Please note the some of these workshop/immersions are taking place at my studio, Roots & River Yoga, in Brunswick, MD and others are being offered at other studios in Maryland and Washington, DC. This list of events below shows what has been scheduled between now and June. I plan to add a 50 hour Yin YTT and an immersion into the Science and Psychology of Meridian Theory and more to the calendar for fall/winter. I will keep you posted and feel free to check our website event page anytime.
Drop me a note with any thoughts, inquires, or simply to share your story of how Yin Yoga has been a gift in your life.
With love and adoration,
~ Machelle