THE MAGIC OF
My Yoga Journey
When I was a teenager I remember that my mum went to Yoga classes from time to time. She was always telling me that Yoga is perfect for strengthening the whole body. I was not as enthusiastic about it as her, rather I thought that it looks super slow and boring and cannot be a real sport.
And I was right, Yoga is definitely not a sport - it is a philosophy, a way of living, a path to ease, a guidance to enlightenment and understanding about everything that is… and is not. And as a side effect it DOES strengthen the whole body, on complex different levels. It affects our muscles, joints, fascia, ligaments, meridians, chakras, nervous systems, hormones and has in general a huge impact on our immune system.
I got older and started to visit my own Yoga classes in different institutions. At the beginning I only went after my workout sessions for giving my body a proper stretch. I also fell in love with the Shavasana in the end because I used to feel very stressed during my day. So I often just went to classes when I was stressed and longing for relaxation.
I did some month of backpacking with friends through Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico… What I didn’t expect was finding Yoga classes in almost every hostel I went to. That must have been for a reason, so I started getting more interested and finally felt the desire to dive deeper into this whole yoga world.
2022 I found the time, place and focus to do my first 200h YTT (Yoga Teacher Training) in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica - at Kindred Spirits (highly recommended).
And now 2024, I did another 100H Yin Yoga & Yoga Nidra Training with them and fell completely in love with the practice of Yin Yoga.
YIN YOGA
WHAT IS YIN YOGA?
Yin Yoga is still a very new style of Yoga as it was founded by Paul Grilley in 1990. Paul was inspired by a Martial Arts documentary where a guy called Paulie Zink explained why yoga is so important to do martial arts effectively and without injury. Paul, at this point, was a Hatha Yogi and became Paulies student. He learned a lot about just holding simple postures for a long time and he became hooked about this calm part of the practice. He also studied the theory of energy and meridians which led him to the idea of connecting his knowledge about the postures, meridians and mindfulness. Yin Yoga was born.
Yin Yoga is very much connected to the chinese philosophy. Their principle of Yin and Yang is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites. Examples of Yin-Yang opposite forces are female-male, dark-light, and old-young. The pairs of equal opposites both attract and complement each other.
Therefore Yin Yoga should not be seen as a complete practice, more as the perfect addition to our already so Yang world and lifestyle to keep the balance and increase the Yin in our life.
WE DON'T USE OUR BODY TO GET INTO A POSE, WE USE THE POSE TO GET INTO OUR BODY.
BENEFITS OF A REGULAR YIN YOGA PRACTICE
Calms the nervous system
Reduces the risk of injuries as it strengthens the joints and all plastic tissues
Loosens the fascia tissue
Increases the energy flow in the body (meridians)
Blocked emotions/ Samskaras can come up and be processed
Helps to become more resilient in the everyday life
Improves flexibilty