yoga naturally: Lifehacking Yin Yoga

by Joel Vitta

“Not Today Satan!” is what my mind says when I hold pigeon, or sleeping swan in Yin, for minutes at a time. The mind will throw a fit for the first couple of minutes and tell you things like “ok, that’s enough, get off it” “this is such a waste of time” or “Don’t tell me to sit still” Does that sound familiar? Our minds have a loud voice that wants to be heard, it wants to show you that they will protect us from a change that it sees as unsafe. It analyzes, evaluates and discerns the circumstances we are in to give us a read on if this situation is favorable or unfavorable and the limiting belief of unknown experiences is to be wary and cautious of the uncomfortable. Hacking Yin Yoga with these simple mind tricks will make you evolve into the next stage of your practice.

Yin Yoga is a practice that includes mindful movements and with a breath practice, to experience relaxation, flexibility, and presence. Traditionally in an all levels Yin yoga session, you hold the poses between 3 to 5 minutes. With guiding principles to find your edge, avoid getting out of the asana, and holding the pose for an extended amount of time. Finding your edge is something that is personal to everyone, we are all built differently, our flexibility and trigger points are all different due to our upbringing, range of motion and our daily lives. It is that area of discomfort, the pulling, and the slight burning. But if you feel pain such as tingling, ripping, or sharp pinching then you have gone too far. The edge moves as you practice, so make subtle adjustments in your pose as you let go.

The fascia, the connective tissues that surround our muscles, tendons, and bones, hold us up upright, encases our muscles and holds everything together. Additionally, have you ever heard the expression “Our issues are in our tissues?” Our emotions are knotted up in our fascia and it took work and thought to make. Making it that much more important to work to release it, and relax the weaved up tissue. Holding your edge is an effective, permanent

way to affect the fascia. No wonder our minds go wild, it worked hard to create those emotional memories and implant them in our bodies for us to have multiple warning signs when we move in life. But it’s time to grow out of the old and let go.

In western Yoga, due to our active lifestyle and the thought that we need to be doing something, if not we are not evolving, the poses are held between 3 to 5 minutes at a time. Most Yin sessions are between 60 to 75 min and your teachers will guide you to explore multiple poses to release different areas of the body. However, in oriental cultures, the hold times increase between 20 to 35 minutes. This might seem excessive, and as I write this my mind is rolling its eyes at this, but in reality, by holding these poses for that long, you will change your life, change your body, and change your mind. The fascia starts to release at about 2-1/2 minutes and you start to feel the flexibility kick-in and the mind chatter will dissipate. The work is happening and the mind surrendered, Yin is in effect.

So, your mind is still too obnoxious to let you feel Yin. Can’t release that chatter or the negative self-judgment?

Lifehack #1: Pranayama. Practicing breathing sounds backward to me, after all, I have been breathing since literally 10 seconds after I exited the womb, do I need to relearn that too? Yes, and your Yin survival depends on it. There are 9 different types of breathing techniques in Yoga that I practice. So, set up in your favorite Hip opener Yin Pose, like lizard, and focus on your breathing. Kumbhaka Pranayama is a practice of inhaling for a shorter count than exhale with retention in between. Example: Inhale for 4 counts, pause for 4, exhale 6 counts, pause for 6 counts. Repeat. The breath is inhaled from the nose and it first expands the belly forward, then the side ribs, then the chest. On the exhale, the belly contracts towards the spine, the ribs hug in, and the chest drops down. During the pause, Mula banda is engaged and chin lock is engaged for maximum benefit. Nadi shodhana, alternate nostril breathing, is also a mind buster by balancing both hemispheres, and the