Yin Yoga

Hello everyone, this is Charu. Welcome to Yoga & You. Join me as I share yoga from its roots in India to inspire your body, mind and your soul from wherever you are.

In both yogic and modern somatic understanding, the hips are seen as where we hold unresolved tension, stress and emotion. When we experience fear, loss or uncertainty in life, our body slowly starts to subtly contract, especially in our pelvis and our lower back. So with the help of Yin Yoga, what we aim to do is give our nervous system the time to shift from guarding to releasing. Because over time, these micro contractions become almost a pattern of holding stresses in our body.

Before we do anything, I think it is very important to understand why we do it. Our hips are the central bridge between our spine and our legs. So what happens when you have tight hip flexors and glutes? What happens is that our pelvis leans forward and pulls our hamstring, which creates a lot of tension in our lower back and our sacrum, which is the lowest part of our spine. So with Yin Yoga, we aim to release this, create more space and mobility which promotes better movement pattern for your body.

So welcome to this episode of Yin Yoga for your hips and your lower back, where we are not going to just stretch our muscles but we are going to unfold the stories that lie inside it. So let's begin with a simple grounding asana called Supta Baddha Konasana. Before we begin, we encourage you to have as many cushions and blocks as you need for your convenient level.

Place one block underneath your back and a little heightened beneath your head. Begin with lying back on your cushions. Let your knees come together and then fall open. If you need, you can place one block on each side underneath your thighs. Place one hand over your belly and the other over your heart, or if you would like, you can open your hands on either side as well.

Just make sure you arrive in your pose with your breath as comfortable as possible. Taking one nice deep breath into your belly and a nice long exhale. Let the weight of your body be absolutely held by the earth underneath you. Relax your neck. Relax your knees. Let the hip melt into the floor with every exhale. Inhaling gently and releasing with every exhale.

The beauty of yin lies in the patience we hold in each pose, allowing our body to completely surrender into the pose. With every inhale, let your breath reach your hips, and with every exhale, let it release all the tension into the earth. Take a couple of long deep breaths as you stay in stillness in this pose.

From here, take one last nice deep inhale, a nice long exhale, and gently bring both your knees together. Turn to one side and gently come into seated. I encourage you to hold in this pose for at least three to four minutes so that your body is completely grounded and rested.

We'll move on to our next pose, which is called Adho Mukha Kapotasana, or Sleeping Swan. To begin that, let's come into all fours, where you're going to slide your right knee towards your right wrist and extend your left leg all the way back. Make sure your hips are equal. You can also place a block underneath your right hip.

Now from here, you can choose your variant, whichever is easy or difficult for you, your choice. You can either place your forearm on the cushion or extend your hands fully to the front, coming into a forward fold. Taking in a nice deep inhale and a nice long exhale.

The essence of yin yoga is the time you give it. It is very natural for you to resist when the muscle starts to stretch. I want you to notice how, when you stop to resist, your breath starts to grow deeper. And with that in mind, send every breath, every inhale, towards the outer corner of your hips, and with every exhale, grow deeper into the pose. Take a couple of long deep breaths here.

Whenever you're ready, gently start to come onto your forearm and slowly lift your chest up, and start to sit onto your right side, slowly bringing your left leg to the front. So once you're done with your right side, it's very important to balance it out, doing it on both sides.

So for the left side, again, coming into our all-fours, sliding your left knee towards your wrist and extending your right leg out. Bring your foot slightly towards your hip and make sure both your hips are even. Now to your comfort level, you can either use a block underneath your hip, which makes it a little bit more easier for you to get into the pose, or if not, you can remove the blocks as well. To get into a forward fold, either place your forearms on the bolster or extend your hands fully forward, whichever is convenient for you.

As you're doing the other side, I want you to notice the difference that you can sense on each side. Every side of the hip is a story to tell, so notice the subtle differences that your body poses. And without any comparison, without any expectation from your body, start to ease into the pose. As you take a nice deep inhale, and a nice long exhale.

Our body can hold a lot of tension just on one side. So these subtle differences come to surface through the practice of yoga, especially in yin, where every pose is held for a longer duration. The practice of Yin Yoga brings stability through awareness rather than effort.

Taking a nice deep inhale, sending the breath to your hips, and as you exhale, let every tension be released into the earth. And notice for any resistance that you pose when your muscles start to stretch, and slowly coming into our forearms, lifting our chest up. Sit back on your left side, and very gently, very, very gently, bring your other leg forward.

Let's move on to our next pose, which is called half butterfly, or Ardha Titliasana. For this, let's first extend both our legs forward. Once your leg is extended, I want you to bend your left knee, feet flat on the floor, and then gently, knees open out towards your left. Let your feet touch the inner thigh of your right side.

Now keep a cushion or a block ready in case if you would like that variation as well. If you want to go a little bit more easier into the pose, take your right leg slightly towards your right side. Now spine nice and tall, hands going all the way up, and gently forward fold. You can either place your forearm on a cushion and place a block to rest your head. This variation makes it a little bit more easier to get into the pose.

Take a couple of neutralizing breaths, meaning let your breath move as normal as possible. It is natural, like I said, that our body starts to resist staying in a pose for a longer time, especially when you start to feel the muscles pulling or stretching. But the key in yin yoga is to stop resisting. Or I would say, it is the key in life as well. The pain that you might feel is inevitable. So stop resisting and just be. Allow your body to repair. Allow your body to just be.

As you are here, if you feel like this gets a little bit too comfortable for you, I encourage you to take that block where your forehead is resting, and gently start to extend your hands forward and let your head rest on the cushion. Make sure your hips are fully flat on the floor. Taking in a nice deep inhale and a nice long exhale. Let your body really sense that pull underneath your leg all the way towards your hip.

And then gently, very slowly, coming all the way up. Bringing your right leg back. Now from here, extend your left leg all the way out. Let your right foot touch your left inner thigh. Again, you can either keep it all the way straight or slightly move your left leg towards the side.

From here, spine nice and tall. Use a cushion or a block to your convenient level. Inhale, hand goes all the way up to the sky. Exhale, forward fold. Rest your head on the block. Let your spine round naturally. No push, no force. With every inhalation, allow your body to just be, and with every exhalation, let go of any expectation from your body.

There is no hard and fast rule that a pose needs to look like, especially with yin. So really listen to your body, listen to how you need. Allowing your hips to rest fully on the floor. Allowing your spine to melt as you need. Allowing your neck to relax and your forehead to rest completely. Taking in a nice deep inhale, and a nice long exhale.

Observe the small shifts that happen in your body. The small movements that your body makes. Observe the difference on each side. Is it harder or easier on this side? Are you holding more tension on this side? Even if that's the case, there is no comparison. Just observe, gently keep melting into the pose.

Once you're done with a couple of breaths, gently lift your chest up. Coming all the way up. Bringing your legs back together.

Now coming to our last pose, I'd like for you all to bring your knees together. Keep your cushions and your blocks next to you for your own variations. Gently lie back. Now take a block and place it underneath your head. Make sure your fingertips are touching your heels, and both your feet are parallel to each other, not coming inward or outward.

And from here, moving both your knees towards the right side. If you'd like, place a cushion underneath your right leg. If you feel this is too easy, you can take it away as well. You can extend your hands on either side. Let your gaze be towards the left. Bring your eyes to a close. And gently breathe.

Observe the twist that happens in your lower back. The essence of being is the time you give it. Allow your body to rest. Allow your body to restore. Allow your body to just be. Our minds often think that to make a change, there is a lot of effort that's needed. On the contrary, sometimes it takes awareness to make change rather than effort.

We're going to be here for another five. Three. Two. And one.

Now from here, gently bring both your knees back to the center, and move your knees towards the opposite side. Make no fast movements. Make sure both your shoulders are flat on the floor, rested. No one shoulder should be up. Let your gaze towards the right side. Taking in a nice deep inhale.

It's very often there are mind things that we've not put in enough work, or we've not put in enough effort to make changes. But it is in stillness, but it is in stability, that work gets done silently and subtly. It is retraining our mind, retraining our nervous system to slow down, to be in stillness. It is the practice of being that helps us to arrive to stability, to arrive in stillness.

Just here for another five. Keep breathing long deep breaths for four. For three. For two. And one.

Gently bring your knees back to the center. Remove the block from beneath your head. Hug your knees into your chest. Bring your forehead towards your knee. And from here, gently release your arms, release your legs. Arms facing the sky, feet fall apart, and gently slipping into shavasana.

Our hips are where we store our deepest emotions, stories, movements and stillness. When you start to release here, you soften the way you walk through life. So take in a nice deep inhale, and as you exhale, imagine letting go of everything that doesn't serve you.

Thank you so much for your time and your practice with me today. Namaste.