Safety, Guidelines & Equipment

Safety 

  • If you experience sharp electrical shooting pains please these are signs to back off & listen to Your body, where does it want to go?

  • A practice of 40-60 % is required in Yin, this is seen MORE important if You are prone to injuries or recovering.

  • You may not feel like You are pushing in the body but check in with the mind the mind loves to push us. Pushing can lead to injuries.

  • You may experience nausea as we release toxins, stress, and anxiety may also surface. Lie down or move into child pose until it passes.

  • Try to refrain from eating for at least 2 hours prior to class a very light snack before class though can be nice.

  • In Yin Yoga, as in all intelligent forms of physical yoga, alignment matters. But alignment in Yin Yoga has little to do with whether your foot is pointed in the “right” direction, or whether your knee is at a precise 90-degree angle. Focusing on how a pose looks is an approach referred to as aesthetic alignment. However, what is aesthetically pretty may not be functionally beneficial.

  • Yin Yoga is not restorative yoga. Like all yoga practices, if the tissues you are targeting for exercise are damaged in some way, please give yourself a chance to heal before resuming your regular practice.

  • When practised with this sensibility, I believe that Yin Yoga is about as safe as, if not safer than, any other form of yoga. But I don’t think it is appropriate for everyone. A person’s biology, history, life stage, pathologies, and preferences all matter. There is no one-size-fits-all.

Please check in with your healthcare provider if you are recovering or prone to injury before practising Yin Yoga.

Guidelines 

  • Your bone structure & tension in your body is unique to You, so You are going to look different to the person next to You in each pose.

  • We are exercising Your facia and connective tissue that runs through your whole body. It is like plastic in fiber so it requires time, softness & patience. If we were to imagine shaping and moulding a tree, we would eventually see that with time it begins to change. If though we were to pull a branch quickly we would snap the branch.

  • It is in the stillness of the YIN poses this is where the healing lies, as it allows time to create cologne and elastin water-loving molecules that hydrate your tissues and joints.

  • There is an electrical current that runs through the body so when we apply pressure to the body it’s like turning a light on in the body.

  • There is no wrong or right way to be in each pose.

  • If You are feeling it You're doing it.

  • It is a fine line though and that line is only the line YOU feel.

  • You are Your Greatest Teacher and best Doctor

  • The body naturally adjusts and corrects itself.

  • Allow the body to flow into the places You want to go.

  • After 3 minutes in one place, we have stimulated the synovial fluid that lies between your joints & ligaments.

  • Please know that I never expect You to do what I am saying sometimes the body wants to do something else, it is of GREAT importance to listen to Your body.

  • Society teaches us that we must comply with what teachers are saying.

  • I don't believe I am a teacher.

  • I am Your guide and there to help assist & guide You into shapes and to remind You to breathe.

  • I believe it is important that we don't become our wounds instead our wounds become our gifts.

What you WILL need FOR A HOME PRACTICE

These are not essential but as You begin to practice more You might like to invest. 

  • Earthing Yoga Mat

  • Block

  • Bolster

  • Blanket

  • Eye Pack

  • Strap

  • Yin can be practised on a clean soft blanket also

Everything is provided for you when you practise at yinyoga.nz

Clothing and temperature

The body can sometimes cool down in Yin, it depends on which class we are taking.

  • Loose-fitting comfortable clothing a natural fibre like cotton or silk can be very nice.

  • A blanket/hoodie to wrap up in during and at the end of class always feels good.

  • The space is always kept at a warm and cosy temperature, so your muscles are able to relax but we do not sweat.

  • If we heat the body too much we don’t target our tissues at their most organic state, which eventually could lead to over stretching/injuries.

“It is in the stillness of the YIN shapes this is where the healing lies, as it allows time to create collagen and elastin water-loving molecules that hydrate your tissues and joints.”

— Faye Winmill