Yin Yang Yoga – Your Complete Guide

The combination of passive – yin – and active – yang – yoga practices, is rooted in the idea that, in order to create balance in your overall practice, you need to alternately exert and quiet yourself. Combining these two practices is created a wholesome style of yoga called yin yang yoga that allows you to take the best aspects of two very different styles of yoga. This type of yoga is a great choice if you’re trying to improve both your flexibility and strength. It’s the best practice for developing calm and moving your body in a healthy way, which will help you get to know it better.

Yin Yang Yoga – A Short History

Between 1.300 and 200 BC, when the concept and philosophy of yin and yang were being created in Ancient China, yoga was being written about for the first time in Ancient India.

Even though the two ideas had not yet come into contact, they shared some of the same underlying ideas for achieving harmony and balance in the universe. It’s unclear exactly when yoga made its way from India to China, but it seems obvious that the fundamental ideas of “yin and yang” and yoga were bound to meet.

Paulie Zink, a martial arts champion, is credited with creating “yin yoga” in the 1970s by combining Taoist and traditional hatha yoga. In this blend, slower-paced Taoist yoga, often known as “yin yoga,” is combined with faster-paced “traditional yoga”.

The foundation of Zink’s Yin Yang yoga is the idea that you must alternate between straining yourself and becoming quiet in order to achieve balance throughout your whole yoga practice.

Yin and Yang Principles

We must first understand the differences between these two forms of yoga in order to fully comprehend what this type of yoga is.

Chinese and Taoist philosophy uses the phrases yin and yang to explain how completely opposite forces interact and depend on one another in the natural world. In contrast to yang, which is more active and dynamic, yin describes attributes that are slower and more passive.

According to Taoist philosophy, yin and yang emerge from the “primordial source”. They are used to describe characteristics found in nature. They also have a relative character. Only in relation to something yang is something considered yin.

For instance, compared to the sun, which is more yang, the moon is more yin. These forces, which appear to be at odds, are connected. Yin and yang collaborate to create, rule and transform into one another.

Everything has yin and yang aspects, according to Taoist philosophy. On the yin side of the yin-yang symbol, there is still a glimpse of yang. And on the yang side, there is still a glimpse of yin.

Yin Yoga vs Yang Yoga

Two opposing energies known as Yin and Yang combine to produce perfect harmony. But what are they fundamentally?

Yin Yoga

• Slow-paced
• Improves Flexibility
• Calms the body and the mind
• Reduces stress and anxiety
• Works on the connective tissues 

Yang Yoga

• Fast-paced
• Strengthens the muscles 
• Removes tension in the body
• Increases strength 

The Practice of Yin Yang Yoga

Yin Yang yoga is a practice that balances the slow-paced Yin yoga with the traditional Yang yoga usually including Ashtanga and Hatha yoga. The Taoist notions of yin, a feminine, passive, cooling energy, and yang, a masculine, dynamic, warming energy, are the foundation of yin yang yoga.

The Yin Yang yoga practice combines both forms of yoga to promote both physical and spiritual balance. Just as Taoists hold that yin and yang complement one another and that one cannot exist without the other.

In Yin yoga, the poses are held for a longer period of time – usually three to five minutes or more. This is in order to target the connective tissues, such as the ligaments, rather than to concentrate on the muscles. As a result, there is little active muscle engagement in the poses, which are more passive holds. Yin poses are frequently done first in a Yin Yang yoga session.

Yang yoga consists of the asanas and vinyasas of Hatha and Ashtanga yoga. These warm the body, stretch, and strengthen the muscles. The yang element of this type of yoga is usually practiced in the second half of the class.

Benefits of Yin Yang Practice

The advantages of the two separate practices are combined to provide the advantages of yin yang yoga. When practicing this type of yoga, you can expect benefits such as:

Improves Flexibility in Deeper Connectivity Tissues

You’ll be able to access the deeper connective tissue in your body known as “fascia” when holding deep stretches for a prolonged period of time in the yin phase of your class. As a result, your overall flexibility and mobility will be considerably enhanced.

Reduces Stress in the Body and in the Mind

Like any other yoga practice, this type of yoga is a fantastic technique to relieve physical and mental tension. Yoga gives you the opportunity to take a break from your busy schedule and focus on yourself.

Increases Patience

Because yin yoga involves holding a pose for a longer period of time, you may feel a little uncomfortable at some points. Holding challenging poses despite the discomfort you might feel can help you to improve your patience.

Increases Strength

You’ll move with your breath and build up more endurance throughout the faster-paced portion of your yin-yang yoga session.

Increases Circulation

To increase blood circulation, this type of yoga achieves the ideal balance between deep stretching and activity.

Yin Yang Yoga – A Merging

Despite coming from different cultures, the ancient philosophical ideas that yoga and the yin-yang symbol both stand for are based on the same core idea of seeking balance in life.

We can all learn important lessons from this type of yoga polarity. Whether it’s about work-life balance, left-right yoga balance, family and friends, or meditation and exercise.

Start your session with some inspiring and happy yoga quotes!

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