My observations of yoga teacher discussions in social media comments and groups have shown me that Yin Yoga is something that’s rather misunderstood. There’s some concern over students hanging out at the end range of their motion for extended periods of time (namely, very flexible students). So, I’d like to share what I understand so far about this beautiful practice that encourages stillness and gentle care. The intention is to empower you as a teacher and student to tailor the yin yoga poses to your uniquely-shaped bodies for the juicy benefits outside of increasing range of motion.
What is Yin-Yang Duality?
Let’s talk about what “Yin” is in particular. In Chinese philosophy, we live our days and nights with a blend of Yin and Yang (pronounced “yahhng”). Yin energy can be represented by the nighttime, the sensation of cold and passive action (like stillness). Yang energy can be represented by the daytime, the sensation of hot and active movement (a lot of doing). There’s many other parts of our body-mind that are categorized under both Yin and Yang. It depends on the context and where it lies in the spectrum.
When we have too much of one, we can benefit from adding more of the other. So, for those of us that lead mostly “yang” lives, we could use some more softness and stillness to reduce our stress levels.
When we have too much of one, we can benefit from adding more of the other. So, for those of us that lead mostly “yang” lives, we could use some more softness and stillness.
Yin Yoga and Fascia
We’ve got an entire network of uniformly wavy connective tissue called fascia. There’s superficial layers of fascia underneath your skin, deep layers of densely-packed myofascia that connect various groups of muscles into chains and muscular layers of fascia around and through your muscle fibers. Inside this collagenous fascial tissue are several kinds of cells including fibroblasts that produce more collagen, immune cells that help regulate inflammation and immune function, adipocytes that provide cushion, protection and endocrine function, and a few other cells that communicate with each other.
Around 70% of our fascia contains water! It’s part of the “ground substance” that fills the space between our connective tissue fibers and cells. The ground substance includes water, proteins and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). A predominant GAG that you may have heard of in the skincare world is Hyaluronic Acid (HA). In the context of fascia, Hyaluronic Acid attracts water like a sponge.
It is with the hydrated ground substance that the fascia can withstand amounts of compression and become lubricated for ease of gliding with your other connective tissue. The more hydration, the less likely that toxins could remain stagnant with reduced risk of adhesions that can cause friction, inflammation and immobility.
As of this writing, research shows that fascia serves us in 2 ways:
- It connects the various types of connective tissue together.
- It protects our insides with its cushioning and hydrated properties.
Aside from your skin, your fascia has the most amount of sensory neurons! It’s so intelligent! Not only does it respond to (mechanical) tension, it responds to pressure, touch and shear force.
In plain English: our fascia responds to touch and movements.
Aside from your skin, your fascia has the most amount of sensory neurons! It’s so intelligent! Not only does it respond to (mechanical) tension, it responds to pressure, touch and shear force.
In plain English: our fascia responds to touch and movements.
The restful postures of Yin Yoga use our body weight and/or props that, in a gentle way, stimulate the tiny cells that produce the fascia itself. This happens through the low-impact/passive stretching for long durations (like 2-10 minutes). Long, in contrast to the average time one holds a pose for “Yang”-style practices like Power Yoga, Ashtanga, Hatha and general Vinyasa classes. The stretch doesn’t require high-intensity stimuli. A foam roller with a blanket over it or a rolled up bath towel can stimulate the production.
Earlier in this post, I briefly talked about adhesions. Adhesions can occur after an inflammation-causing event such as being in a car accident, falling down, getting a surgery, engaging in repetitive motion with low amounts of variety and diversity of movement and low amounts of loads (weights/resistance). These matted adhesions are caused by the fascia being haphazardly produced in a jumbled manner instead of in uniformly waves. You can imagine the inflamed tissue to look somewhat like velcro.
Studies are showing that when fascia is stretched at a low intensity for a longer period of time for at least 1 minute, the water leaves the stretched area immediately to create tissue stiffness. Then, during the rest period the water returns afterwards and continues to draw in more water for up to 3 hours1. Based on further studies, it has been recommended to practice these passive forms of stretches for at least a few minutes everyday for at least 5 days in a row.
It is also important to note that during this practice of compressing the fascia that the collagen-producing cells (fibroblasts) are stimulated to produce new and healthy layers of uniform waves. The aforementioned adhesions can also be gently broken up. Collectively, this allows for a healthier range of motion.
Summary of Yin Yoga (Part 1)
Yin Yoga is based on the Chinese philosophy of the Yin-Yang duality. If we are doing a lot, we can benefit from balancing ourselves out with stillness and passive care. From an anatomy standpoint, the longer-held poses using body weight and/or props at 50-70% of one’s natural range of motion can stimulate the cells inside the fascia to produce new connective tissue, the hyaluronic acid to attract more water and the overall temporary increase of ROM. There’s also positive implications for a strengthened immune function along with reduced stress levels.
In plain English: Hydrating fascia through low intensity and long durations of stretch can encourage our bodies to move with more ease.
In plain English: Hydrating fascia through low intensity and long durations of stretch can encourage our bodies to move with more ease.
This is a good place in the Yin Yoga discussion to pause. Please marinate and digest this content for as long as you need to. If you have been diagnosed with hypermobility (the genetic variation in collagen production that can reduce your proprioception) or if you feel you are not very flexible, you can modify the practice to respect your boundaries. To learn how, you can read The Benefits of Yin Yoga (Part 2). Or, if you’re ready to practice a 40-minute Yin Yoga and Somatic-Inspired Session, you can visit the video here.
References
- Schleip, R., Duerselen, L., Vleeming, A., Naylor, I.L., Lehmann-Horn, F., Zorn, A., Jaeger, H., Klingler, W. (2012) Strain hardening of fascia: Static stretching of dense fibrous connective tissues can induce a temporary stiffness increase accompanied by enhanced matrix hydration. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 16:1,94-100.
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