Siobhan Wright

May 2015
A Look Yinside
No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for 'we' are the only thinkers
in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find
it in our lives.
-Louise L. Hay
Yin Yoga is about creating a place to allow the self to grow into a balanced,
harmonious, peaceful being. Its about creating a thought process that allows for healthy,
patient, and mindful life decisions. Its about allowing the self to feel in the moment,
owning those feelings, and honoring them as a piece of who you are. Yin is about
discovery and depth and stillness and movement and creation and wholeness and fear and
gratitude and acceptance. Yin is about finding home. When you embrace yin you begin to
accept not only the good but the bad as well, because life isnt meant to be easy, it is
meant to be lived.
As we begin to delve deeper into the inner workings of Yin we may start to
understand that at our core we as humans hold an innate desire to remain blissfully
ignorant for we are inclined to believe that truth is painful. When I think of Yin and what
it has done for me I cant help but think of Platos Allegory of the Cave where Socrates
tells a story where a group of people are chained to a cave wall and come to know reality
as the shadows that are cast on the wall they have faced for their entire lives. Their reality
is not the reality that we live but rather, it is a fabrication of their circumstance. The
prisoners are freed from the wall and as they turn to come face to face with reality, their
eyes begin to burn in the face of truth, for truth is painful. The light, the world, reality,
truth; all painful to eyes accustomed to a life in the shadows. The prisoners then turn back
to the shadows where they find comfort and reprieve with the desire to return to a world
of blissful ignorance. The story then goes on to explain how someone would have to
force the prisoner out of the cave so that he could slowly acclimate to the world around
him but I would like to argue that there is a better way the Yin way.
In our yin practice we are faced with the discomfort of reality both physically and
mentally. We have lived in our own routines for so long, running for the hills every time
life becomes difficult or uncomfortable, that we transfer this way of living into every
aspect of life. Yin allows us to find moments of reflection, moments of discomfort,
moments of encouragement and moments where we can slowly ease into a healthier
reality, one that embraces our true potential. We give the self time to accept that accepting
truth is not just healthy but necessary. Yin gives us time, time gives us perspective,
perspective gives us a healthy mind and body and a healthy mind and body provides us
with a happy life. This is what Yin has done for me.
Yin is a term that exists in relativity to our Yang practice. Yang is our muscular,
active practice, so comparatively Yin is a practice associated with connective tissues,
ligaments, joints bones and fascia. These networks are stressed for long periods of time

in order to reach their optimal capacity for health and vitality. We may stay in a pose
anywhere from 3-5 or even 20 minutes depending on the intention behind our practice
that day. During the period of time in which our pose takes form we are faced with our
blinding truths and our moments of self doubt. We begin to feel discomfort and come
face to face with a persuasive thought inside the mind whose one goal is to get you the
hell out of that pose and back into your comfort zone. We must remind ourselves that we
are capable of stillness and we will come to the breath and we will acknowledge thoughts,
sensations and feelings but in the end we will not let them take over; we will let go. It is in
these moments that you find your voice and your strength. We gain mental strength
through this process while simultaneously reaping the physical benefits. Our reality
begins to shift and our truths become relative to our new experiences, ones that make us
more whole. As we grow into our new found yin way of life, our yang becomes balanced
and we are able to grow.
Balance and growth, my theme of the month, have encouraged me to take a look
at the pose that provides me with not only inner growth but also physical growth as well.
I began dissecting my practice both physically and mentally in order to find the pose that
resonates with me and as I dwelled on this topic I came to the pose that provides me with
comfort, with balance and with the ability to overcome strength both mentally and
physically.
Butterfly, my pose of comfort.
Come to a comfortable seated position and bring the soles of the feet together,
letting knees fall out to the side, much like you would in baddha konasana in our yang
practice but our feet are further away from our body in our butterfly, creating a diamond
shape. If your knees are resting too high a great option would be to sit up on a block or
roll up the back of your mat to provide a lift in the hips. Another option is to place blocks
under your thighs in order to provide you with a comfortable place to begin taking form
of your butterfly. Inhale to lengthen the lower back, creating space and exhaling begin to
hinge forward, then allowing your upper back to round, draping yourself over your legs,
maybe placing your head on a block or a few blocks depending on where you are in your
practice. Maybe you place your head on the insoles of your feet, find your edge here...
wherever you are, begin to come to the breath, noticing if your thoughts are leading you
away from the moment. Just come back to the breath and let go of tension. Arms can
hang loosely by your knees, releasing any tension in the upper body. Noticing if you are
holding tension in jaw letting that tension go and releasing the tongue off of the roof of
the mouth. Breathe.
If you are feeling pain in the knees I suggest backing out of the pose immediately.
If you are feeling uncomfortable tension or pressure in the ankles it is a good idea to
place a blanket underneath them to provide cushion. Noting the difference between
tension, which can be good in order to take us to a new edge, and pain, which is not the
intention of our practice. Listen to your body and respond with love and respect. This
pose can sometimes be counter productive for those suffering from sciatica. Those
suffering from low back pain or injury have the option to take this pose lying on their
back. Breathe.

In Yin we take poses for 3-5, maybe even 20 minutes, depending on our intention,
you can begin to count the breath to take the focus off of your thoughts and come into a
more meditative state. You may want to use this technique that is often used while in an
ordinary seated meditation; silently say to yourself, I am inhaling for one and now I am
exhaling for one. I am inhaling for two and now I am exhaling for two continuing this
counting and maybe even visualizing the numbers rolling across your field of vision. Use
this to anchor yourself to your practice. Breathing
Butterfly is good for the kidneys and the urinary tract, allowing for regulation of
bodily fluids and detoxification of the body, affecting the kidney, liver, gall bladder, and
urinary bladder meridians of the body. As you ease into this pose you find a release in the
hips, groin and the hamstrings, while feeling a slight pressure in the abdomen. Due to
this pressure we sometimes tense up the belly, notice this tension and simply focus your
breath to release. This can be a really nice pose for a pregnant woman due to the space
available for the belly and because it helps make childbirth easier. Find your breath and
breathe.
The kidney meridian starts at your pinky toe, travels up your inner ankle to the
heels and then up your inner leg, through the tailbone, to the kidney and from there one
branch leads to the bladder where urinary tract regulation comes into play. This leads to
the abdomen which may account for the tension that sometimes gets bottled up in the
belly while in this pose. The liver meridian starts at the big toenail, crosses the top of the
foot, to the front of the inside ankle and up the inner leg, past the knee along the inner
thigh to the groin and pubic region, where it circulates the external genitals. It then
travels up the lower abdomen to the stomach, liver and gallbladder, connecting with two
points on the ribs, into the ribcage, to the throat, eye, and ends at the crown of the head.
The gallbladder meridian begins just outside the outer corner of the eye, loops down and
up the forehead, descends behind the ear, returns to the forehead above the center of the
eye, to the bottom of the skull, down the, then crosses over the shoulder. Descending
down the rib side of the body to the waist and pelvic area to the sacrum, continues down
the outside of the leg, in front of the ankle, ending on the outside of the 4th toe,
connecting with the liver and gallbladder organs. The urinary bladder begins at the inner
corner of the eye, rising to the eyebrow, over the forehead and skull to the brain, down
the nape of the neck to the base of the skull where it divides into two branches that
descend the spine. One branch continues to the sacrum, down the back of the thigh to
the knee-fold, connecting with the kidney and then the bladder. The other branch
descends along the edge of the shoulder blade to the buttock, continuing to the thigh to
the knee, to the calf muscle and passes behind the outer ankle the little toe.
Though you are focused on the breath, try to be mindful of where you are at
physically. If you have come too far into the pose you may need to back out. If you have
come to the point where you are not feeling very much, you may want to work your edge
a little deeper, gently pushing yourself to work the fascia, allowing gravity do its work.
Come back to the breath. Breathe.
Slowly begin to work your way out of the pose, gently lifting the torso, bringing
your hands to your knees and slowly guiding them to center. Coming to our counter pose
bring the soles of your feet on the ground, knees bent, legs at hips distance, hands come
behind your hips and slowly and mindfully windshield wiper your knees back and forth.

Feel the release in the hamstrings, the inner legs and the back as new blood flow begins
to make way.
We will now make our way to a comfortable seated position, you may sit on a
block to lift the hips and allow your spine to lengthen. You can sit in sukhasana, virasana
or siddhasana, whichever you choose, make sure to feel comfortable. Close the eyes and
bring the hands to the knees, sitting up tall and finding your center. Fine tune your seated
posture, shoulders over hips, crown of the head reaching towards the ceiling, shoulders
pressed down and away from ears, shoulders blades hugging down the back. Come to the
breath. Notice where you are in this moment, notice sensations and sounds and thoughts
and then let them all go let all thoughts fade and come to the breath. Before making
our way to savasana we are going to do a breathing exercise, one of my favorite
pranyama exercises, nadhi sodhana, or alternative nostril breathing. This exercise is
meant to cleanse the energy passages and balance both the yin and the yang. To start,
bring your right thumb to the right nostril and block off the pathway, then bring your
peace fingers to third eye center at your forehead. Inhale through the left nostril, fill all
the way up, as you release the right nostril, use the ring finger to block off the left nostril,
exhale through the right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril, fill all of the way up,
release the left nostril, block off the right nostril with the thumb, exhale. Inhale through
the left nostril. Keep repeating this pattern, trying to lengthen the inhales and the exhales
evenly starting with a count of 4 and slowly, if you are comfortable with this technique
begin to lengthen to a count of 5, with the goal of eventually extending to an 8 count.
(allow this exercise to continue on for a few minutes) after your next exhale, slowly begin
to make your way onto your back, preparing for our final resting pose, our savasana. Let
your feet extend long down your mat, toes fall out to the side, palms facing upward,
shoulders melting into the mat and releasing any tension in the forehead. Let it all go.
Begin to deepen the breath, and bring movement to the fingers and the toes,
ankles and wrists, dropping your head from side to side. Reach your arms up over head
and take a big inhale with a big stretch, open mouth exhale (haaahhhhhh), one more time
inhale with a big stretch and exhale, (haaaahhhhh). Hug knees into chest and roll over to
your left side, your moon side, the side that prepares you for rest. Taking a moment here
and then slowly making your way into a comfortable seated position facing the front of
the room, keeping eyes softly closed. Palms to heart center at prayer. Come back to your
intention and give yourself gratitude for showing up and for your dedication to stillness.
We will seal our practice with one sound of AUM (AAAUUUUUUUMMMMM).
Dropping chin to chest, thumbs to third eye center, remembering both today and everyday
to let go of what no longer serves you, to open your eyes, ears and heart to the world
around you, the yin in me honors the yin in you. Namaste.
Love & Light.