Yin Yoga & Mindfulness Workshop
“The Art of a Skilled Yin Practice”
Sept 15th, 2018; 10:30am – 4:30pm
Triyoga, Camden
“Sitting & Seeing; Freeing the Breath; Moving Parts”
Sitting & Seeing
Yin Yoga can be a challenging practice when left to our own devices or simply being placed in a position which our bodies don’t particularly ‘enjoy’. Fortunately there are many skills that can be learned to help prepare us better, not so that the experience itself becomes more ‘enjoyable’ but so that we can be better equipped to relate to what comes up during the practice.
When is a good time to practice Yin? It is not just personal preference but more of a momentary realisation of what our body’s need or are asking for, whether it’s first thing in the morning, that tired time of the afternoon or the end of the day. There are no rules and only by giving ourselves an opportunity to feel into what’s being asked for, can we begin to carve out the next move or posture. So sit and see, pause a while and sense into what your body is telling you. How is the breath moving for instance?
Freeing the Breath
I am unlikely to want to sit and meditate soon after I wake up, I know this to be true often though sometimes I surprise myself. My body feels achy and crumbly and I am more likely to want to curl up and go back to sleep if I sit immediately. A far more insightful approach for me to want to sit is to wake up my body and ‘free’ my quiet breath and my own body needs to be a little more alert to do this. I can slowly ‘wake’ up my body when I begin to enter it more fully with my mind and acknowledge what’s really happening.
Moving Parts
As I start to move and breathe into the ‘stuck’ areas, it’s like a trance, no yoga show required here. Just me moving me. Moving the parts that want to be moved and staying in a shape until the release feels complete. Moving might be interspersed with a Yin shape and then I am prepared to sit a while in stillness where there’s no focus on a target area in the body. Just me sitting with me now, for a while.
I may know better what to do next because I’ve simply given myself an opportunity to feel into my body in that moment.
What I hope you learn from the day’s workshop “The Art of a Skilled Yin Practice” is that there’s no one sequence or posture that suits everyone. That in learning new skills that teach you how to better feel into the sensation of what your body is saying or simply learning to enjoy the releases to their end point, that you’ll begin to make the connections to carve out appropriate and effective movement for your body.
Join me on September 15th @ 10:30am to 4:30pm for a full day of practicing. Everyone is welcome – all ranges and abilities.
Booking link here