Yin Yoga for the Mind and body

Yin, as opposed to yang, is accepting and yielding, rather than pushing and fighting. Yin is being - rather than acting. 

The Philosophy of this, I believe, is so powerful for us right now. The Power and Usefulness of accepting where we are, as we are.

What is interesting about this is that, once you do accept everything as it is - the truth - instead of fighting with your body or mind, then space is created for things to change or progress. 

 Yin shows us how to accept our current state; that as long as we force things - trying to find a deeper pose that our body isn’t ready for or wrestling with the mind - we won’t progress. But once we accept and stop trying, stop acting and move to being, then the body moves naturally, opens up and you are in a deeper pose. But the deeper pose is no longer the goal. Being able to accept things as they are, in your body and in your mind, and sit with it in stillness - this is powerful and a strength, a useful skill to be practiced - but, from what I’ve seen, it’s not easy for most of us.

This skill IS the practice of Yin yoga. Both for the mind and the body.

It is the same when we run away from fear. This makes it bigger - when we fear something, we avoid it and procrastinate, but if we faced it and over came, then it would disappear. In fact the biggest release of the parasympathetic nervous system comes when we face our fears and overcome them. 

More specifically Yin Philosophy on the mind:

In meditation - the harder we try, the more we fight with the mind and the further away the stillness of the mind becomes. Conversely, the less we try, the more stillness comes. The quality of the practice increases because when the mind does wander ( as our minds do) we are at peace with it and can gently return to our breath. Its an ongoing practice. We don’t just conquer the mind and thats it. At least in my experience, it’s the practice that counts.