Yin yoga is a relatively new form of yoga that was only developed in the late 1980s by founder Paul Grilley. In recent years, this quiet form of yoga has become increasingly popular.

Yin yoga is a very slow form of yoga in which the yoga postures (asanas) are held for several minutes (usually between 3 and 6 minutes). By sitting/lying in a posture for longer, you have more time to deepen the posture and also work with your breath. Holding the postures for longer also ensures that you can bring about beautiful effects in the connective tissue. This makes it a great form of yoga for beginners because the posture is carefully built up from the base and you have time to get to know the postures. But yin yoga is also a great form for advanced practitioners because you are given time to seek depth in the postures. The longer time of holding the postures is also the big challenge within yin yoga. Although yin yoga may look easy at first, it certainly is not. Yin yoga is not intended as a complete exercise, but as a supplement to more active (yang) yoga and/or movement forms.

In general, the classes at Bridge of Life studio take beginners into account and for more advanced students, additional options are then given to go a step deeper.

Yin classes often use a combination of postures (asanas), breathing techniques and a bit of meditation. That said, yin yoga can definitely also be a nice challenge because you remain still in a posture.

In essence, yin yoga is soft. The focus is on relaxing the muscles in the postures. Due to the long sitting/laying down, it is also possible to work effectively on the fascia of the body. Because every body is built differently, there are no "perfect" performances or alignments of the postures within yin yoga. Target areas are worked with and in order to work on them effectively, the right adjustments are sought for each body so that the posture can be performed safely and effectively.

The name yin yoga comes from the concept of yin and yang. These are two halves, or parts, that are constantly moving and together form a whole. One always follows the other and so they are constantly looking for a balance. "Yin" stands for the shadow side, "yang" for the light sunny side. You see this concept everywhere around you. For example, you have the night (yin) and day (yang), feminine (yin) and masculine (yang), cold (yin) and warm (yang), moon (yin) and sun (yang).

It is good to remember that something is never completely yin or completely yang. As mentioned, they are always present together and looking for a balance. However, something can be more yin or yang compared to something else. Day and night continuously merge into each other, in this the night is more yin and the day more yang. But because they are constantly moving, something is never completely yin or yang. For example, certain tissues in our body are also more yin or yang. For example, muscles are more yang and connective tissue, bones, tendons and ligaments are more yin. Yin yoga focuses more on the yin tissues of the body. And performing the postures in a yin way to achieve this, for example holding the posture for a long time and consciously trying to relax in the posture.

If you want to read more about the specific yoga postures, take a look at the asana book.