Classes

Wind down from the week and prepare for the weekend, Yin Yoga is now available on the last Friday of each month.  The focus on will be on holding postures for longer periods of time than we would do ordinarily in our weekly class at Yoga 7. We will start with basic pranayama breathing techniques to prepare the mind and body for the Yin aspect of Yoga. Slow-paced deep stretching holding postures from 45 seconds up to 5 minutes. Our yoga classes will end with a short guided relaxation to nourish your mind, body and spirit.

There may be a focus each month on a particular posture, some more challenging than others. But an opportunity to deepen your current practise or alternatively if you are a beginner, it is an excellent way to see and feel the progress yoga can have on your body. When you feel like you want to get out of the posture you will be encouraged to stay longer with a focus on the breath. Of course, it’s more important to listen to your body and so should you feel like you want to exit a posture, it is important to do just that.

What Does Yin Yoga Offer

Yin Yoga offers a more meditative approach with a physical focus much deeper than Yang like practices. Focus is on accessing the deeper tissues such as the connective tissue and fascia and many of the postures focus on areas that encompass a joint (hips, sacrum, spine). As we age our flexibility in the joints decreases and Yin yoga is a wonderful way to maintain that flexibility. This flexibility something that for many don’t seem to be too concerned about until they notice it is gone.

This intimate practice of yoga encourages students to be prepared to get overly familiar with the self, with feelings, sensations, and emotions that may occur during the Yin Yoga practise. The experience offers enormous healing and seems to be avoided in many fast-paced yoga practices. Whomever you are on the mat is who you are in life, so students get to explore themselves more fully and are then given the opportunity to work through any areas they may wish to focus on.

So for example if you find yourself irritated by the duration the posture is being held for then the chances are you will be irritated by things in life out of your control, most things right? If you find yourself frustrated by not being able to stretch as deeply into a posture as perhaps once you were able, well this too will hopefully give you an opportunity for more self-love and acceptance as our body is continually changing.

The class is for 60 minutes.  Calm the mind and stretch the body, calm the body and stretch the mind.