Yin yoga

Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style of yoga as exercise with asanas (postures) that are held for longer periods of time—for beginners, it may range from 45 seconds to two minutes; more advanced practitioners may stay in one asana for five minutes or more. Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style of yoga as exercise with asanas (postures) that are held for longer periods of time—for beginners, it may range from 45 seconds to two minutes; more advanced practitioners may stay in one asana for five minutes or more. Yin Yoga poses apply moderate stress to the connective tissues of the body—the tendons, fascia, and ligaments—with the aim of increasing circulation in the joints and improving flexibility. A more meditative approach to yoga, its goals are awareness of inner silence, and bringing to light a universal, interconnecting quality. Yin Yoga began in the late 1970s as martial arts expert and yoga teacher Paulie Zink's Taoist Yoga. Yin yoga is taught across North America and Europe, encouraged by the Yin Yoga teachers and developers Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers. Yin Yoga as taught by Grilley and Powers is not intended as a complete practice in itself, but as a complement to more active forms of yoga and exercise. However, Zink's approach includes the full range of Taoist yoga, both yin and yang.:21 The practice of holding yoga postures or asanas for extended periods of time is a significant part of traditional yoga practice, both in the hatha yoga tradition of India and in the Taoist yoga tradition of the greater China area. For example, B. K. S. Iyengar recommended holding Supta Virasana (reclining hero pose) for 10–15 minutes.:12 Long-held stretches are recommended in other physical disciplines, such as gymnastics and ballet, to increase flexibility.:28 Taoist yoga practices from China also included yin-style poses in the Taoist system of 'Internal Alchemy'—practiced for the purpose of improving health and longevity.:15 Techniques for stretching of this type have been practiced for centuries in China and Taiwan as part of Taoist yoga, which was sometimes known as Dao Yin. Taoist priests taught long-held poses, along with breathing techniques, to Kung Fu practitioners beginning 2000 years ago, to help them fully develop their martial arts skills. The practice of performing a series of long-held floor poses was introduced in North America in the late 1970s by Zink. Zink trained for 10 years, during the 1970s, in daily private classes with Cho Chat Ling, a Kung-Fu and Taoist yoga master from Hong Kong specializing in Tai shing pek kwar, or Monkey Kung Fu. At the end of the decade, Zink entered the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1981, 1982 and 1983 and won Grand Champion in the 'weapons forms' category in all three years, and was also Grand Champion in the 'empty hands' category in two of those years. Black Belt magazine named him Kung Fu artist of the year in 1989. Noted in the Kung Fu community for his exceptional personal flexibility, Zink also emphasized flexibility training in his martial arts classes as a method to develop agility, power and endurance. In the late 70s, Zink began to teach a synthesis of hatha yoga with Taoist Yoga, as well as postures, movements and insights that he had developed himself. He later called this synthesis 'Yin and Yang yoga,' or 'Yin yoga' for short.:19:20 In his first years of teaching, many of Zink's students were martial arts practitioners who had developed strong but tight muscles, and he taught them only beginner level Taoist yoga, focusing on long-held yin poses to alleviate their lack of flexibility. However, as more students came he began to teach more advanced levels. He explained that in order to develop full flexibility, the student must restore his own primal nature, through several Taoist yoga practices, as follows: yin asanas— mostly sitting or lying postures; yang asanas— more active, strenuous postures; Taoist Flow yoga— both yin and yang yoga postures practiced in continuous, smooth and circular motions; Chi Kung — involving simple and gentle movement and breathing techniques; and Taoist alchemy— based upon the Taoist theory of the five elements used in Chinese medicine.:19 Taoist Alchemy is a method of embodying the energetic attributes of various animals and enlivening the five alchemical elements believed to be contained in the body's energetic field. The five transforming energies of Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire animate distinct qualities in the body such as calm, strength, fluidity, springiness and lightness, respectively.